Remember Alara and her brother who come from a village far from here after hearing some of the Bible lessons in eMwinika, asking us to teach them too? (https://blogs.ethnos360.org/francois-hattingh/2013/08/26/please-come-and-teach-us-the-word-of-god/)
Last Saturday, Francois and five guys from our and our partners’ village went to visit them. (Photo: Francois and four of the five men). The village is situated about two hour’s drive north of us and consist of not only Mwinika, but also people from an unreached group further north on the coast.
Francois and the five guys were warmly welcomed by the local leadership and a huge crowd of people! It was clear that there is a real excitement and eagerness to hear more about God and what He says in His Word. Again, the fact that the Bible lessons and Scripture are in eMwinika, as well as a contextualized approach, opened the door wide for people from many different religious backgrounds to listen. We do not represent a certain church or religion, but came to communicate clearly the Word of God.
The five guys did not only go WITH Francois, but fully participated in the discussions. Their testimonies are strong and they were able to answer many of the questions that the people had. How great is it that the Mwinika from our villages take full “ownership” and accepted God’s Truth as truly for them too! They are eager to share this with others. Who knows where God will take this?
Since we still have a few months to go before the end of the evangelistic chronological teaching from Genesis to Revelation is being taught in our village, we are not able to go immediately to Alara’s village to teach. Various options were discussed in how the believers and teachers from here can go about reaching the people from that village. Pray for wisdom!
They were served a good meal that all the guests and the local leaders enjoyed together.
In the end, the guys left more audio players and Scripture. The group was divided into two listening points that will come together on a regular basis to listen to the Bible lessons. As we continue to teach here, the lessons are being recorded and will be available for the people from Alara’s village. After the teaching is done here, and if they are still interested, the next step would be Literacy classes so that they can read the Word themselves. Again, we need much wisdom to know how to go about it.
The Mwinika believers are set before a challenge: how will they respond to others’ need to hear God’s Word? Are they prepared to go and teach, leaving behind all that is familiar here? Who will support them? These are but few of the questions that they need to seek answers for. Pray that the Holy Spirit will clearly communicate His will to them. May they be prepared to trust God and follow Him wherever He takes them!