Lonsi and Sanam have a head-start.
For months, the Akolet couple has helped Adam and Julie Martin translate Scriptures, so they’ve been hearing God’s Word ahead of their fellow Akolets, who are now hearing evangelistic Bible lessons in Papua New Guinea.
But they didn’t understand how to obtain salvation.
And then, while helping translate the prophecy of Joel in Acts chapter 2, Lonsi and Samam heard “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
“Let me stop you there and ask you,” Lonsi said. “Is that it? … Is really all you have to do is ask?”
Adam and Julie stopped and explained, and Lonsi and Sanam understood the answer.
Sanam said she was so happy that she wanted to dance.
“Jesus is God!” she exclaimed. “He came and took all of our sin on Himself and died, taking all our sin away. I believe that! Now I’ll be with God forever. I’m not afraid of dying anymore.”
Lonsi said, “Now I understand. For years and years I’ve been trying and trying and trying to make myself right with God, but I knew from the Bible teaching that I couldn’t do it. Only this Rescuer that God was going to send could. And now I understand how all my sin went onto Jesus and then Jesus died. Wow! I believe that.”
And now, with three more weeks before the rest of the village hears about the death, resurrection and burial of Christ, Lonsi and Sanam are bewildered.
“Did anyone else put it all together? Did they understand and talk to you guys?” Lonsi has asked Adam and Julie more than once.
Last week, Julie replied, “Not yet. A lot of people are close, but you guys had the advantage in having helped me translate for so long already.”
Lonsi shook his head as he and his wife responded, “Our eyes were shut. We couldn’t see! But now we do, and it’s just so clear and so easy.”
Pray that it seems so clear and so easy to the rest of the Akolets who are hearing Bible lessons.
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