Bible teachers go separate ways

It’s great when your kids recognize a problem. And it’s something special when they figure out how to fix it.

That’s how Scott and Jennie Phillips must have felt when they heard what their spiritual children among the Dao people of Indonesia were up to.

Scott and Jennie are in the USA, preparing to return from home assignment next month after being out of the tribe for almost a year. Their co-workers, Derek and Sarah Grant, left the tribe for their own home assignment in March. But Derek was able to visit recently, and had great news.

Wikipai and Daapoi, the two Dao Bible teachers, decided that people needed to be able to attend believers’ meetings more faithfully. The distance between the hamlets where the believers live and the place where the meetings were held made that difficult.

So they split up.

Wikipai started holding weekly gatherings up the valley from the usual place. Down the valley, Daapoi began teaching weekly.

This cut down how far the believers needed to travel, making it easier for more people to attend.

“We were thrilled … because the believers are still placing an importance on meeting together weekly and hearing from God’s Word,” Scott and Jennie wrote.

It’s also good news “because they are taking ownership of the role of teaching their own people and they are also taking responsibility for seeing that as many people are taught as possible. … They are making their own solid decisions concerning how the Word of God can be more effectively taught in their own semi-nomadic cultural situation and they are following through with those decisions.”

Wow, I wish I could do that. Sometimes I get comfortable with the way things are, and don’t even see a problem. When I see a problem, I can make a decision, but following through is often a weak point for me. Would you pray for me in this area?

How’re you doing? How can we pray for you?

Thanks for the role you play in planting churches among the world’s unreached people groups.