Week 2 started with a BANG! As Jeremiah, Ralf and the teachers approached the village on a rainy, Sunday afternoon, they could see that the whole village had gathered to wait for them, as well as some leaders from another village. A runner had met them on the trail and told them what was happening. Last week, after the teachers had left, some strong winds had blown through the village. It knocked down several trees, including some banana trees. It also knocked off part of the roof of the house where some of the teachers were sleeping. Also, last week, one of the teachers had struggled in the beginning with nervousness. These events combined made the villagers believe that the spirits were unhappy about something and were trying to keep the teaching from happening. They concluded that they had forgotten to do a certain ritual that would appease them and keep them from wreaking havoc. After making some strong speeches, passing out the ritual food (pictured left), addressing the spirits in front of the group and assuring them that everyone truly is ‘one bel’ (of one mind with each other and with the teaching) the leader proceeded to “wash” everyone by dipping some special leaves in water and splashing it all over the crowd. Now these spirits would be satisfied and the teaching could continue.
Our teachers did great. Even though they knew in their hearts that what was taking place was wrong, and they wanted to scream out that there is nothing they can do to wash away their sins, they very wisely held their tongues. The time will come when they can make clear that Jesus is the only way. But for now, they need to focus on patiently laying the foundation and making a clear path for the Gospel. Man, were we proud of them! What the Lord is doing in the hearts of these guys is precious, and a joy to behold!
This week the villagers learned about God as the One and ONLY Creator. This goes directly against some of their beliefs about the spirits they’ve been appeasing. We recognize that this village has been in bondage to the lies of the enemy for years. How FREEING to know that their salvation is not dependent on our performance as missionaries, but that it is the Word of God, which is sharper than any two edged sword, and WILL prevail against the gates of Hell!
Please continue to pray for our teachers. Two of the teachers are Basa and Epox (pictured right doing a skit about the garden of Eden). Basa leaves his wife and 8 children every Sunday. They have a very large coffee garden which provides the income they need to pay school fees for their kids, but Basa is gone for a big chunk of the work week and unable to work in the garden very much. Epox, another teacher, is Jeremiah’s main helper for writing lessons. He is newly married, and his wife is due to give birth to their first child any day. There is no cell phone or email for his wife to be able to contact him when she goes into labor, but Epox feels strongly that God wants him teaching right now, and trusts that he’ll be able to get home fast enough when he needs to. Please pray for these men! Satan would love to discourage them, and as we’ve already seen, he’ll use any tactic possible. We praise God for sustained health and unity among the team! And listen to this- of their own accord, some of the young people from here have volunteered to help the teachers get extra work done in their gardens on Friday. What a joy to watch the Spirit drawing the Body of Christ together in unity to see this job done! This kind of volunteering is not normal around here, it’s hard work, and keeping up with their own gardens is extremely time consuming. Praise God with us for the way He is growing the believers, even the ones that stay behind! The other Bible teachers are Lukas, Felix and Ronny; I’ll tell you more about them in another letter!
Please also be praying for our health as a team. Jeremiah has been fighting some sort of cold or sinus infection for several weeks now and just cannot seem to kick it. Last week I had something that gave me a really high fever in the night, lasted a day, but Thankfully was gone by Monday. Jaspa, one of the literacy teachers, also fell sick during one of the teaching days and was unable to go to class. We are reminded that these bodies are frail and are trusting the Lord to carry us through this not only emotionally and spiritually, but also physically challenging time!
Thank you so much for standing with us. We could not be here without your support in so many ways; YOUR prayers are among our greatest defences, we need them desperately and are so thankful for your partnership!
Because He is Worthy, Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna