>
Tonight I was standing on my porch listening to the night sounds around our jungle house. A Year ago it was only little frogs and crickets and sometimes people shouting to each other in anger or sometimes people playing their kundu drums and often singing to the ancestors, but lately the night sky is filled with the songs of believers and this has been nothing but a blessing to us. The last few months believers have been gathering in different groups in different houses on each day of the week singing praises to God. During these times people share little testimonies with each other. My friend says they, ‘kinpage Ekoianga yana’ during these times, which means they ‘lift up Gods name’. I listened to a story in these days during which my friend told others of how he was coming back from the garden on his own, which in Mengen is pretty ‘risky’ according to others, considering all the spirits in the forest. He says that he was just praying and thanking God for everything and experienced such a tremendous joy that he could not but burst out in song praising God. He says that as he was singing he was thinking about the words, which focuses on us being sinners yet God showing mercy to us and forgiving us and then the chorus praises God for what He has done! My friend says and then, ‘matau mena ore pu nga maga’ , the water of my eyes fell to the ground! He could not but help to start crying in sorrow about his past sin and in gratefulness to who God is and what he Has done. He says his song was much louder after that and echoed through the forest. As he was telling me this he cried again! I struggled myself to keep the tears of joy back!
Many unbelievers are starting to gather in the evening with the believers and there is lot of talk about them wanting to also understand the source of their new found joy! We hope there will soon be another Gospel presentation for these people!
Another friend told me that they feel they do not want to speak about anything else anymore except God and His word. He says that they get up in the morning and sit around the fire and speak about God and then on the way to the garden and then in the garden and then at the water and then back around the fire the late afternoon and then in the evenings when they sing. I could not but think of Jesus, commanding us to abide in Him and starting to see that these simple people are going ahead of me already and that I can learn from them!
There has been a tremendous change in people’s lives here in this small Mengen village, and hope you guys can be as excited about this as we are for this is your work! None of this is due to anything I have done! Please be praying for the Mengen church and its growth as I am sure there will be hard times coming especially in the light of the first ever baptism taking place here this weekend.
Please keep on praying
Lourens for the Mengen church