“Yesterday I worried a lot about whether or not I will be able to think straight and talk right when I will meet again with Elli to check the Bible Translation. Then today I worried again, but then I thought that those worries probably make God sad. Hasn’t He helped me all those years and hasn’t He worked through me and done it well? Why do I think that maybe now God would not help me again? So I stopped worrying and trusted God. And I came and now you see how well it went!”
This is what Mesari (2nd lady on the right) told me yesterday as we met to check the Bible Translation for understanding, like we do every Tuesday afternoon. Her words touched me. I had to hold back my tears. How can Mesari have such a trust in God after knowing Him only for 5 years? How can she trust Him so much better than I?
Wearing a ripped shirt and stitched together skirt, without shoes, without a watch, without any jewelry she sat cross legged in front of me on the floor where we read together the words of 1 Timothy 6, 6-9:
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation…”
When Mesari heard those words her eyes showed this deep shame. She felt bad, for she felt caught in her discontentment. She said, “Yes, that is true, when we have food and clothes, what else do we need? We have God, our Savior, He is everything we need to live and to die!”
I don’t know what to say. I feel awful. Just a minute ago she told me about her bad house and that at night when the family sleeps the rain drops on them through the bad roof. Now they will need to move to their smaller house in the garden which is further away and they will need to walk a long distance to come to the village every day. And for days now she is wearing this ripped shirt, or for weeks really. Sweet potatoes for breakfast, for lunch and for dinner.
I feel ashamed. And somehow it feels good. For I see in this moment how precious of an example my Dinangat friend is to me. I am proud of her and I will never forget how she trusts God in her poor situation and finds contentment in Him in the midst of all this. This is what I want! And I thank God for Mesari!
IMPORTANT! Please don’t stop reading, there is more:
Three weeks ago a new phase of teaching the Creation to Christ Story started in the neighboring village B. This small village is located just uphill from the village T. which heard the story of God two years ago. Back then our teachers from here taught the village T. Now they are training the Bible teachers from T. to teach the whole story of God to this small group of village B. The people of that small group are very hungry for God’s word and are wanting to understand His truth. Unfortunately there is much opposition coming from the main village M. which has been opposing God’s work now for a long time. However, we believe that God is using those dynamics to even draw the main village into wanting the Truth instead of fighting it. We are in need of lots of prayer partners that come boldly before the throne of God and ask Him for those villages and for the different Bible teachers that are working hard for the Gospel week after week.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for every single prayer for those Dinangat villages!!! Can’t wait to see what God will do!!!
For His Glory Together, Ralf and Elli Schlegel with Naomi, Rebekka and Mirjam.