John 14:1-4
Jesus said: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”
Going High Tech!
It was just a couple of weeks ago when I suddenly got a message from one of my national coworkers that several of the P pastors and some of their sons had hiked the 60-plus miles from their river to the bilingual community of Pretty Water on the next river to the north where he was living. He said, “I have Hernan here and he wants to talk to you” Well, I right away called my coworker and in no time I had a perfect connection via Satellite with my dear P brother. The communication was clear and crisp, and it was just such a joy to visit with this dear brother in Christ, who was really like a son to us.
So what did we talk about? Well, the conversation went all over the place for a good 2.5 hours. He right away shared how he and his family, along with the others in the village were doing. Then he went on to share about how they as a team of pastors were teaching through the books of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John and that it was going well. He talked about the joy of teaching the Scriptures, and looking after Jesus’s sheep. He mentioned too that he and the other pastors would often go visit different believers who needed encouragement. Some were off the trail of truth and needed to confess their sin and make things right with God and others. Others were sick and needed a prayer for healing. Still others needed encouragement to get back to using “the machete” that God had given them. Yes, God had given one or more tools to each believer and it wasn’t right that Doidamo, for example, wasn’t using his gift of teaching. “I needed to encourage him to grab up his machete again and get to work, and not leave it just lying there on the ground”.
He talked about several of the believers too with sadness. No, they hadn’t made things right with God and others. They refused to “brotherize” with those they had sinned against. They, like Cain, refused to do what was right. Yes, there was the brother way up river who had left the area because he didn’t want to do what His Lord Owner Boss Jesus’s word said. And then there was the chief from the other village down river that also moved far away, because of his unwillingness to confess his sin and walk in the bright light of Jesus. “But you know, I just keep on seeing them with compassion when I encounter them” he said. “Certainly they are living with very untasty hearts as they live disobeying the One who bought them with his blood. Yes, I’ll keep on working to help them.”
He reminded me again how they as pastors gather together each Friday to talk about what to teach, to pray, and to encourage one another. “It is so good to work together as a team ” he said. “We are like five men working together to carry a heavy pole. Yes, it is good to be working together for our Lord Owner Boss Jesus”.
As the conversation continued, he strongly reminded me once again that they were wanting to receive the rest of the Bible Overview from Genesis to Revelation as quickly as possible. They were all caught up through book seven and were ready for the remaining books. I let him know they would receive the last three books this Dry Season. He was very glad to hear that.
During our conversation, he spoke a lot about getting the good words about Jesus to other villages. He mentioned how sad it was to see people dying around them who did not believe the message. “We have to go. We have to go and tell others who don’t know” he kept saying. Some of us will have to stay and teach the called out gathering of Jesus (the church) but some will have to go. We have to do what Jesus strongly told us to do”. (It was just a few days later that three of the pastors and their wives took a long two-day hike to this same village to begin teaching)
During our conversation, he spoke a lot about his hope of Heaven. “It won’t be long now and we’ll be hearing the blower (the trumpet). It won’t be long now and we’ll be seeing our Deliverer, Jesus. And how nice it will be to arrive there in Heaven, for I know our dwellings are already made. Jesus said long ago that he was going to prepare them. And yes, by now our future living places will be all done. And when we get there, there will be no going out into the jungle to haul out poles on our shoulders to begin the structure. And there will be no going out to the palm groves to cut down the palm fronds that we will need for making a roof. No, it will all be done. Jesus will have it all ready. We just arrive and walk into our future dwelling place. This will be good, very good”.
As we got to the close of the visit, the pastor reminded us of our love and care for him since his earliest memory. “You were always up there on the sand dune visiting with my dad. You came often to teach everyone who would listen to God’s true words. And you didn’t ignore us young ones but spoke to us and asked us questions. I remember that you wanted us to learn too. And when I went to play with Josue, your son, you treated me like one of your sons too. I was in your house many times eating your food and playing with your son. And then when I understood the message of the Payer, the message about him paying with his perfect blood and death to the one who was demanding blood and death for our sins, well I believed. He became my Payer. And then it was like you and Teresa became my spiritual parents. Yes, it was through you that I heard about being “egged again” supernaturally by the true Spirit. Yes, I will always remember you both, holding you precious in my mind”.
And then as we closed things off, his final words were that we keep producing Bible curriculum. “Keep working on those Teaching Words. Keep on doing the work for us that God wants you to do.” And then with final parting words, I closed it off with tears.
It really is hard to describe how being involved with these dear people since the beginning of 1977 has shaped and molded us. We have thanked God time and again for this huge privilege to be His ambassadors to this special nation. Yes, we are here in the north but our hearts are so often in the deep south, there with the people that we have the joy of helping by God’s grace. Yeah, quite the rush! Quite the high, if I can put it that way. We truly thank the Lord for the love He has given us for them, and them for us, and the bond that we have with those dear saints. And like the pastor said, it won’t be long now and we’ll hear the trumpet blast, and meet our Lord in the air, and check out our new future dwelling places! AMEN!!!
Thanks for praying…
- for the three pastors and their wives who hiked a good sixty miles to begin evangelizing in another village. Pray for wisdom, clarity in teaching, and guidance from the Holy Spirit.
- for the two remaining pastors, and the five pastors in training, as they continue to shepherd the flock
- for the continued development of Bible curriculum for the P believers. Book 8 on the life of Christ is in the printshop in our country of service to be printed and made into books. Teresa is formatting and adding graphics for book 9 with all the lessons on the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and I have begun work on the lessons that give an overview from Acts through the end of Revelation. Pray for strength, good backs, mental clarity, and wisdom.
- for the few deaths that have occurred during the difficult Rainy Season. Only one dear brother graduated to Glory. Yes, Federico now is with his Payer. PTL for the great HOPE that the believers have!
- for the reprinting of the P Bible. We have run out of the first books that were printed, and are now preparing for another printing, and this will include many small corrections that we have come across. Our goal is to get them printed and delivered by the month of April in 2025.
- for the on going radio broadcasts. We continue to on the air every single day! And the signal is very strong, even on distant rivers where the P people live. Right now they continue to listen to teaching on the book of Colossians, but soon we will be starting to give them teaching from Genesis through to the Ascension, which will be primarily directed at the P unbelievers out there. Your prayers are much needed here.
- for my eye health. The two cornea transplants that I received in 2017 and 2022 are both doing fine for the most part. Just recently however, I have had consistent sores develop on my eyes. I’m on some special lubrication drops and this is helping. I trust that the implants I have will continue to serve me well for many years. It is such a joy to have this good vision again.
- for our national coworkers. Pray for their encouragement, their health, their continued progress in the P language, and for courage as they continue to live and work where danger is often close by.
- for our three pastors who went out from their village to evangelize. We just heard that quite a number of insurgents arrived at the village where they are teaching and called everyone to a meeting. This has totally distracted people from the teaching and the pastors are wondering what their next step should be. Thanks for your prayers.
And Thanks Again…..
….for your partnership with us, for your prayers, for your encouragement, for your notes, and for your fellowship in the Gospel. God is working and is building His church among the Unreached People Groups of the world. Thanks so much for being a part of the team!
Weak, but strong in His strength,
Merrill and Teresa
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