Twice Egged

P lessons

Contrasting Biblical Themes With Cultural Themes In Curriculum

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Contextualizing the Message

As we continue to revise old Bible lessons that were made some twenty years ago and prepare to write additional ones for the beloved P people, we are always reminded of the huge need to make the teaching “scratch where it itches”. Back in the early days of the work when we first began to teach, we sought to contrast the themes of God’s Word with the pillars of their worldview. We discovered that teaching in this way created the needed tension between what they had always taken for granted to be true in key areas of their lives (or/ of their own belief system), and to make them really sit up and take note of what God’s Word was saying. Here are some examples of the huge differences when we contrast key themes from God’s love letter to them with what their cultural pillars are:

 Man is made in the image of God and exists for God’s glory  I’m central and life is about me, my survival, and what benefits me
 The penalty of sin is death  I’m not guilty and will never be ashamed, but will always blame others to show my good standing
 God is holy  I’m acceptable because I don’t do bad things, and besides, sin is never an issue
 Man can only approach God thru His way and plan  The ancestors, shamans, and our dreams have shown us the way, and their way is right
 Man is a sinner and helpless to save himself  I am truly a good person and can do what is needed to manipulate all the gods and save myself

As we taught them up on the sand dunes so long ago, it was so exciting to see the pillars of their worldview slowly be replaced by pillars of truth based on God’s message to them. Yes, Biblical themes replaced their cultural themes that were counter to the truths of Scripture. It was exciting to see them exchange their story or meta-narrative for God’s ultra-narrative. And so, since the Bible lessons have played such a key role in their understanding the Gospel message and growing in Christ, they are wanting more lesson material. And so we continue on joyfully working to provide that for them so they can continue to use it in conjunction with the Scriptures, as you see below.

Praise and Prayer Items

—Praise the Lord that doors continue to be cracked open in our Host Country and so work continues on different fronts. Thanks so much for your ongoing prayers for the work there, and the 33 different People Groups that live there
—we are so pleased that our coworkers down there continue to make regular trips into P-land to hang with the brethren and take them different supplies. How good to hear of their continued encouragement and growth
—thanks for your ongoing prayers as we continue to revise the Bible curriculum. Pray for much wisdom, strong backs, and endurance as we sit and stand in front of our computers
—Praise the Lord for His huge GRACE! Ever since we have had to move away from P-land, we have found a certain emptiness in our hearts as we dearly love those guys and so enjoyed living among them. Praise the Lord for His comfort as we continue to live away from those precious saints. How good it will be to get together in GLORY and celebrate with our LORD!
—some of you have been praying for our son Josh, his wife Josie and their family who have faced some chronic health issues during their third term in the Asia-Pacific region. Well they have decided to return temporarily for a medical break to try to get to the bottom of these issues. Pray that these different medical questions will be resolved.
—Thanks for your prayers for Jodi and Brent too as they continue to labor in their host country. Brent is getting checked out on more and more airstrips, and Jodi is busy being a mom to their new little boy, and also involved in counseling at the Mission School.
—Thanks for your ongoing prayers for all those P. who have the gift of teaching and shepherding. Pray that God will continue to work mightily thru them to tend and nurture the flock.
—Thanks for continuing to pray too for the literacy programs. Pray that they will produce many new readers, including many gals!!

Thanks again so very much for your partnering with us. We are weak indeed BUT HE IS SO VERY STRONG!!!

Cachicamo Teaching

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The Armadillo

“Let’s not be teaching the true God’s Words like an armadillo!!”

This beloved little animal is all over the place where our dear friends live and make up part of their diet. They are usually easy to get and are quite tasty! The people are always delighted when they come across one as it means there will be something in the pot for their one meal a day. They find them in their holes or running across the plains. They will often shoot them with their bow and arrows, but also try to grab them if they can. However, they aren’t always easy to catch because they run helter-skelter all over the place.

One day as I was meeting with some of the Bible teachers, one of them launched and began saying something like this: “The Words of the true God are truly of great value. And we must be careful to teach these words with correctness. We can’t be teaching them like an armadillo runs, but rather in a very straight and true manner”.

And ever since that time, that has been a common phrase among the teachers in reminding one another to prepare for the teaching and to be on topic, not teaching helter-skelter like the armadillo runs, but rather “straight and true as an arrow flies”.

Bible Curriculum

Since finished the P. Translation Project, we have reset our sights on developing Bible lessons for our dear brethren. While we were living among them, we completed lessons from Genesis to the Ascension of Christ, as well as lessons on Acts, Romans, Ephesians, I Timothy and Titus. However, they are wanting lessons on Thessalonians and the other NT books. So we have our work cut out for us for the next number of years.

And as we develop this curriculum, we are always keeping in mind the challenge of our brethren; to teach in such a way that the words are “straight and true”, and not “helter-skelter like an armadillo!”

Check Out These Important People Below:

Our Dear Coworkers

Since 1988, we have had the joy of working with these brothers and sisters from our Host Country. They have been a great blessing to the work and it’s great to see their love for the Lord and for the P. people. Yes, so glad to have them on board in this ministry. However, things are getting ever more challenging for them as they seek to carry on with life and ministry in a land that is so broken and fractured at almost every level. Please be praying for them.

Here are some specific requests on their behalf:

—just this morning, one of our coworkers had a car accident. We don’t know details, but it sounds like they survived all right even though their vehicle was damaged badly. Without the vehicle, they won’t be able to get to where the P. people are, or to get their supplies. Thanks so much for praying for God to be hugely glorified in all this.
—for wisdom, encouragement, and a sense of urgency as these three families push to see the P. churches grow in the Lord, as well as to keep on target with literacy, gardening, health, and evangelism
—pray for a P. believer whom we call Weeto. Pray that he will be straight on the Gospel and not pay attention to those hounding him to embrace a salvation of works once again. He is a key fellow in the community of Pretty Water, and it would be so great to see him living in and enjoying the TRUTH!!
—pray that our coworker’s children would continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. Most of them are seeking to leave the country for further studies and employment, as these are increasingly hard to get where they are. And four of them desire to prepare for some aspect of Missions!! Pray that God will open doors for these precious young people, and that He will be hugely glorified both in and thru their lives.

And here below is the gang of eight!!


More Praise and Prayer Items

—Praise the Lord that my new eye continues to improve and that so far there is no rejection of the new part!! This is indeed an exciting ride and I praise God for His blessing, and for your prayers….and for the joy of clear sight!! The surgeon says the next eye probably won’t be done until possibly next Fall sometime. We’ll see!
—We are waiting to see what works out regarding a trip down to encourage our dear P. brethren. At this point things are looking very tenuous. Thanks for your prayers regarding this matter.
—we are pleased to report that our coworkers were finally able to get out to where the P. people are living. They were thrilled to see them encouraged, hanging in there, teaching the Word, and living in TRUTH! Thanks so much for your continued prayers for these different village churches.
—Would appreciate prayers too for our son Josh and his family serving our Lord in Asia Pacific. His wife Josie has been sick for a long time and they can’t seem to get to the bottom of it. And their youngest daughter Katrina has been having stomach aches for months and months, and they can’t figure out what is going on there either. They have been to numerous doctors and so are seeking the Lord’s direction in the matter. Thanks so much for praying for them. It is much appreciated!
—Thanks for your ongoing prayers for all those P. who have the gift of teaching and shepherding. Pray that God will continue to show Himself strong on their behalf, and that they would be faithful in preparing and proclaiming the TRUTH!!I

Thanks again so very much for your partnering with us. We are indeed thankful for the ongoing opportunities to serve the P. believers by preparing additional resource material for them. Thanks again for all you do to keep us going!!

Montollita And Marcos

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Montollita….and what he said to me!!

Montollita and Marcos are two guys who both unknowingly helped me come up with the needed cultural mechanism to clearly communicate the Gospel.

I was out with our truck helping the P people haul palm for their houses. It was one of the things we did for them to make life a little easier. Well on one particular occasion, a dog suddenly ran out in front of the truck and before I knew it, I had run the poor fellow over. Well, that certainly was not a good thing. I stopped the truck and before long the owner of the dog confronted me.

“You ran over my dog” Montollita said. “You killed my dog. You have done bad to me. And for the worth of that bad, I demand a payment. I want a machete.”

So after a couple of hours or so, I showed up with a machete. He took it and said, “Jabechjî chjadëde yabâ” meaning, okay, it’s all right now, it’s all fixed up.

 Marcos …..and what he said to Minitiva:

It happened right in front of my eyes. Suddenly Marcos began to speak to Minitiva:

“You have done bad to me” he told him. “You stole some of my tobacco….and I’m wanting a payment for that. I demand three arrows and a hammock for the bad you have done to me” he said tohim.

Well at first Minitiva denied it and strongly objected but after a bit, he began to look guilty and his eyes turned downward…..and then he walked away.

A few days later, Minitiva arrived and presented the hammock and the three arrows to Marcos, saying:

“Here is the payment.”

Then Marcos responded:

“Jabechjî chjadëde yabâ. Okay, it’s all right now, it’s all fixed up“….and that resolved the whole matter. Payment was given for the wrong done and all was made right.

 So then, with those two cultural examples behind our belt and more studying……

…..here is how we went on to give the Good News of the Gospel to the P. Nation after laying solid foundations for them first from the OT and the Gospels. In a nutshell, it went something like this:

We have done bad against the true God. We have sinned against the One who is surpassingly bright, against the One who does not mix with evil (he is holy). And therefore He is demanding a payment. What is He demanding? Well, He is wanting blood and death, blood and death that are perfect and without bad. Yes, he requires a payment of blood and death for the bad we have done against Him. For the Words of the true God say: “The payment for sin is death”. So how will we make things right with the true God? With what will we pay? Arrows won’t work. Hammocks won’t work. There has to be blood, there has to be death. So what will we give as a payment to make things right with the true God, with the One who is demanding blood and death from us? We have nothing to pay with. Our own blood and death won’t work.

But hey, what did the true God do for us? Well He sent His Son, the “Payer”. And after living a perfect life without doing bad to his Heavenly Father even one time, he was killed on a pole. He died having been nailed to that pole. And his blood ran out. And right before he died, he yelled out, PAID FOR IN FULL (It is Finished)!! And when God the Father saw the payment of the Payer, He thought: Jabechjî chjadëde yabâ. Okay, it’s all right now, it is all fixed up.

And so whoever accepts and believes for themselves what the substitute Payer Jesus did for them on the pole, well they will have their payment and receive living-forever life.

 Two Distinct Paths

Montollita came to trust in the this Good News and in the “Payer”. How great it was to see this dear friend understand what the Payer Jesus did for him on the pole, and that he became a paid-for-in-full one. We just heard the other day that this dear brother had died. He died ….and yet is very much alive as he is there with his Savior in Heaven. However Marcos continues to believe in the old way and does all he can to promote it. Both of these guys unknowingly helped us come up with the needed way to communicate the Gospel, but both have chosen different routes. How pleased we are to know that Montollita is now in Glory with the Payer.

Prayer Requests

—for our beloved Host Country, that God would wonderfully intervene down there and bring His solution to the many huge problems
—for our many dear coworkers there who continue to labor under extremely trying circumstances
—for God to meet the physical, medical, and spiritual needs of the believers. Last Rainy Season there were 22 who died due to complications from parasites, mostly children.
—for God’s translated Word to make it into new villages, and that many more will have a desire to learn to read this Book in their own language
—for us as we switch gears from Bible Translation to the continued development of Bible Curriculum. The P pastors have made it quite clear that they want more teaching helps, and that we shouldn’t be thinking about retirement!!!
—for our daughter Jodi, and her husband Brent. They will be returning to Canada the end of this month from their field of service of their host country for Jodi to have a baby and for Brent to get further flight training on the aircraft he will be flying. The baby is due the end of July. So we’ll have the joy of spending a bit of extra time with them. Please pray for a safe delivery, and for the health of both mother and child.
—for the community of SW as foundations continue to be laid from the OT. PTL that many are really interested and believing all they have heard thus far
—pray for the gals in the different villages to really stick with reading and get good at it. Many have taken the course and have learned to read but then quit. They also need to be reading the Scriptures for themselves and teaching others

Thanks again so very much for your partnering with us. We are indeed thankful for the on going opportunities to serve the P. believers by preparing additional resource material for them. Thanks again for all you do to keep us going!!