It may seem strange to us to hear about evangelism lessons, especially ones that take months to go through. We might be more used to the idea of the sharing the gospel message being constrained to one time encounters, maybe on a train, in the park, or in a church service. Here, the gospel message is presented starting all the way back with the creation story, the fall of man and his sinfulness and resulting need of a savior. The lessons progress through the story as God has revealed it in his word, weaving in the theme of the promised deliverer. The final handful of 55 lessons brings Jesus front and center as the perfect solution put forth by God; the one he promised all the way back in the third chapter of Genesis.
These are the teachers who have been sharing the workload of teaching through the lessons one week at a time, teaching every morning for a week, then taking the next week off, and then resuming the next week to make it through all the lessons. It's exciting to see their resolve as they persevere through the time consuming task of teaching all these lessons, not just once, but twice; Once in the morning, and then another in the afternoon at the school. From left to right: Nooka, Nokone, Devit, Roifo, and Jep, and not pictured is Keteng.
The workload is great enough that they barely have enough time to collect and cook and eat their meals through the day. So the church has been encouraged to them out by gathering and cooking food to provide for their needs. How awesome is that!
Each day there are consistently 50-60 people gathered to hear the teaching. Among them are a number of folks who either have not heard this message before or who heard but have yet to place their trust in what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Some of those attending have actively persecuted the church here.
Right now, they're not quite half way through all the lessons. Soon to come will be the lessons talking about the law. This is often a make it or break it point on the path to understanding their need for Jesus. It's easy and natural for folks to get hung up on the idea that following some set of rules is going to make them acceptable in God's eyes. The law was given with the intent of showing God's holy expectations, which much like a mirror, shows us just how much help we really need. "Who can follow these laws perfectly?! God help us!" Should be the sense one walks away from God's revealed law with. For those who realize they can't possibly meet God's expectations on their own, there tends to be a readiness to accept the truth that Jesus takes care of all that for us. This is the point the Mibu teachers are hoping to bring folks to here in the next couple weeks. You can be praying for this.
Please continue to lift up the Mibu church in their efforts to share the message of God's perfect provision in Jesus. Lift up the teachers as they feel exhausted at times and certainly struggle with doubts about continuing and with feelings about just giving up. Pray for those who might be hearing this message for the first time, that God would be softening their hearts and germinating seeds of faith. Pray for those who already believe, that the basis of their faith is strengthened, providing a foundation on which strong conviction in the power of Christ leads to more heart level change in their lives.
And thank you so very much for your continued support for us, both prayerfully and financially as we serve the maturing church here in Mibu!
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