Heavy Hearts

Dear friends and family,

With heavy hearts we write this post, letting you know that one of our village chiefs (Tino or Wondoan) has died.

Tino is the recognized leader of the Black Cockatoo clan and has been an influential man in our favor. He has been faithfully coming to the teaching for the last 3 weeks, sitting in the front, answering questions and understanding very well.

On Sunday we did not see him at the teaching and his wife (Jacinta or Wembis) said he was not feeling well. On Monday she got an extra copy of the lesson and said he was feeling a bit better and was hoping to be back for tonight’s teaching session. Last night she was reading to him the lesson (she is 2 days from graduating from the literacy class) and he was catching all the information and seemed to be doing a little better. In the morning however he took a turn for the worse and word spread quickly that he was not doing well.

Tony and myself went down in the boat (the village and airstrip are about 4 feet underwater right now) and got our first look at him. Tino was tossing and turning, in a great deal of pain and having trouble breathing. We gave him a shot of Penicillin and came back up to our house to organize a boat trip and medivac flight to get him out. However as we got to the radio the drums announced the news that Tino had died.

As in all animistic cultures, a quick and untimely death is NEVER by accident. The Yembi’s are struggling right now with what has happened and how to weigh all of this in contrast to the lessons they have been hearing. 2 days ago we taught on Satan and Hell, yesterday was the beginning of the fall and we ended the teaching session with these words “No one knows how long God has given them on this ground, it could be my last day or yours today, we don’t know. Hear this talk well, you don’t know when your time will come”. Those words are all that is being talked about in the village right now.

Guys, this event has 2 possible outcomes.

1. The enemy is able to throw the village into a panic that the spirits of the dead have come to cause death and destruction, and the fear of this talk will force many to flee and not be a part of it.
2. The people recognize Tino’s death as a warning sign that their own lives are SOOOOOO short and their chance to understand how God will deal with them is happening right now, and they become more energized and motivated to hear it all.
   

Our team is pretty rocked right now, as I said he was a faithful man that was hearing the teaching well, and none of us can reason why God would take him at this time. But God is God….and his plans are not mine, it is to us to walk faithful when we don’t fully see the picture. Someday we will, but for now we know what He requires of us.

Obviously pray for the Yembi’s, pray that this will have an outcome that will get them to the teaching with open ears and open minds. In recent days some have been coming, but not listening well, pray that this would snap them out of their lethargy and into concentration. Pray for our team that we would see the Lord in this situation and be wise in how we communicate, console and encourage our Yembiyembi friends. We will probably be taking a 3-5 day break from the teaching and then gauging when the Yembi’s would like to get back into it.

Thanks guys, appreciate all your prayers,

Brooks for Nina and Beau