Week #5

Dear Friends and Family:

Well, we finished week five plus one day of teaching and we are now looking at a 2 week break and then back to finish the teaching which will culminate with the death, burial, and resurrection.  The last lesson we finished with was the lesson of how God saved the Israelites through crossing the Red Sea.

Because the anticipation of Leo coming (his body) there has been a lot of outsiders in the village and most of them come to the teaching. This has had upsides and downsides, with adding about 70 more people to the teaching, but ones that do not have the foundation of the earlier lessons, it has been a mixed bag. One neat upside is that the outsiders have been asking the regular Yembi's (ones who do have the foundation from Creation till now) about the teaching and it is not unusual to walk down to the teaching house and see a man walking a small group of kids or adults through the pictures (we have pictures for nearly every lesson to help jog their memory).

Thanks to all of you that were praying for the village, and especially the ones that are scared that it wouldn't effect their attendance (with the two deaths of big men many are trying to blame the new teaching). The first day back we were missing quite a few older ones, but steadily we have gotten nearly every one of them back. There are still ones that are very suspicious and the years of animistic influence are too much for them to overcome at this time. Especially continue to pray for Kerobim and Donald, they are at the very center of creating much of this fear, and are not happy with many of the younger guys that do not agree with them and are "breaking customs" by not believing in the dead spirits.

Probably the most exciting time of my week is on Saturday night from 9:00 till 4:00 in the morning. Since the teaching started we have been meeting on Saturday nights with any men who want to come and "talk to understand" the teaching. This time has been great to clearly gauge where some of the stronger ones are at in the teaching, and to understand where we need to make adjustments, re-teach, and clarify. Like I said it starts at 9:00pm but usually does not end till 2 or 4am and each week has been steadily growing in attendance. The neatest thing is that the format is purely Q&A, so all night long they sit and ask any and every question they can think of about the lessons but most especially about the "bridge man". Because we have not taught on Jesus yet there are many times we have to say "Guys that talk is coming, I promise it is coming", but there are many questions we can answer and strengthen their growing knowledge in the process.

Here are some clips from last nights meeting…

Freddy (He married one of my tribal sisters, but is from another language group, he has been coming to the teaching since the beginning) said: "In-law, I watch this God and how he kills the ones of Egypt who do not listen to his talk, but he saves all the ones of Israel who listen to His talk and action it with sheep blood on the sides and top of the door. Like that it must be with me, I must hear this talk, and I must know what to do with it, just hearing will not help me"

Roger my brother said this: "I too see this God and how he deals with men who hear and throw away (sin) his talk, like Cain, and Lot's wife, and the ones of Egypt. And I remember that this is the one who sees me work in the garden, this is the one who sees my thinking in the clear all day long, this is a very scary thought to me"

Peter, another one of my brother-in-laws said this: " I lay in bed at night and think of my book (the record of sins that God keeps for each man), how big it must be that I could probably not carry it. If that book is talking against me when I die then there is no hope for me, it is too big to hide or talk trick (deceive) about".

I answered Peter and he came back with this: "For this bridge-man talk my ears will be sharp (listen well), He will give me the road to come back to God's side and to take that massive book away"

Guys these 4 comments don't do justice to hours and hours of talking about things like, when life begins, where skin colors come from, how does God talk to us today, what happens at death, and most especially what happens after death. All of these get discussed, but all are answered from God's word.

One other note is that we (Nina, Tara, and Courtney) started something similar with the ladies last Thursday morning and the turnout was…..incredible. Be praying for this meeting, it has the chance to impact the Yembiyembi ladies like few other things can.

As we go into the break let me give you three things to pray for in addition to your individual people that you already have.

 

1. Pray that the stories that have been taught would continue to be talked about through this break. Repetition is key for these guys, many do not get the meaning of the stories till it is told to them 2 or 3 times, and some have to hear 5-10 times, critical thinking has to be pounded into them. Be praying that they continue to talk and repeat the stories so they can work there way home to ones who have not fully understood them yet.

 

2. As they bury Leo in the next few days, that the outcome from that bolster the teaching, not scare people away from it.

 

3. That we would not lose any more people to death during the teaching. Few things can scare people like death, but to the animist it is the ultimate reality and there is no way (unlike in the West) to dress it up, hide it, or talk around it, it is simply too brutal and too real. Please pray that God would hold back the death for some of these older ones that are on the edge of understanding, and for the sakes of many in the village that would be terrified if another man was to die.

 

Guys that should do it. Keep up the good work, it is no accident that the Yembiyembi's, some of the strongest toughest people on God's earth, are hearing and responding to His word, keep praying, keep asking Him to be working in the heart of the person or persons you are praying for.

Thanks guys,

Brooks Nina and Beau

P.S. we will try and send pictures over the 2 week break, so sorry we have been unable to this point. All our e-mails go out via radio (meaning they have to be very very small).