Last 2 days of teaching

Dear Friends and Family:

Last night we taught the lesson of Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples, tonight is Jesus arrest, and tomorrow is His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. The teaching is drawing nearly the entire village at this point, some for just the excitement that is there, and some to see what this is all about, but most to understand how the bridge-man (Jesus) was able to make a way back to God's side from Satan's.

Last night after we taught the lesson I sat with a group of men as they talked and discussed what has come, and what is coming in these last couple days:

My father Lawrence said this: "This is the first time we have heard the meaning of this talk, our thinking is coming clear on why Jesus came, and how he was the bridge-man (bridge between Satan's side and God's)."

Peter, my brother-in law, had this: "At night my wife (Merryrose) and sons sit and read this talk over and over. This is not a now talk, this promise talk started with Adam and it is coming true, God did not forget his promise, he followed it (fulfilled it) with the bridge-man, he would not leave us with our steal-father (Satan), our true father didn't forget us".

Rodney, my cassowary clan brother, who helped me with the last lesson 3 days ago and we believe is now saved said this: "This talk is very sweet, I tell you the truth, the last day of this talk is so sweet it will make your teeth tickle (it is really sweet)".

And my in-law Job, who also helped with that lesson and knows he is saved said this "The God of this river (pointing to the river by the teaching house), of these stars, he knows me, he did not forget me. He is my only real father, and when my person (body) goes back to the dirt, I will not be pushed far from him (separated from God) to the lake of fire, no! I know the road to the other side now, and I know who bought by book (his record of sins), and for that reason I will go with Him.

I am cutting this note a little shorter today because of the tasks still to do these last 48 hours. As I type Tony is firing up the chainsaw and we are cutting up a couple boards to make the cross for tomorrows lesson, Nina is meeting with a group of ladies to re-explain why Judas betrayed Jesus, Tara is down in the village meeting her mother and sisters, Tim is working on the translating a portion of Luke we will need, and Courtney is reviewing lessons with her family members (tribal family).

Some prayer requests for the last 2 days are these:

1. Our health, (my voice) would hold up for tomorrows 2 hour and the day afters 3 hour lesson. Then as we stay up all night (last Sat night we had questions from about 40 guys till 4:30 in the morning) and talk through all the lessons that we would stay strong and keep our energy level high.
2. That the people on the fence would understand very clearly the gospel message, and why for ones who are searching, this IS sweet talk.
3. That God would do an incredible work in Yembiyembi over these next days, and see many come from Satan's side to God's.

Not much else guys, the specific times for teaching today will be 5:30 till 7:30 at night, and tomorrow 4:00 till 7:00.

Appreciate you all so much, and the way you have stood with us through all of this,

Brooks for Nina and Beau

Week #9

Dear Friends and Family:

Well we completed our second to last week of teaching and are into our last 48 hour break before going for 8 straight days of teaching, culminating in the death burial and resurrection. This last week was….very exciting. One of the lessons this last week was on Jesus healing the paralytic, and when it was explained to them what was meant by taking his sins away, heads started to nod and smiles were popping up all over the teaching house. Some people didn't stop smiling that whole night (which is very un-Yembiyembi), it was an amazing thing to be a part of, just to watch them react to the "bridge-man" the Savior and how Jesus did have the power to bring them to God's side.

 

Comments from that night:

Paul -  "This talk is really getting sweet, this was sweet, very sweet".

Robert - "This makes me very excited to see him (the paralytic) go across, Jesus just….took him across!"

Andrew -  (he was yelling this to everyone in the teaching house)- "Get your sago ready, this talk is getting hot (good), we don't want any words to drop to the ground, make sure your food is ready for next week"

Regina- "Only the ones who saw their sick, only those went across, chest-strikers (the proud) don't get across, I must be clear on my sick (sin), I must not trick myself on the sick I have."

 

Keep praying for some of the older folks, but know that you are making a difference. Last week we asked you to pray for Helen, Sita, Ilen, Regina and Clara. Regina (Nina's mother) has made a complete about face to her previous belief system. Many of us were shocked last week (not just the white-skins, but the Yembi's as well) when she came out and said she was "done with the old ways of thinking", she knew what was "true and only on His talk was she going to stand (believe in)". Clara, Ilen and Helen have been faithfully coming and listening and should be here tomorrow morning for the Thursday ladies get together (the three ladies on the team meet with any women who want to come up and go over questions from the teaching, last week we had over 50 ladies talking about God's Word). Continue to pray for Sita though, and add a lady named Sophia to your list. Both are still coming but seem to be getting harder in their thinking and more contentious as we explain what a Pharisee looks like, and what true repentance is.

As we see others fading, we are watching others come on strong. Salvius a guy who has been a fairly constant pain in our neck since we got here has stepped up recently and been very faithful to attend, and is not shy about telling others that he is following the talk, and he will be one of the first to cross over to God's side when he understands. After last Saturday night's meeting he went down after the meeting and woke up his mother and wife (Sita and Edita) and had a strong talk about repentance and the bridge-man finally being there.

Last week Salvius and I went pig hunting (we got no pigs, got rained on through the night, but had great talks) and said this "I feel like the clouds of my thinking are blowing away and I am understanding clearly for the first time how God sees me, how big of a book (record of sins) I have and big my debt with God is". Others that recently we have seen really coming, seeking, and understanding are Bernadette, Sabina, Prisca, Kevin, Leopa, Marianna, Eric, Julie, Godfried, Matthew, Herman and some others. If you want to put faces to names, their pictures are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yembiyembi/. And if your new to the website, pick out some of those people and pray for them, this next week will be, for some, the biggest week of their lives.

As we head into the last week please continue to pray for your people, this is the last 100 meters of a long race that started in January. The week starts on Sat and goes till next Sat (19-26^th) and will probably not be without challenges. Please pray that things go well, that the kids are able to stay quiet, that the dogs and pigs stay away, that the people would be listening and tracking, that God would move in an incredible way and the beginning of the harvest in Yembiyembi would be great.

Especially pray for these 3 guys, Kerobim (Manu), Otto, and Jeffery. All three are older men raised in the worldview system of the tribe, and have not been able to shake it. Kerobim has missed only a couple lessons and is ready for next week, but remains quietly against the teaching. Pray that something gets through to these guys, that one of their kids, sisters, brothers, fathers is able to make an impact on them, and bring them around.

Not much else guys. When we started the teaching I felt like we were launched into space, and next week I feel like we are going to be landing on the moon. None of us are really sure what to expect, but we do know that God is going ahead of us, and that is on account of you and your prayers. Please continue to be faithful this week, it is a big one.


Thanks guys, appreciate you all very much,

Brooks for Nina and Beau

 

 

Week #7

Dear Friends and Family:

 

Well we finished the week of teaching with the final thought being "Next week we will start the talk of the bridge-man (the one who will be the bridge for the sons of Satan to come to God's side)" and people are getting excited. Many already know that this talk will culminate in this guy called Jesus, and that he did something big and our books (record of our sins) and our Adam part (Sin nature passed down to us from Adam) will get taken away allowing us to move to God's side. They are not sure how it all works though, and why this man is different, but they want to know and badly.

 

2 days ago my brother Roger said this "I know that my Adam part makes me dirty, because of that I am not sure there is anything my hands can work or my mind can think that can bring me to the other side. He (the bridge-man) must do something and that alone will carry me across".

 

Thank you for praying for the river and the flood situation that we were facing. Incredibly as we were getting 1", 2" and even one night 3.5" of rain we did not go under. The river is holding steady and we have been able to stay in the teaching house and continue in the momentum that we have there. Continue to pray for individual people and for the tribe as a whole. The talk of the village (especially from 6:00pm till 2:00 in the morning) is about the teaching and the new ideas brought by this teaching. Some are visibly excited as they hear these new things from God's book, and some are scared of the implications this will have on their life. One of my fathers, Lawrence, was talking last night and said "I know that a chicken and it's feathers cannot make my daughter better, I know that the smoke does not remove our dead ancestor spirits, they are all far far away probably in the fire lake. But these ideas came from our great-great grandfathers, and to give my backside to all of them is very hard to do." No doubt these things will take time for them to grow in, but praise God they are seeing a stark difference between what God says and what they have believed, and recognizing one as true others as false.

 

Last Saturday night's meeting was again a big highlight of my week (9:00pm till 3:00 in the morning). Many in that group are now understanding points of truth that are way passed where the rest of the tribe is at, and applying it to their lives. One of Nina's brothers, Silas, who is our right hand man that drives the boat and motor, cuts the grass on the airstrip with the tractor, and has been faithful with many other things.  Silas (whose wife at the beginning was not attending the teaching very well, but recently has been coming faithfully) talked about this "We are in your hands (us 3 missionaries), but my children and wife are in my hands, if they die and go to the fire lake I will be the one who God will ask the hard question to, I must work hard so they too can be clear in the thinking on God".

 

The highlight by far though of this week was putting together the lesson of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus with my language helper Job. As we read John 1:29 where John says (Bises translation) "Look you ones, this One coming is the sheep sent by God, He will remove the sin debt of all the men and women living on this ground" and Job put it all together. He didn't start crying or jumping up and down he just said "I see it, I see it is just like that" (which means he understands). Then he took me back from the beginning with Adam and Eve and our sin in them, then he walked me through Abraham and Isaac and the sheep taking Isaac's place, then through the Passover and the sheep without blemish was the only thing that could take the place of the Israelite first born, and that if Jesus was the sheep for all mankind then he (Job) counted and He was his sheep, his substitute. It was a….once in a lifetime experience.

 

Guys there are a lot of men and women who are close or right where Job is now at, and in a little over 3 weeks they will be hearing the last lesson we have to teach. Keep praying, keep holding your people up in prayer, that they would be faithful in their attendance, that they would be tracking with the lesson, that they would recognize their immense need for a Savior, and when He comes on the scene they would fall in love with Him.

 

We are in good health just run down a bit. Pray that the next 48 hours we could get some much needed rest and gear up for the next week of teaching.

 

There are only 3 and half weeks to go till we teach the final lesson, if we stay on schedule (big if) the final lesson will fall on the 28^th of April (27^th in the U.S). Keep pressing on and petitioning God for His grace and mercy to these people, your prayers are really make a difference.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate you all so much,

Brooks for Nina and Beau

 

P.S.

The pictures of all the Yembi's are still at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yembiyembi/ and there is a blog of all these e-mail and other links at http://bringingthesecrettalk.blogspot.com/

 

And if somebody could send me an e-mail and tell me:

1. Who was in the final four,
2. Who won
3. Where the Padres are in the standings
4. Who is going to be the next President of the U.S. (in that order of priority)