Yesterday the 16th of January, 2007 was a historic day for the Tobo people! For the first time, people heard the Gospel message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in their language! After the lesson, we were each surrounded by a cluster of excited people and the questions were really coming at us. We were able to confirm that several had indeed understood and believed that Jesus had paid for their sins through His shed blood. Praise God! One of these men, Welsen, told me this morning, “I am so happy! Yesu spilled His blood for me, I believe, and now I am going to heaven. I have eternal life!”
There were 2 other men who said the quote at the top of this email- one to Jason and the other to Chad. After today’s teaching on the resurrection appearances and ascension of Christ, as well as a recap of the Gospel from the yesterday, people just sat there, many with bowed heads, some with tears.
Jason went over to our neighbor and landowner, Alis, who was sitting there crying. The first words out of his mouth as Jason approached were, “Thank you, Yesu!” When Jason asked him why he said this, Alis’ response was, “Because Yesu died for me, and I believe and now I’m not going to hell anymore!” Just to remind you, Alis has been a very loud, arrogant, outspoken, quick-tempered man who has given us more than our share of headaches since our arrival in Tobo-land in 2002. His change in demeanor the past few days has been nothing short of incredible! Would you pray for Alis and his family (wife Lanisa, 3 young daughters and a toddler son)? We believe that his brother Morozin (who is another one of our neighbors who in the past had been, let’s say, difficult..) has also chosen to place his faith in Christ. Another unlikely person to come to faith—but God is in the business of saving the most unlikely of people, isn’t He? Praise Him!
I (Chad) went over to talk to Agabus, just a few years younger than me. I asked him what he was thinking, and he said “I believe Yesu died for me, spilled His blood and saved me from the penalty for my sin. Thank you, Yesu!” He also said, “I still have lots more questions, and I really want to talk more about these things!” I assured him that, yes, we will do much more talking about these things.
We look forward to sharing some more of these accounts in the following days, as we visit with different people and find out what they’re thinking and what they’ve understood. It is too early to give you a number of believers, but we are definitely encouraged by the response of several of those we’ve been able to talk with thus far. We’ve also spoken to several who still do not understand, and others who are choosing not to believe, which is sad. We invite you to continue to pray with us for the salvation of these dear people.
Please join with us in rejoicing for those who are now our brand-new brothers and sisters in Christ!! And pray for extra wisdom and energy as these look to be extremely busy days ahead. Many of you who are parents already know the huge responsibility and work involved in caring for the new baby after he/she is born. Imagine a multiple delivery! But along with the work ahead and overshadowing that, there is sheer joy! Yes, joy—at the birth of several baby believers—the body of Christ in Tobo-land!
Disclaimer: This personal ministry website is provided by New Tribes Mission (NTM) as a courtesy to its members. NTM makes no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information on these pages. Opinions expressed are provided by members in good faith, but are entirely those of the member and do not necessarily represent policy, doctrinal position, or opinions of NTM. If you encounter information that you consider questionable, please e-mail the NTM web team.
GET INVOLVED
