IN THE BATTLE (December 16, 2006)
This week, we have begun to see the spiritual battle here intensify. The enemy is flexing his muscles and leading these people away from the truth! He is enticing them with supposed money and riches, in the form of the cargo cult, that will just spew from the mountain. Please pray for this battle here!!!
This area is a hotbed for the cult, which holds secret meetings and is consumed with the goal of getting cargo and enjoying “the good life” which the white man enjoys. They believe that in the far past, God left them and went over to the white man, where he blessed us with material wealth and an easy life (meaning ‘no work’). Over the decades, people here have tried all kinds of ways to get the secret to that life. Meeting, being in agreement that they will get it, performing various rituals, prophesying, building houses to store the coming cargo in, all to no avail. Failure has always been blamed on some excuse or another, and the cycle goes on and on…
Just as we are arriving at the point in our teaching of the Bible where we are to present some prophecies of the coming Deliverer, there are other prophecies being proclaimed by the cargo cult here in our village and in our tribal area which have nothing to do with the gospel message. These prophecies include such things as 3 days and nights of darkness and the promise of rice and other material goods that will ‘magically’ appear on the ground on December 24th. Even as we continued teaching this week, many of the men who have sat and listened have also been going to these secret cargo cult meetings to plan to ‘bless’ their cargo house. (Many villages have built these cargo houses to store the stuff that will ‘spew forth from the mountains’ and they have even stopped working in their gardens just waiting for the food to show up.)
Sad to say, one of our friends and language helpers here who has helped both Jason and myself in checking Bible lessons and portions is one of the men most actively involved in this cult. He had been going to the teaching faithfully and we were hopeful that he was beginning to see the truth of God’s Word. However, as the days began to draw closer to the supposed fulfillment of these events, he stopped coming to the teaching, and instead is devoting his energies to getting things ready for the cargo to come, and from what we’ve heard, is even trying to encourage others not to come to the teaching, claiming that we are lying and do not want them to get the real secret. So in essence, according to him and others in this cult, we are leaving out the most important part of the message-how to get a better life here on earth!
Our first believer Tingon has been approached by 2 of the cult leaders in the past few weeks asking him to join. When he told them, "No, I have everything I have ever wanted or needed because Jesus washed my sins away," their response was to scorn him. They told him, "You are not thinking about your future." How ironic is that statement?
We refused to stop the teaching in spite of their desire to hold meetings and prepare for this coming event. Jason shared this with our group, "No we will not stop the teaching. You will have to make a choice as to what is more important in your lives. Satan wants you to go. He is promising things to you just like he promised Eve if she would eat the fruit. But he is a liar. The cargo cult has never given you anything, and it can not give you eternal life."
We went up to the teaching on Friday and no one talked to us or shook our hands because they were all hiding the fact that they were meeting that very morning about the cargo. Noticeable was the absence of almost all of the young guys, whom they had sent to get pigs for the cargo house blessing the next day! When we asked those who did show up why they came to the teaching, one or two said that they wanted to hear God’s Word, and a few actually said they wanted the cargo that “God” will give us. The majority, many whom we know to be a part of the cult, did not say anything. So we didn't teach. We told them that they were not understanding God’s Word, and we had just gone over the Law and the 1st commandment that there are to be no other gods but the one True God, the One they have been learning about since October. We told them in no uncertain terms that in following this cult and its false promises of cargo and an easy life, that they are making cargo their god and thus breaking the first commandment. We then left to let them think it over and discuss this among themselves, as they would say nothing to us.
On Saturday, Jason and I went up to the village. As we entered the village, we were able to ask a few friends about what was said after we’d left. What we learned was that rather than being concerned about sinning and breaking God’s commands, they were trying to find out what they had done wrong previously that would make us stop teaching them that day. They decided that it must have been because they went to other villages for other events (not cargo cult-related) those 2 days that we took off of teaching, and that the third offense was that they had sent off the young guys. They said, “We should have first all stayed and listened to God’s Talk, then we could get ready for tomorrow’s house blessing. That would have been the right thing to do!” So this revealed to us the depth of their desire for cargo rather than a true understanding of sin and internalizing the truth they’d been hearing so far.
We then stood back to observe as almost everyone in the village participated in the ceremony to ‘bless’ the cargo house. This involved people dressed in traditional loincloths and skirts, singing some chants, and every family contributing an offering of money—all in the hopes that if done right, the cargo will come to the house on the 24th!
We need your prayers. At this point, we are looking at reviewing some key themes from previous lessons, and showing them again from God’s Word that they have broken God’s law and are truly sinners in need of a Savior. Please pray that God would convict their hearts of sin.
Thank you for being our fellow warriors in the battle,
Chad, Janeene & Elijah
PS- We were very saddened on Thursday by the death of an older lady who had not come to the teaching. Her death only underscores the urgency of the battle we are in!
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Tobo tribe (October 28, 2006)
Prayer requests
About 150 people have been coming to the first week of teaching. Please pray that these people would continue to come every weekday faithfully so that they can hear the whole story. And pray that people would continue to ask lots of questions so that we can address areas where they may remain unclear or confused.
Jason is teaching most of the lessons, and Chad will be teaching a lesson on occasion, as well as reading the Bible passages and asking the review questions. Please continue to pray for Jason and Chad, that God will keep their tongues loose and limber and their minds sharp so that they can clearly communicate the truth of God’s Word in this very difficult language.
Several of Chad’s translation helpers have been away due to commitments in other villages, and at least one has come on and off the first week thus far. Please pray that they would all come regularly to the teaching, and also for their salvation.
Janeene and Kellie began meeting with a small group of lady friends who have been coming to the teaching. Please pray that this group would continue to openly ask questions about the lessons as they’ve been taught, and that these ladies would enter into a personal relationship with Christ.
Please pray for Chad’s 8-year-old niece, Ellie Skees, who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer and has already undergone her first round of chemotherapy. Pray for healing as well as for grace for our family, especially her parents John and Sarah (Chad’s sister), and her little brother Ethan. (You can check out ellieskees.blogspot.com)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Tobo tribe (October 23, 2006)
We would like you to pray as we are teaching God’s Word (starting in Genesis on Oct. 16) to the Tobos for the very first time in their own language. What a privilege it is to be here, an extension of you all, the body of Christ, sharing the His Good News to these people in the uttermost parts of the earth!!
Please pray for open hearts and minds and understanding, and that people will continue to come every day, week after week. As we have seen the importance of laying a careful Biblical foundation before presenting the Gospel, this will be a marathon of teaching, 5 days a week for the next 3 ½ to 4 months, with the Gospel presented sometime in January.
This coming week of teaching, we ask that you would specifically pray for us these days that we’ll communicate clearly:
October 23rd: God created Adam (the ancestor of us all, not just white people). And as our rightful creator and owner, He gave man dominion over the earth, animals, etc.
October 24th: Day 7: God rested. God made the garden of Eden and put Adam there.
October 25th: God said not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
October 26th: God made Eve, the first woman
October 27th: Lucifer rebelled against God and became His enemy
Review of first 10 lessons
Thanks for the support you are to us!
Chad, Janeene and Elijah
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