The first day of evangelistic Bible teaching among the Inapang people started with a visual representation of time. The missionaries used a 50-yard-long strand of beads, sent to them by a church in Athens, Tennessee, to hang pictures on that will represent biblical history.
The Inapangs said, "We are just this last mark in time, but God's story goes all the way back to the beginning."
It was clear the lesson was sinking in when one man said, "We have people come through here all the time saying that they know the truth about this or that. From now on, we will just say this, 'Oh really? You are just like God and can go back and tell us about the history of time? We can't do that. … We are like the butt of this cigarette … just a short little something on God's story."
The presentation included how the Bible came to different peoples. The missionaries shared that God first gave His story to the people of Israel and that His story was written over a period of 1,600 years and by 40 prophets.
They shared with the Inapangs how the Bible came to Germany, England, the USA, and now to Papua New Guinea in the Inapang language.
The Inapangs are understanding and were able to answer the review questions at the end of the lesson. They even reviewed and answered more questions on the walk back up the hill from the lesson.
The missionaries gave out lessons and then a short summary with questions for the readers that are in the village. The readers are spread out at each hamlet and will review the questions again at each place. They were also given a taped version of the lesson that was made over the weekend.
This was just day one of a long three months. There are 70 lessons in all.
The rest of this week the missionaries will talk about God. They will go over how He is omniscient, good, omnipotent, eternal, and our Creator. These characteristics will lay a foundation for the Creation story which will begin next Monday.
Please pray for the missionaries' words and that the people will hear and understand the truth of who God is.
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