One hot, humid day in the early 1980s, a Bisorio man named Gilimase walked from his village in Papua New Guinea to the village where missionaries had been ministering, carrying a bundle of sticks.
One by one, he drew out each stick, saying the name of a person in his village.
Then he threw each one on the ground, saying that this was another person who had never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel, another person who would die and go to Hell if someone did not come and teach them.
The missionaries had only recently completed teaching evangelistic Bible lessons in that village. Their focus was on establishing the new believers, helping them become the disciples of Christ they were meant to be. Perhaps in time missionaries or Bisorios would carry God’s Word to the village.
Many have been inspired to be missionaries by the story, and the video made from the story, Each Stick had a Name.
But there’s more to the story.
Gilimase went back to tell his village that no one was coming.
Not long after that, another messenger came from the village. “We don’t need you anymore,” he said. A god had appeared to them, given them their own language, and told them not to listen to what the other Bisorios called “God’s Talk.”
As the years and then decades went by, Bisorio Bible teachers taught and planted churches in every Bisorio village but one -- Gilimase’s village. The people of that village were steadfast. “We don’t need you. We have our own god.”
Until six months ago.
Six months ago, the village leaders allowed Bisorios to begin evangelistic Bible lessons. After six months of laying the foundations, teachers expect to present the Gospel to the people of the last unreached Bisorio village on Friday in Papua New Guinea -- which is today here.
Yes, today these people who are precious in God’s sight will have the opportunity to place their faith in Jesus.
And even this is still the beginning of the story. Other Bisorios will help these new believers mature, and plant a church in the village that will join them in reaching other tribes with the Good News. Soon they’ll be co-workers with the other Bisorio believers, and with the missionaries to the Bisorios, with me, and with you.
So is this story now over for you? Will you say, “Oh, that’s a nice story,” and go on with your life? Or will you make changes in your life so the story can go and be repeated among every tribe that still has no access to the Gospel? Yes, you’re already involved in that. But is that the end of the story for you? Or is God leading you to more?
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