A FEW BENA BENAS PLACE FAITH IN CHRIST
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| Janet and other Benas listening to Rich teaching the Bible. |
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July 30, 2008
by Christina Johnson
Rich Foster was disappointed. After teaching Creation to Christ to the Bena Bena tribe in Papua New Guinea, only a few people expressed belief and an understanding of Jesus as their savior.
The majority of the people listening to the teachings felt they were good people and did not need a savior. Others were only attending the teaching sessions so they could have something to do with their spare time.
At the same time, the coffee season was distracting and occupying the attention of most villagers. To add to the mayhem, a neighboring village initiated tribal fighting with another village, thus affecting the village in which Rich was teaching.
"I must admit, I was disappointed and discouraged at the small number of people who expressed a clear understanding of God's grace offered to them," Rich wrote. "And probably even more discouraging were the several who expressed a clear understanding of Christ's … death on the cross for their sin, and then fell in to the trappings of the world (the busyness of coffee season to earn their yearly wages and the tribal fighting)."
Rich turned to God's Word for encouragement and found the parable of the sower in Mark 4.
Rich realized that it wasn't his fault that such a small number of people came to believe in God. He realized it wasn't in his control, but in God's hands and in the choices of those taking in the teachings. He realized that sometimes the seed planted will not bear lasting fruit.
Rich continues to teach and is excited and joyful for those individuals who did accept Christ. "These are the ones that we now focus our attention on, as we want to feed them from God's Word, and see their belief being grounded, rooted and built up in Him," Rich wrote.
Please pray that the Bena Bena people will continue to be open to listening to God's Word and that the current Bena Bena believers, along with the missionaries, will be an example of the abilities of God's grace and forgiveness to the rest of the community.
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