Tension is growing between the believers and non-believers among the Inanbimali people over the teaching of God's Word. While the believers are growing in their faith, non-believers are threatening to disrupt their meeting times.
In the village, non-believers have been threatening to burn down the building where the missionaries teach. They have thrown a bookstand used by the missionaries into the river.
"Besides these things, many nasty things are being said about those who have chosen to step out and believe in Jesus Christ," missionary Tony Sutton wrote.
The Inanbimali believers, although new to their faith, are learning the difficulties of living for Christ. "Please pray … that those who are baby believers will only grow stronger in their faith as they learn that the life of faith in Christ does not mean ease of life," Tony wrote. "God's Word says that we will have to endure persecution."
Tony has seen good things come out of the situation. One man, Desmond, decided he now wanted to listen and came to the missionaries. "So I proceeded, in a couple of hours, to try and take him from Adam and Eve all the way to the Ascension of Christ," Tony wrote. "He was all ears and said that what he was hearing was not at all the bad stuff that people were saying about us."
Desmond understands the holiness of God and that there is no way we can live up to God's expectations. "This stuff is sweet to my stomach. We are going to have to sit down and talk a lot more about this," Desmond told Tony.
Tony plans to continue sharing with Desmond so that he may realize that Jesus is the only way to get back to God and that He took the place of his sin.
"I don't think he has made it a personal thing yet, but [he] is very close," Tony wrote. Although there is persecution, Tony and the other missionaries remain hopeful that the faith of the believers will continue to strengthen and work as an example of God's grace and love to those who do not yet believe.
Please pray for the Inanbimali believers experiencing hostile threats from their community. Pray for patience and strength for the missionaries as they continue teaching and sharing the Gospel with the Inanbimalis and pray for Desmond's curiosity in God's Word and that God will move in him so that a change of heart will occur.
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