NTM

Last week I received this update from the Dao tribe where our coworkers are ministering.

“No man knows the day that I will die, but the Creator knows. Will I die while I am young? Will I die while my wife and I have only cut the cords of two children? Will I die when I am old and have lived a long life? No man can know such things, but the Creator knows. And if I die while I am still young, then the Creator has chosen that for me. I am ready to go up to that good place above the sky and live with Jesus.” – Wikipai

Most people get all the nice things said about them after they have already passed away. This last week however the exact opposite took place in the Dao Valley.

We were recently told that we needed to plan on coming out to town for a couple weeks so that we could sign our yearly visa renewal papers. We also around the same time heard from some dear friends of ours, Simon Tanner and his family, who head up the organization called Helimission, that they would soon be coming from Switzerland to Indonesia for a conference. The Tanner’s said they would love to come and visit Dao while they were in Indonesia so that their family could see first hand the people that their organization serves. We told them “Come on in! We would love to have you!” and we made a plan to go out to town via helicopter to do our visa paperwork after their visit. The Dao believers were likewise very excited to have an opportunity to thank Helimission for providing these interesting dragon-fly-looking contraptions called “heli’s” that have played such a huge part in bringing them the message of Jesus.

The Sunday before the Tanner’s arrival the Dao believers discussed with us a plan to have a feast in honor of Helimission in order to show their appreciation. After the Sunday service that all left for their various gardens and then showed up a few days later with lots of different garden foods along with some very expensive pig meat to celebrate the occasion! The next day, after the Heli arrived … we all gathered together and the Dao believers had a few of the more prominent men stand up and share. We translated from the Dao language to English for them.“…If it wasn’t for you people that carry the heli around, we would still this day be living in darkness with no knowledge of what Jesus has done for us. We thank you for carrying the message bearers here so that we could hear of Jesus!” spoke out Kopeedi in the midst of everyone gathered.

Then it was Simon’s turn. He stood up and pulled two small shiny packages from his pocket. After sharing for a little while about how it was Helimissions privilege to be a tool which God uses to carry the gospel message to those who have never heard, he said that he had something to say specifically about Wikipai and Daapoi. “There are two men here that I have heard many things about. I have heard of how they have been faithfully teaching God’s Word here…I have heard about how they have encountered many challenges and sicknesses in they’re trying to carry the Message of Jesus to the Taomi people…I have heard about how the enemy has been working against them…and I have great respect for these two men who have been faithful despite these sicknesses, challenges, and attacks from the enemy. We have come here also to show our appreciation to them….And that is why I want to present these two, small, special gifts to Wikipai and Daapoi to show our admiration for them this evening and encourage them to not give up in well-doing!”

You should have seen the smiles on their faces when Simon reached out his hand with those little shiny packages in them and presented to Wikipai and Daapoi two brand new, bright red, Swiss-made knives, hand carried-from Switzerland especially for them. The Dao people thought that they had gathered for a special feast just to honor Helimission but it had been turned around on them and ended up being a feast that the visitors had used to honor the first two Dao Bible teachers and evangelists, Wikipai and Daapoi. They were lifted up in front of their own people and all those gathered for their faithfulness despite all of the hardships and sickness that they have recently encountered in their endeavor to spread the gospel. Four days later we received Word that at approximately 5:00 a.m. on this last Wednesday morning, God took Wikipai home.

It is hard to explain with words how we feel right now. As I am sure it is hard for anyone to explain how they feel after they have lost a close friend. We don’t pretend to know why God chose this specific path for Wikipai. We don’t understand why God saw fit that Wikipai’s wife Moipi and their two kids Tawekabo and Damekauwo would be left without their father at such a young age. But one thing we do know and that we do not for a single second doubt is that for His own Glory and for the Dao people’s good, (Romans 8:28) God soveriegnly chose this for Wikipai. After all, If God for our good and His own glory, prophesied for hundreds of years beforehand about and then chose death for His only Son Jesus (Isaiah 53) – Why wouldn’t he choose the same for Wikipai?

Wikipai knew these things as well. As we slowly walked along the airstrip site together only about a week before he died, in his sickness he looked at me and said to me with a smile on his face “No man knows the day that I will die, but the Creator knows. Will I die while I am young? Will I die while my wife and I have only cut the cords of two children? Will I die when I am old and have lived a long life? No man can know such things, but the Creator knows. And if I die while I am still young, then the Creator has chosen that for me. I am ready to go up to that good place above the sky and live with Jesus.” …

If there is anything I have learned from watching Wikipai these past couple months as we have seen him spend his last days trying to carry God’s message to the people in Taomi that have not yet had a chance to hear. And then watched him slowly waste away in his sickness but never stop smiling and giving God glory despite his suffering, I feel like he has shown me how to Die well. Because when I die, I want my last weeks to have been spent on the front lines. I want my last days to have been spent commending Jesus to the unreached with a smile on my face no matter how much pain I may be in. And I want my last words to have been spent pointing my family, friends and all those around me towards the Creator so that He is the one people are left looking at – not me.

Please pray for the Dao people and specifically for Wikipai’s wife and children – Moipi, Tawekabo and Damekauwo. Pray that they will glorify God even in this great loss and that they as well as Jennie and I will depend on the strength God provides as we work our way through this sorrow and learn to live and function as a church without Wikipai.

(PS. I know we said in the last update that we would write about the house building project in this update. I found it very hard to write about such things when we have experienced such a great a loss. We are sorry for the miss-communication and will write about the building project soon.)

Because He said “GO!” – Scott and Jennie Phillips – Luke 9:60/17:10
Click here for more pictures and information on the Dao ministry: sjphillips.org

Last night we enjoyed supper with our co-workers Derek and Sarah Grant. They are tribal church planters to the Dao people of Indonesia. Here is a recent update from their coworkers who are currently in the jungle.

Missionaries Scott and Jennie Phillips could hardly hold back the tears as they saw Wikipai’s emaciated condition.

The couple had heard that Wikipai was so sick that he might be battling for his life so they hiked two rigorous days to the village where Wikipai and his wife, Moipi, had moved to begin a new outreach in Indonesia. The Dao couple was one of two families the missionaries had trained to go and teach evangelistic Bible lessons.

Upon seeing the missionaries, Wikipai greeted them with a sweet smile and in a very frail voice said, “Friends, don’t be sad for me. I have wasted away and my body has become small and shriveled like a stream that has not been fed by the rain for many days, but though my body is weak, my spirit is strong. And if my body dies here in this place, I know that my spirit will continue to live and will go up to be with the Creator. I do not fear death.”

Scott and Jennie still had fresh memories of Wikipai’s father wasting away and dying one year ago. The couple immediately started administering the medicine and rehydration fluid they brought with them.

After a few days of treatment, prayer and Scott and Jennie’s cooking, Wikipai began to regain some strength. He told the missionaries if they “were willing to help him carry his belongings and help him along the trail, he thought that he might be able to begin hiking the two days home for a time of recovery.”

Scott and Jennie knew that it would be a hard hike — that included crossing a vine bridge and ascending two 4,500 foot mountains — but looking to God for strength they began the return hike the next morning. They took it much slower going home, stopping frequently to rest and to give Wikipai rehydration fluid and food.

After a month and a half away, Wikipai and Moipi returned home and Moipi spoke to the group that gathered to meet them. “Everybody look! I was already looking for places to bury my husband. I already had a place picked out! But it is as if he has been raised from the dead right in front of my eyes! Look at him now. The Creator has caused him to live!”

Daapoi and his pregnant wife, Otopina, the other couple who were trained for this outreach, are taking Wikipai and Moipi’s place so the outreach can continue. Please pray for them and their health as they leave their accustomed environment.

Pray too that Wikipai will have a complete recovery and for the Dao people who are seeing these teachers and their families take great risks to bring them the Creator’s message, that God will work in their hearts to receive His Word.