Today we had our last village bible
studies with 2 villages they call Okutoot and Napana. Okutoot have had a
relationship with KACHEP for about 2 years now but with Napana we have only
just started visiting and getting to know them since the beginning of October
this year. One of their biggest struggles is the distance they are from a
church. They are about 20 km give or take from the closest two towns which is
quite a long way to walk every Sunday! So one day when they saw us driving from
Okutoot and asked us what we were doing, they asked us if we could come lead a
Bible study in their village so they could have church every week too. At the
beginning of our time with them, we found that there was only three strong Christians
in Napana, but the majority of the people had no idea what Jesus was all about,
especially the men. After the first couple of weeks as we told Bible stories,
the men sadly stopped coming. A large group of women, teenagers and children
kept coming however.
We took them through what is called
chronological Bible storying, telling Bible stories from Creation and the Fall
in Genesis, to the birth of Jesus and the gospel message of life through faith
in Jesus' death and resurrection. This spans most of the Bible, leaving them
with a good understanding of what Christians believe and the Good news that we
are not, nor were we ever, alone here.
So this week, our last week, I told
the story of a man called Nicodemus and his interaction with Jesus, back around
30 AD, found in John Chapter 3. By God's grace, after the story and some
discussion about the story and talking through what being a Christian means, 20
plus people gave their lives to Christ today. I was so grateful for Joshua, our
translator and his heart for evangelism and wanting his people to understand
the truth of Jesus. He translated, but interactively, making sure everyone
understood what we were saying to them.
In this story it talks of 'the Kingdom of God' which is another way of saying Heaven, the place where we will be with God and where there is only his love. All sorrow and pain are wiped away. According to the Son of God, there is only one way to enter this kingdom, to be 'born again', through believing in Him and what He has done for the whole world on the cross. To Nicodemus, this was as confusing as it is to the next person when they hear such a concept for the first time. "How can we be born again? Can we jump back into our Mother's womb?" Nicodemus asks. Jesus means that to be his followers, there has to be a life change, we cannot keep living the way we are naturally inclined to and we cannot worship the things we did before. It has to be like we are literally starting over, hence the 'born again'. Anyone can say they will follow Jesus yet continue to live their life as if they don't. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, "If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new." We are to turn our back on things like selfishness, greed & anger, and strive for those of love, kindness, generosity, etc. For the human race, you and I, this is easier said than done, and it takes a daily commitment and re-commitment as we live our lives, born again as new creations.
Mercy triumphs over judgement =
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, He (Jesus Christ) is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have
not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his Word is not in us. I write
this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an
advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole
world." 1 John 1:8-2:1-2
The people of Napana decided to
make this informed choice today after meeting with them for 7 weeks now. They
were told that it is a relationship, not an obligatory religion and something
to fall out of because it is too hard. It is grace. We will do wrong things,
Jesus knows that, that is why He, and not us, had to pay the price for our sins, and he
forgives us when we truly want to change.
Pray for them that they would
continue on this narrow road of salvation, confessing where they stumble,
rejoicing in the knowledge that they are forgiven, submitting their actions and
decisions to Christ and trusting in him for everything.
Praise God for his
awesomeness!!!!!!!
Melissa
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