"For people, this is impossible, but for God all things are possible!"
- Mark 10: 26-27
It's true! This is true talk!" shouted Obapwi, as he heard how God had raised Jesus back to life again, showing that His sacrifice for our sins was acceptable. Within seconds of Obapwi speaking out you could hear all kinds of excited talking going on all over the room. Within moments others such as Wusimpaa, Apiyaawogi, and Todopwi (local Dao leader) started to chime in - "I believe this is true as well!...I also believe!" Bedenadus then spoke out - "Jesus has done a very big thing for us!" and then Wadamena, one of the women added in..."This really is a big and true talk!"
Others continued to excitedly add in from all over the room and the people broke out into a spontaneous time of testimony, some of them standing up to share their personal belief of what Christ had done with the rest of the group, still others just listening while grinning from ear to ear and shouting out in aggreance - "That's true...that's true talk!". Almost the entire group of Dao people that had been coming to the teaching faithfully for these past few months was right in front of our eyes expressing faith in speaking out about what Christ has done on their behalf.
As the day went on we spent as much time as possible among the people and around their houses questioning many of the men and women on what they had heard and asking them if they had fully understood and placed their trust in what Christ had done on their behalf. As we spent time with them throughout the day we continued to rejoice together with them over their new found faith and just laughed with joy as we listened to them speak out to both us and each other of their love for Jesus. We sat back, listened and smiled as we watched God doing what Jesus told his disciples (Mark 10:26-27) was "humanly impossible" for we ourselves to do - He was creating saving faith in and transforming the hearts of many of the Dao people for His own glory!
After it was all said and done, from what we can see from a human perspective it seems that God has used this past few months of teaching to call out believers from at least fifteen different Dao hamlets and two different dialects of our language. There are now believers from every major pocket of fhe Dao people group as a result of what God has done these past few months and Many of them are already talking of taking what they have heard back to their own family members that have not yet had a chance to hear!
This past week we have seen God step forward in faithfulness to His promises. We stand in testimony that no missionary will ever be able to go to an unreached corner of the world without confidence that God will do a work there, simply because God Himself has promised in passages such as Revelation 7:9 that one day there will be "A GREAT MULTITUDE WHICH NO MAN COULD NUMBER FROM EVERY NATION, FROM ALL TRIBES AND PEOPLES AND TONGUES, STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE AND BEFORE THE LAMB..." and God never breaks His promises! This was a week that we saw God step forward and "DO THE IMPOSSIBLE" - in the Dao Valley!
Please continue to pray for the Dao people. The journey is just now beginning for these young believers and we are right now printing up the very first portions of Genesis to give to the believers that have the ability to read. We will give these first portions to them in the next few weeks so that they can grow in their love for God's Word and begin learning what it means to spiritually feed themselves daily. We will begin meeting weekly with the Dao as a body of believers so that they can learn what it means to function as a church body and continue hearing what God has done for them while at the same time we will continue on translating the Word of God into the Dao language and teaching other Dao people how to read and write so that they can have the ability to read God's Word for themselves.
- Mark 10: 26-27
It's true! This is true talk!" shouted Obapwi, as he heard how God had raised Jesus back to life again, showing that His sacrifice for our sins was acceptable. Within seconds of Obapwi speaking out you could hear all kinds of excited talking going on all over the room. Within moments others such as Wusimpaa, Apiyaawogi, and Todopwi (local Dao leader) started to chime in - "I believe this is true as well!...I also believe!" Bedenadus then spoke out - "Jesus has done a very big thing for us!" and then Wadamena, one of the women added in..."This really is a big and true talk!"
Others continued to excitedly add in from all over the room and the people broke out into a spontaneous time of testimony, some of them standing up to share their personal belief of what Christ had done with the rest of the group, still others just listening while grinning from ear to ear and shouting out in aggreance - "That's true...that's true talk!". Almost the entire group of Dao people that had been coming to the teaching faithfully for these past few months was right in front of our eyes expressing faith in speaking out about what Christ has done on their behalf.
As the day went on we spent as much time as possible among the people and around their houses questioning many of the men and women on what they had heard and asking them if they had fully understood and placed their trust in what Christ had done on their behalf. As we spent time with them throughout the day we continued to rejoice together with them over their new found faith and just laughed with joy as we listened to them speak out to both us and each other of their love for Jesus. We sat back, listened and smiled as we watched God doing what Jesus told his disciples (Mark 10:26-27) was "humanly impossible" for we ourselves to do - He was creating saving faith in and transforming the hearts of many of the Dao people for His own glory!
After it was all said and done, from what we can see from a human perspective it seems that God has used this past few months of teaching to call out believers from at least fifteen different Dao hamlets and two different dialects of our language. There are now believers from every major pocket of fhe Dao people group as a result of what God has done these past few months and Many of them are already talking of taking what they have heard back to their own family members that have not yet had a chance to hear!
This past week we have seen God step forward in faithfulness to His promises. We stand in testimony that no missionary will ever be able to go to an unreached corner of the world without confidence that God will do a work there, simply because God Himself has promised in passages such as Revelation 7:9 that one day there will be "A GREAT MULTITUDE WHICH NO MAN COULD NUMBER FROM EVERY NATION, FROM ALL TRIBES AND PEOPLES AND TONGUES, STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE AND BEFORE THE LAMB..." and God never breaks His promises! This was a week that we saw God step forward and "DO THE IMPOSSIBLE" - in the Dao Valley!
Please continue to pray for the Dao people. The journey is just now beginning for these young believers and we are right now printing up the very first portions of Genesis to give to the believers that have the ability to read. We will give these first portions to them in the next few weeks so that they can grow in their love for God's Word and begin learning what it means to spiritually feed themselves daily. We will begin meeting weekly with the Dao as a body of believers so that they can learn what it means to function as a church body and continue hearing what God has done for them while at the same time we will continue on translating the Word of God into the Dao language and teaching other Dao people how to read and write so that they can have the ability to read God's Word for themselves.
