April&nbs=
p;
2004
Why I Believe <=
/span>
By Steven Yates, Ph.D. in Philosophy and
author
"Y<=
/b>ou don't really believe that stuff, do you?"
I sometimes get
asked this since returning to the Christianity I professed when I was young=
er.
It is worth pondering.
Why have I
concluded that Christianity is credible and that the Bible really is God's
revelation to mankind? Consider the Bible a moment. It is a book with many
human authors, its origins spanning millennia. Yet once we look past the my=
riad
details, the life stories of hundreds of people and the rise and fall of do=
zens
of kingdoms and empires, the Bible tells a single, consistent story: man's
creation by God; man's fall because he rejected God and tried to put himsel=
f in
God's place (including repeated attempts to reach heaven on his own, from t=
he
ancient Tower of Babel to communism in our time); and God's plan of redempt=
ion
for man through Jesus Christ. Then, it asserts that while some would believ=
e,
by and large man would continue to reject God's plan, leading eventually to=
the
End Times.
Many writers ha=
ve
argued in detail that we have almost reached the onset of these End Times. =
Of
course, no one can prove this. But if we want evidence for the credibility =
of
the Bible, there is plenty at hand. Consider passages like the following.
"In the last days perilous times will come. For men shall be lovers of
their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy; without moral affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a f=
orm
of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2Timothy 3:1–5)=
.
Is this or is this not a good description of the
Other prophecies
are astonishing in their detail. The Old Testament book of Daniel predicts
"a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to
that same time. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased" (Daniel 12:1,4). People t=
oday
"run to and fro" to a degree that could scarcely have been imagin=
ed
in Daniel's time. The same goes for our scientific knowledge and technical
know-how. Did the prophet Daniel simply make an amazingly good guess?
Finally, the New
Testament provides an even more startling prediction of the materialist
secularism that took over modern science during the 19th and 20th centuries:
"There shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His com=
ing?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were fr=
om
the beginning of the creation.' For this they are willfully ignorant of, th=
at
by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of w=
ater
and in the water, whereby the world that was then, being overflowed with wa=
ter,
perished" (2 Peter 3:3–6).
The Bible isn't=
a
scientific tract, of course. But we do have empirical findings that support=
it
better than will ever be taught in secular colleges and universities. To ci=
te a
few examples, alluded to in 2 Peter, there is evidence that an old civiliza=
tion
existed and ended suddenly--as if erased by the very sort of global catastr=
ophe
Genesis describes. It was probably seafaring, be=
cause
it had mapped portions of the globe. This is suggested by the fact that cer=
tain
Mediterranean peoples had maps of places they had no business knowing about=
if
current theories of history are correct.
Back in the 196=
0s,
historian and cartographer Charles Hapgood wrot=
e a
now-classic book entitled Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings. One ancient map, t=
he Piri Reis map, depicts what seem to be portions of the
coastline of South America extending inland, with the
Hapgood studied other maps dating from ar=
ound
the same period that turned out to offer an accurate depiction of the coast=
line
of
There are also
cases of what one might call oops-out-of-place artifacts. These are objects
clearly of human origin found in places they had no business being (e.g., m=
etal
objects found embedded in solid rock supposedly millions of years old). The
disaster itself left traces in other forms, such as wooly mammoths found
embedded in Siberian tundra frozen so suddenly that they still had undigest=
ed
food in their stomachs. The process of fossilization requires sudden burial=
and
preservation. Otherwise, the lifeless animal or plant simply decays without
leaving a trace.
There is more, =
much
more, but my point is that a surprising amount of accumulated physical and
historical evidence drawn from many different disciplines tends to support a
Scriptural view of the world, not discredit it.
Because of the
accumulation of these bits and pieces of evidence drawn from diverse
disciplines, one's Christian faith need not be blind. Christianity gets a b=
ad
rap these days because Christians profess to have at their disposal a numbe=
r of
absolute moral truths. Today's academic orthodoxy rejects the whole idea of
truth, much less moral truth. Christians are singled out as intolerant and
judgmental. Indeed, the "universal tolerance" so popular today me=
ans
tolerance toward every belief system and idea except those of Christianity.=
The
Bible predicted this, too, as it did dozens of other prophecies, be they ab=
out
the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ--or about=
our
own times.
Jesus never coe=
rces
anyone into following Him. He merely makes Himself available. "Behold,=
I
stand at the door, and knock," He says. "If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him&quo=
t; (Revelation
3:20). Jesus doesn't operate like the BATF. He doesn't, that is, kick o=
pen
your door and force His way in at gunpoint. One is saved by placing his fai=
th
in God's gift of Christ's saving power--and not in good works, following ru=
les
such as those passed by a government or even a religious institution, or
anything else (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The point of
Christianity, which Christians celebrate at Easter with Jesus' supernatural
resurrection from the dead, is God's plan of redemption through Jesus, for
those who trust Him as Savior. He promises that all who call upon His name =
will
be saved (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21). This is the core message of
Christianity.
A
The ACLU jumped=
on
the opportunity to once again pick up the cause of the godless and assigned
their sharpest attorneys to the case.
The case was br=
ought
before a wise judge who after listening to the long, passionate presentatio=
n of
the ACLU lawyers promptly banged his gavel and declared, "Case
dismissed!"
The
lead ACLU lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said,
"Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? Surely the
Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. And the Jews-=
-why
in addition to Passover they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah ...and yet my cli=
ent
and all other atheists have no such holiday!"
The judge leaned
forward in his chair and simply said "Obviously your client is too con=
fused
to know about, or for that matter, even celebrate the atheists' holiday!&qu=
ot;
The ACLU lawyer
pompously said "We are aware of no such holiday for atheists, just when
might that be, your honor?"
The judge said "Well it comes every year on exactly the same date---April 1st!"<= o:p>
Barbershop Conversation
T
A man went to a
barbershop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He began to have a
good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about so ma=
ny
things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched on the subject of God. =
The barber said:
"Look man, I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do yo=
u say
that?" asked the customer.
"Well, it'=
s so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize=
that
God does not exist. Oh, tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick
people? Would there be abandoned children? If God exists, there would be
The customer th=
ought
for a moment, but he didn't respond because he did not want to start an
argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just
after he left the barber-shop, he saw a man in the street with long hair an=
d a
beard. It was very long, and a long time since he had his hair cut. He looked dirty and unkempt.
The customer en=
tered
the barbershop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barber=
s do
not exist."
"How can y=
ou say
they don't exist?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here and I a=
m a
barber. Why I just worked on you!"
"No!"=
the
customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist, because if they did there wo=
uld
be no people with long hair and beard like that man who is outside."
"Ah, barbe=
rs do
exist. What happens is that p=
eople
do not come to me."
"Exactly!&=
quot;
affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God does exist. What happens=
is
people don't go to Him and do not look for Him.”
He had made his
point!
The Difference
by Grace Naessens
I got up early one morning.
and rushed right into the day.=
I had so much=
to
accomplish
that I didn't=
have
time to pray.
Problems just
tumbled about me,
and heavier c=
ame
each task.
"Why doesn't God =
help
me?" I wondered,
He answered, "You
didn't ask."
I wanted to see
joy, and beauty,
but the day t=
oiled
on, gray and black.
I wondered wh=
y God
didn't show me.
He said, &quo=
t;But
you didn't seek."
I tried to come
into God's presence;
I used all my=
keys
at the lock.
God gently and
lovingly chided,
"My Chil=
d, you
didn't knock."
I woke up early
this morning,
and paused be=
fore
entering the day.
I had so much=
to
accomplish,
that I had to=
take
time to pray. (Matthew 7:7-12)
Part II
Keri Henkel
Yang Shuo is a really cute little
town, with one main driving road through the city. The traffic on this road=
is
crazy, as the road has no dividing lines or traffic lights and is quite wid=
e.
People, public and tour buses, cars, bicycles, tuk-tuk=
s,
and motorcycles all try to out maneuver each other to get through the town =
or
across the street as quickly as possible. The other main road is closed to =
all
but foot traffic and is dotted up and down both sides with shops and cafes.=
In
fact, I’ve never seen so many cafes in one place. Apparently, there a=
re a
lot of foreign tourists in the summer months, as most of the cafes offer
“western” food. We actually saw very few foreigners when we were
there, but there were a lot of Chinese tourists. We were in the town during
“golden week,” the week many Chinese people are on vacation aft=
er
Spring Festival. The banks of the
We arrived in Yang Shuo by bus f=
rom
The first day, however, we wandered around the town. When
suppertime rolled around, we decided to stop for dumplings at one of the few
Chinese restaurants on the main strip. I thought the kid who took our order=
was
in high school, but it turns out he’s a student at Tianjin
University, which is about two hours from Beijing. He was helping his family
out at their restaurant over his vacation. We said a prayer together before=
we
started eating like we always do, and he heard u=
s and
wanted to know the words of the prayer to give to one of his friends. Then,=
as
we were talking and laughing about stupid stuff our students do, he came ov=
er
and asked if he could sit and talk with us, as he was incredibly curious ab=
out
what was so funny. I think he found us highly amusing and just a little bit
strange, yet memorable I’m sure!
Early the next morning (by early I mean around 10 a.m.—=
;we
were on vacation!), we rented mountain bikes and set out into the countrysi=
de.
Let me just tell you a bit about biking in
Our main destinations plodded out by Sarah were two famous s=
tone
bridges and a few villages. To get to the first bridge, we rode through two
villages...only one was by accident because we took a wrong turn. The villa=
ges
are very simple, with single-story stone houses, dirt roads, and the occasi=
onal
water buffalo. Many families decorated the fronts of their homes with red
banners for Spring Festival. As we rode through the villages, people called=
out
“hello!” over and over again. The villages are surrounded by
fields. I really don’t know what was growing in the fields, but it was
winter, so many fields had nothing growing in them. When we arrived at the
first stone bridge in Fuli, I thought we had st=
epped
onto the page of a storybook. Patchwork fields and a tiny waterfall were
encircled by hills and mountains, and in the center of it was an ancient st=
one
bridge across the stream in the shape of an arch. I stood absolutely still =
for
a moment and reveled in the beauty of my tranquil surroundings. We climbed a
nearby mountain-hill and ate our lunch at the top. Some villagers saw our b=
ikes
at the base of the hill and waved up at us before climbing up to see if we
needed help getting down...we didn’t.
After lunch, we rode to the second stone bridge. This one was
built in the Ming Dynasty in (I think) the 1400s. It covered a small river,=
and
on the river were bamboo rafts to take tourists for rides. We followed a tr=
ail
along the river for a while, until it ended in the middle of a field. Each =
section
of the field was separated by a path made from a mound of dirt about a foot
high and a foot wide for farmers to walk on. We tried to ride our bikes alo=
ng
these paths, but after Rachel and I both fell off our bikes, we decided to
walk. In one place we actually had to walk through the field to get back to=
the
bike path, but we were very careful not to step on any plants. We rode thro=
ugh
several more villages before stopping at an inn/cafe about 5 km from town f=
or a
celebratory beer of local variety. The final stretch was painful (for me, at
least), but we made it back to Yang Shuo by 6 t=
hat
evening. Sarah figured we rode about 30 km or so that day.
Our plan the next day was to bike about 20 km to the town of=
As the sky started to clear, we took a boat trip down the ri=
ver.
The river was very low, and there were some areas where the water had reced=
ed
so far from the banks that only one boat at a time could go through a narrow
passage in the middle. Fog was hovering around the tops of the peaks, but t=
he
sun was shining through the fog, making for a breathtaking view. Around the
bend of the river is one of the most scenic spots in
By noon, we had finished our boat tour and were wondering wh=
at
else there was to do. Wei =
Wei
suggested we go to a nearby fishing village, the name of which in Chinese
literally translates into
When it was dark, we had a chance to experience an ancient
Chinese way of fishing. All up and down the river are fishermen on bamboo r=
afts
with large black birds. I’m so sorry, but I can’t remember what=
the
birds are called. It starts with a C. At night, the fishermen tie the throa=
ts
of the birds so they can only swallow small fish and then they light a lant=
ern,
which they attach to the front of the boat. As they silently paddle up and =
down
the river, the birds dive into the water and bring up fish. Since the birds=
can
only swallow small fish, the fishermen take the big fish out of the
birds’ mouths. The fishermen used to be able to make a living fishing
this way, but that is not the case anymore. It’s really interesting to
watch, though. We only saw the birds catch one fish, but we only watched for
maybe a half hour. On rainy days, some fishermen wear a kind of waterproof =
coat
make of straw or something like straw, but the fishermen we saw didn’=
t. Bummer.
That night, our one night in Xing Ping, the power went out in
the whole town. That night we also discovered why you should be wary when a
hotel only costs 30 yuan (around $3.00) a night.
First of all, the hotel (actually, I don’t even want to call it a hot=
el)
had squatty potties in the rooms, and if that isn’t bad enough, they
didn’t flush. However, we’ve lived in
The next morning, we all passed on a shower, even though the=
re
was hot water, because the air in the bathroom was freezing and rather smel=
ly,
due to the toilet situation. Let’s just say, you wouldn’t want =
to take
off your shoes in the bathroom. We had gotten a guide to take us to
By the time our week in Yang Shou came
to an end, we had sampled most of the cafes and done plenty of shopping. One
afternoon we decided to visit a famous fan shop in a town about 6 km away. =
We
all piled into a tuk tuk.
Here is probably the most dangerous part of our whole trip. Remember that c=
razy
road I told you about in Yang Shou? Well, we=
217;re
in a tuk tuk drivin=
g on
this crazy road, going through a tunnel, and the tuk tuk driver is talking on his cell phone. Probably not=
the safest
situation! When we arrived in the town, the market had closed for the day, =
so
we ended up going to the house of some guy who made fans, but they
weren’t very impressive. Oh well.
On the road again...back to
(to be
continued…)
Since the
beginning of time, people who trust one another, care for one another, and =
are
deeply connected to one another have shared food as a sign of and a
reaffirmation of their relationship.
When attention is paid to this shar=
ing,
it takes on a ritual character.
The nurturing of the body becomes a
metaphor of the mutual nourishing of lives. Every time we say a blessing befor=
e a
meal, every time we lift a glass and say fine words to one another, every t=
ime
we eat in peace and grace together, we have celebrated the covenants that b=
ind
us together.
Robert Fulghum
Lost Religion
Bishop Art=
hur
Moore loved to tell the story of a man who had been away from his home chur=
ch
for some years, involved in all kinds of shady practices and criminal
activities. But when he came back to his home church and testimony-time cam=
e,
he was ready.
He stood and said, “I’m=
so
glad to be back in my own church, and I want to tell you that while it̵=
7;s
true that I have beaten my wife, that I have deserted my children, that I h=
ave
stolen and lied and done all manner of evil and served several terms in
jail—but I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that not once, in =
all
that time, did I ever lose my religion!”
Now, if your religion is nothing mo=
re
than an insurance policy for heaven, if it has no effect on how you live and
how you treat others now, then first of all, you are missing out on life. A=
nd
second, you’d better check your motivation. Christianity is good reli=
gion
because it works in day-to-day life.
James W. Moore
Jungle Journal
Missionary Terry Schultz,
Our Parinari church leader Maravid, along with members Luch=
o
and Paulino, have relatives in St. Rosa AND two=
Chayahuita villages beyond, Nuevo Tocache
Sur and Nuevo Tocache
Norte! None of these villages have access to the Gospel! As the three
villages all have about 2 hours walking distance between them, we would be
hitting the jungle trails deeper into the jungle than we had ever gone befo=
re!!
Ronal and I waited for Maravid, =
his
uncle Lucho, (who rarely ventures out of Parinari) and teenage nephew Pau=
lino
to rendezvous with us at our hostel in Yurimaguas the
night before our journey. At the appointed hour the three natives were in t=
he
hostel lobby looking for us! With much excitement, plans for our
exploratory trip were finalized.
The next morning we were down at the docks around 5:00 and s=
oon
on our way. As we were heading up north in the direction towards
We now began heading down progressively smaller rivers deep =
into
the jungle. Three hours passed, and the rivers were now much shallowe=
r.
We had to pull over and take the outboard motor off and replace it with a <=
span
class=3DSpellE>peke-peke, – (A small engine with what looks li=
ke a
huge egg beater on the end, - ideal for traveling in shallow water although
it’s much slower going.)
As we passed an isolated village here and there, native chil=
dren
rushed to the banks to catch the rare sight of a passing boat. How ma=
ny
of these villages I wondered, have access to the Good News? Maravid finally announced that we were less than an h=
our
from the
For it was not 15 minutes later, that we came to a fork in t=
he
river. We chose to go left. We chose wrong! A few minutes
later, the river became so shallow that we grounded on a sandbar. Seg=
undo
and Carlos got out and walked down the river about thirty yards to see if t=
he
river got deeper again, which it did. Everyone got into the shallow r=
iver
and pushed the boat free. However, a few minutes of boating later, an=
d we
were grounded again! Little did we know we were going deeper and deep=
er
down the wrong river!
This all went on for nearly an hour before our group of 6 men
was ready to admit we were going the wrong way. (No, female readers,
there was no one around for us to ask for directions!) We were all
calling out for Maravid and Lucho,
but received no reply. We should have been to
After about half an hour of pushing and pulling the boat bac=
k up
the shallow river, Maravid<=
/span>
and Lucho cam wading downriver, laughing and ye=
lling
at us! They too put a shoulder to the boat, and we got the boat back =
to
where we could use the peke-peke engine.
Finally back on course, we eventually reached
As mentioned earlier, this was only our second visit ever to=
It was now late afternoon. Our strategy was set: =
As
the men of the villages are out in their small fields during the day, our b=
est
time to preach and teach is in the evenings. (Indeed, in most of the
villages, the people may get up between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning, sit
around and have a bowl of masato together, than=
head
for the fields or fishing at the first break of light. At night, when
there is no light, most natives are in bed between 7:00 and 8:00!)
We decided to immediately set out for the next Chayahuita village, Nuevo Tocach=
e
Sur, a couple hours’ jungle hike away.&nb=
sp; Maravid had friends there, and he was convinced that =
no one
there had faith in Jesus, or perhaps had even heard of Jesus. We would
give a Gospel presentation in the evening, and then return to
We quickly packed flashlights, water, Bibles and visual
aids. Our group that now set our down the jungle path included: Ronal,
Boat pilot Segundo, Pelejo jungle expert Jose, =
Parinari members Maravi, =
Lucho, and young Paulino,=
St.
Rosa friend Roberto, and me. What a fabulous team, - everyone ready to
witness to our faith in the saving work of Jesus and the availability of ho=
pe
and salvation for all!!
The jungle path was quite good, and the plants more colorful=
and
different than we had seen elsewhere. Several moderately deep gorges
could only be passed by walking across a “bridge” consisting of=
a
huge, felled tree trunk. This wouldn’t have been too bad, if it
weren’t for the fact that the tree trunks were usually covered with
slippery moss and wet from rain!
After about 2 hours of hiking, we finally reached the
The entire village of natives quickly gathered, and we began=
our
presentation with many gospel songs. The natives were nearly mesmeriz=
ed,
as many Chayahuita villages no little of songs =
or
instruments. Maravid added a song in Chayahuita that really had everyone transfixed! =
Then,
it was time to launch into our Gospel presentation!
By the grace of God, Maravid and=
I
have developed a wonderful rhythm when I preach and he translates into Chayahuita. As usual, I began with that tried a=
nd
true ¨point of contact: ¨ the native’s obsessive fear of evil
spirits. The true evil spirit, Satan, was described, including his us=
e of
a serpent’s body and his deceiving of our ancestors, Adam and Eve.&nb=
sp;
A world plunged into sin and a broken relationship with God was described. =
Our
inherited sinful nature was explained. And then, Jesus´ work of
salvation and defeat of Satan was joyfully proclaimed! And by the she=
er
power of the Holy Spirit, so real it seemed you could feel it working, the
natives appeared to hang on every word we spoke! A flurry of question=
s by
several men to Maravid further proved the
native’s genuine interest in our message!
We concluded our evening with a couple more songs. It =
was
now late, pitch dark out, and we were getting eaten alive by insects! =
We
promised to pass through the village again tomorrow morning to bring the
natives more information about the true God!
It was now time for the two hour walk back to
Meanwhile, Paulino seemed a bit =
spooked
by a strange jungle far denser than what he was accustomed to back in Parinari. It was certainly a darkened hour when
snakes could be out, and Paulino was walking in
flip-flops! He decided to retreat from his spot at the head of the li=
ne,
placing Ronal, (who had tall rubber boots on) out in front. Ronal was=
not
happy about this. After over two hours of midnight jungle trekking, we
finally reached
It was too late to cook anything, and everyone was reduced to
eating whatever could be scrounged from the backpacks. We sat on the
porch-like area of an abandoned thatch-roof- hut-on-pol=
es,
eating quickly as the insects were coming in heavier than ever! No am=
ount
of insect repellent seemed to keep the insects away. I picked up my
precious bottle of warm Sprite, only to see my whole right hand turn bright
green. The Deet on my repellent-saturated=
hand
had dissolved the green ink right off the label! We dived under our
mosquito nets and lay on a sheet right on the hard raised floor of split wo=
oden
slats. I put in ear plugs against the noise of the swirling insects. =
About 20 minutes later, with no warning, a torrential rain c=
ame
blasting down! However, as everyone was completely exhausted, it wasn’=
;t
hard to fall back to sleep. Not for long however. Even by Amazon
standards, the rain storm was massive. So massive in fact, that a cow
decided to jump up onto the raised porch surrounding our little, door-less =
room
we were lying in! The huge weight of the cow as it jumped up onto the
porch sent shock waves rippling through the wooden floor boards we were lyi=
ng
on! Everyone was jolted awake, thinking an earthquake had hit or the
house was collapsing! Segundo and Jose bolted right up off the floor,=
and
out the door-less opening to our room and onto the porch. They pushed the
bellowing cow right off the porch before it could enter our enclosed room!!=
That bit of excitement over, we all tried to fall back to sl=
eep,
only to discover that all kinds of animals were seeking refuge from the sto=
rm
right under the floor we were lying on! With our dwelling raised up on
poles, there was a foot and a half of dry space between the ground and the
bottom side of our floor. The result: Huge sows, chickens, duck=
s,
and dogs were all huddling just inches below us, squawking, grunting, growl=
ing
and howling the night away! Imagine trying to sleep with pigs, ducks =
and
dogs partying all night right beneath your
pillow!!!
Morning came way too soon, as we and the animals below us be=
gan
to slowly rise. We had a huge day ahead of us, including presentation=
s in
all three of the villages. An early start was imperative.
Once again, we hiked 2 hours to Nuevo T=
ocache
We were now hiking even deeper into the Amazon rainforest!&n=
bsp;
The plants seemed more exotic and lusher. =
Frogs
colored with deep yellow and black stripes were seen for the first time.&nb=
sp;
Two hours of trekking brought us to the edge of our next village. Here
Segundo and Jose spotted a strange hole in the ground just off to the side =
of
our path. The hole was about the size of a 2 liter pop bottle.
There was a fat, rounded stick lying close by. Obviously, the hole and
stick had been used to mash something up, a la mortar and pestle. Jose
and Segundo looked around and immediately identified two plants, and the
mystery was solved. Segundo explained:
The leaves from either of these plants are mashed in the hol=
e to
produce a juicy pulp. The pulp is then wrapped up and taken to use in
fishing! When the poisonous plant pulp is thrown in the water it
“drives the fish crazy.” They thrash about for a while, die, and
then float to the surface. The natives can then simply gather the dead
fish off the surface, sometimes by the basketfuls! Our fishing class
completed, we strode into the
Maravid immedia=
tely
led us to the house of one of his relatives. Curious house: The=
re
were absolutely no window openings whatsoever, just solid wall all around, =
save
for a small opening for an entrance. Maravid
explained that some natives are extremely concerned about ¨keeping robbers out.¨ We entered the house and were warmly
greeted by Maravid´s cousin, while the wi=
fe and
children kept their distance. And then, even more curious: Whil=
e Maravid was talking, I spied a huge, modern speaker a=
nd
amplifier system stored along the wall. What would a native be doing =
with
that? And, how could a native ever afford such costly equipment?
It soon became apparent that the cousin had no interest in
spiritual matters, so we asked and received directions to the Apu's dwelling, which was across the cleared grounds.=
Inside that dwelling, we were welcomed by three young men who knew Maravid. Several women who had been sitting in =
the
back of the dwelling mover closer to see us, exhibiting none of the fear we=
had
encountered in other villages. (What an asset to be traveling with ou=
r 3
native brothers!) I did notice how everyone in the dwelling appeared =
much
better dressed and quite healthier then the natives in the two neighboring
villages.
Moments later, an elderly woman came in, who began to angrily
berate Maravid in front of everyone! She =
then
moved on to Lucho, who also received a severe
tongue-lashing! However, I noticed Maravid
trying to stifle a smile through all this. He quietly informed me:&nb=
sp;
The lady was his aunt whom he hadn’t seen in 5 years. She thoug=
ht
he and Lucho were dead! She was now yelli=
ng at
them for not letting her know they weren’t dead!
The Apu entered a little while l=
ater,
and warmly greeted us and invited us to speak to the 15 people in the
dwelling. We launched into our Gospel presentation, again tailored to=
the
natives´ fears and needs. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, =
the
entire room listened attentively. After our presentation, Maravid answered questions for over half an hour.&nbs=
p; The
natives were so pleased with our message that they pleaded with us to stay =
for
lunch. And, they wanted to serve us a very special chicken soup. &nbs=
p;
As a matter of fact, it was so rare that they prepared chick=
en
that they asked if anyone in our group would be willing to kill the chicken=
for
them. Segundo immediately offered to, and went out the front door and=
promptly
rung a chicken’s neck. I was then invited to begin speaking
again. It was a rather crazy sight, delivering a second sermon while
watching a native woman a few feet in front of me dipping the dead bird in a
pot of hot water and then plucking and butchering it!
After a filling lunch of very fresh chicken soup, it was tim=
e to
leave. Praise God, the leaders of Nuevo Tocache<=
/span>
Norte urged us to return again as soon as possible to bring them more
teachings! We thanked them for their warm reception, and got back on =
the
jungle trail for the 4+ hour walk back to
We headed down the trail at a rapid pace. However, less
than half hour outside of Tocache Norte, Jose m=
ade a
startling discovery: Not too far off the path, a huge coca plant was
growing! And in a flash, what we had seen in Nuevo Tocache
Norte, (the cousin’s huge sound system, the people way better dressed=
and
fed, the large numbers of domestic animals) all =
made
sense. Apparently some villagers were cultivating a very profitable,
illegal cash crop! Jose, Maravid, Ronal&#=
8230;
we all looked at one another as the gravity of the situation sunk in: =
The
Devil had the souls of those villagers involved in the heinous drug busines=
s in
his grasp! It would be a real battle to get anyone to leave such an
extremely lucrative yet evil business and walk in the will of the Lord.&nbs=
p;
What were we to do?
That, as they say, will be another story…
Until next time Amigos, Terry
Outreach Committee News
On April 25, 2004, we are having another "knock =
and
drop" event. We will be going door-to-door and leaving information abo=
ut
the church and two upcoming events: the
Greg Schuyler,=
Outreach Committee Chairman
Pursuing Godliness With
Contentment
One of the purposes behind this year’s stewardship
emphasis is to teach and encourage Christian giving. We will be examining the Scriptural
principals and give you the tools to plan your thankful response to God.
Ryan Jacobs, Adult Discipleship Chairman<= o:p>
Youth News
Ryan Jacobs
Staff Needed For
Summer Youth Camp
Volunteers are being sought to serv=
e as
counselors for one week of Summer Youth Camp at
Other available positions include lifeguards, cooks, and nur=
ses
for each of the four weeks of July.
Cooks and nurses are paid positions. If you are interested in serving i=
n this
capacity, contact Tim Schultz at (715) 684-2155.
LWMS News
Please note that all the women of M=
t.
Olive Congregation are members of LWMS, and
The yearly Prayer Journal is available at a cost. Our church has not done the,
"Befriend a Mission Program".&nb=
sp;
Instead,
<=
span
style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>·
Cameron,
<=
span
style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>·
Friends of
<=
span
style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>·
Pastor Terry & Mary Schultz in=