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| Some of the group before Bible Study. |
It is Saturday. Bible study day.
It doesn’t usually start to rain
until the afternoon, but this morning we woke up and found the ground covered
with wet “foot fungus” dew and rain clouds looming overhead, threatening to
soon pour forth their unwanted blessings.
Our group decided to share a
meal together the forth Saturday of each month, in addition to studying God’s
Word. This was to be our first such
meeting. Each member of the small group volunteered
to share in the meal’s responsibilities.
Some would bring firewood for cooking, others greens, salt, beans or
cooking oil. Others brought flour for
bread, while still others were in charge of the cooking. The hope was for everyone to share in not
only the meal, but the preparation itself.
I walked out into the
pouring rain down the little trail, which by now was a flowing steam leading to where the
Bible Study meal was to be held. I had a bucket on my head full of dishes and chai.
Marafu and Lokulong each carried
their own heavy loads of firewood.
Here in Didinga men do not
carry firewood. It is beneath them. Yet, here two coming of age men not only
carried firewood, but carried it through the pouring rain.
These two good
guys sat down and for the next three hours cut wild greens, fanned the fire and
helped prepare the day’s meal.
Slowly the whole group
started to gather around the cooking fire.
All of the cooking supplies were accounted for, as everyone was faithful
to their promises.
The menu was worked out last
week – bread, a very special treat here in Didinga was to be prepared. Little did we know that it would take eight
hours to bake over the open fire. The
group was patient and several of those hours were spent happily singing along
with my guitar, talking and laughing together.
Around 4pm, three hours
later than expected, we finally prayed
and ate the long awaited and only
meal of the day. It was fantastic! We ate until our bellies bulged, until we
couldn’t eat anymore.
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| Marafo pretending to be Bob Marley on the guitar. |
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| Cooking the bread over the open fire. |
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| This group is the best! |
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| The guys playing around under mama Miriam's watchful eyes. |
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| Dowdy |
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| The long awaited bread! |
And then… the study began.
First of all, we should tell
you that this study took us one full day and another full morning to plan. We are studying Genesis 3, the fall of
man. Of course, we have studied this portion
of the Bible in the past, however we continue to be incredibly amazed,
challenged and moved by its depth and beauty.
The Word is alive and we have been blessed in this process of sharing it
here.
Even though there were three
languages being spoken yesterday at the study, a deep and obvious understanding
was present. We were together. We were close.
While reviewing the many
ways that Satan masquerades himself we asked the group for examples of Satan’s
disguises. Boy did we get some
responses…
In real Didinga fashion,
with everyone talking at once, seeming to aggressively yell at one another, stories
of witchcraft, drinking and friends encouraging sacrifices to the spirits were
shared.
Even though the hour was
late, and most of us had been there for more than six hours, no one was rushing
or wanting to go. In fact, others who
happened to be passing by, sat down, empathically joined in the conversation or
listened from afar. Babies nursed,
toddlers ate and played at our feet. The
bread continued to cook.
The lesson ended with a
discussion of God’s great grace and mercy.
We spoke of God’s never ending call to those in hiding, of His clothing
Adam and Eve therefore covering their shame, His protection from the Tree of
Life and the promise of a Deliverer.
Once our teaching was
finished Marafo instructed us all to stand up, move back our chairs and
dance. And we did! We sang song after Didinga praise song and
danced and laughed together. It was beautiful.
We just walked home through the
damp, “fungus feet” grass. The sun set
hours and hours ago. Once we put down
our things, Kim and I turned to each other and immediately started giggling,
hopping up and down, dancing, hugging and praising God.
Living in Didinga is not
always so easy. The romance is pretty much gone. It can often be extremely
lonely and frustrating. There are times
that we feel as though we are wasting our time, fruit is so rarely seen. The daily disappointments and the plum
monotonous hardwork, are rarely the stuff those enticing missionary novels are
made up of. There are times we even wonder
what in the world God has us doing here.
And then, there are days
like today.
Give us monotony,
loneliness, misunderstandings and frustrations, if God wills it.
It is worth it!
Tonight we go to sleep
peacefully with a deep joy this world, even with all of its many jewels, could never
offer. We are happy. We are blessed to serve here in Didinga.
Thank you for praying!
- We praise God for answered Bible study prayers, His
encouraging us with His obvious presence and for the amazing work He is
doing here in Didinga.
- We leave for our scheduled timeout of Didinga
this coming Saturday. We are
thanking God that the group still desires to meet in our absence. Pray for continued momentum.
- Please, please, please continue to pray as we
wholeheartedly believe this Bible study’s life is dependent upon
prayer. Thank you for serving
beside us!
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