Going Upriver

This was meant to be posted last week, so you could pray, but internet wasn't working well in our apartment. Read anyways. :)

This will be our first week on the Oras River, so we need lots of prayer. We will spend one day in each of the five barangays. On Wednesday, we briefly visited each one to meet the people and learn where we’d be staying and where the Bible studies had been meeting. I was encouraged when some of the people warmly welcomed us and said they were so happy that we had come back to continue the Bible studies. We found out that at least three of the groups have been meeting together regularly on their own, praise the Lord! This week, we will mainly be getting to know the people and figuring out what we should study with them. Pray for our wisdom in this. We had a practice Bible study with our translator, Jael, this week. It went well, but it was difficult communicating through a translator. Pray for Jael, as she has a hard job. Pray that we will trust God to speak through us what he wants his people to hear, even as we stumble and struggle because of the language barrier. No matter what, God’s Word will speak to his people. Sometimes, this task seems overwhelming, but I have been reminded over and over that God didn’t bring me here because I’d be good at it, but because he would be my strength.

We have been settling into our apartment this week and getting to know the town of Oras. Last week, we stayed with Pastor Silas and his wife, Lori, on the Dolores River to learn about life on the river. We were able to be a part of their church services and Bible studies with people in their barangay. We were inspired by the people’s joy and hunger for God’s word and their complete trust in him to provide everything for them.

 Here in Oras, God has opened up some opportunities for us to make friends and share our testimonies and the Gospel. Our friend, J*, works in a restaurant and knows just about everyone in this town. She is open to listening, and has heard the Gospel before from others. Even though she is open and even convicted, she has not yet taken the step of obedience and submitted herself to Christ. She wants to have a Bible study with us every week when we are in Oras. We met another friend, N*, on a fishing boat. She knew a missionary in Manila who shared with her, and when I told her I was a missionary, she immediately said she wanted me to share what I was reading in the Bible with her. We have met with her a few times since then. She says she is hungry for God’s word and she believes God led us to her, as we do.  Pray God will speak to her heart and weed out any misunderstandings.

If you ask many here, they will say they believe the Bible is God’s word, but many trust in everything and anything but Jesus. They fear evil spirits and trust in witch doctors. They pray to saints and to Mary. There is a huge statue of Mary here on top of a hill that is lit up at night. She is called the “guardian” of the town. (I always wonder what Mary would think when I see things like that.) It is more important to them to say their Hail Mary’s than to read God’s Word. Please pray that they might see!

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians 2:12