December 3, 1986 — a Very Important Date
A Very Important Date When ...
There are some events that are just so significant that you even remember the date it happened. Like your birthday or your anniversary. (You’d better remember that one.) What happened on July 4, 1776? Or December 7, 1941?
For the Mouk people of Papua New Guinea, one date in particular stands out: December 3, 1986.
The Mouk People Heard
That was the date that the Mouk people heard the gospel message for the first time.
More accurately, December 3, 1986, was the date that they heard the culmination of the gospel message — the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
As chronicled in the video Ee-taow!, it took three months of Bible teaching to lay the foundation, as Mark Zook taught chronologically through the Scriptures. The Bible teaching addressed foundational truths: Who is God? Where did people come from? What is sin and why do we sin? Can I follow rules to get rid of my sin?
A Very Important Word
Mendo, one of the first Bible teachers, recounts that initial teaching in Gigina village: “We heard teaching [twice a day, five days a week] from the first of September until the third of December 1986. When we first heard it, we Mouk realized that this was big talk. And we realized it was a very important word for us…”
It was, in fact, the most important word. God’s Word and Spirit worked powerfully among the Mouk.
“We became believers. And we praise God very much for His mercy and His grace that came to us, the Mouk people, here in the middle of the jungle. A grace and mercy that our ancestors did not have and did not know about.”
Today the Mouk churches send their own missionaries to three neighboring people groups who speak different languages.
Ten months from now, during those busy days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, remember that on December 3, 1986, the most important word broke into the lives of the Mouk people. And it changed their lives forever.
When did you first hear the gospel?