Brand new things
God is at work among the Siar people as missionaries prepare to begin evangelistic Bible lessons this summer.
Jon is helping Lane Sanford translate Old Testament passages that will be used in the lessons, and got a real eye-opener when Lane and Chris Lujan needed his help with a term to express "forgiveness."
"As Lane and I proceeded to express the concept to him you could see his face start to light up," Chris wrote. "The truth of God’s forgiveness was dawning on Jon’s heart for the very first time.
"After talking about it for a half an hour or so he expressed to Lane and I that he had no idea what forgiveness truly was and neither does anyone else here. Man, praise the Lord for his honesty."
Bernard, who is helping Chris prepare lessons, got a glimpse of God. "He just couldn’t believe that God would make us in His image," Chris wrote.
The two of them worked on the lesson for hours, and then Bernard said, "Chris you have to make this clear. We just don’t understand. The things that you have shared with me are brand new to us."
Siar teachers are leading literacy classes.
"Except for our direction and oversight they are doing all the work in the class," Chris wrote.
"Every so often I will go up there and see how things are going. It is awesome to see the teachers teaching and the students learning how to read and write their own language."
"God is definitely at work and believe me there is a lot more work to do," Chris wrote "We have a tentative date for when we will start teaching God’s Word here."
The missionary team expects to talk that over with the village chiefs soon.
"It looks like some time in July might work," Chris wrote. "Please be praying for us, that God would give us direction and insight to the best teaching time and location."