No hope … yet
This week the team of missionaries ministering to the Siar people of Papua New Guinea was reminded of the immense task before them.
A Siar couple, Richen and Naomi, lost their infant child. They were distraught and left with unanswered questions. They have not listened to Bible teaching thus far and so don’t even have a glimmer of hope.
“After all,” wrote missionary Lane Sanford, “what else is there apart from God's goodness and the hope that He offers over death?”
Sadness and a palatable sense of defeat hung over the people gathered for the funeral. One of the men helping to prepare the Bible lessons was able to remind everyone of what they have learned so far and challenge them with the brevity of life. But since news of the coming Savior has not been presented, there was no real hope of everlasting life.
“We feel the urgency and pressing necessity of … helping the Siars experience the kind of life that comes from faith in the Gospel and the living Spirit in their lives individually and corporately,” Lane wrote. “The job has only begun, and we must be faithful to complete it well so the Siars can become what God truly intends them to be.”
Pray that the Siar people will continue coming to the Bible teaching and that hearts will be prepared to understand the Gospel message when it is presented. Pray too for missionaries Chris and Erin Lujan, Lane and Karrie Sanford and Jon and Melissa Jackson as they minister to the Siars. Pray that God will use the death of Richen and Naomi’s child to draw them to Himself.