Pala Paragraphs

Dear friends and family,

We praise God that we are safely back home in Bere after spending almost two weeks in Pala. We would like to give you a brief update on our experience there.

(Please note the changes to the information at the end of this email. The addresses for donations, website, and blog have all changed.)

Early Friday morning, we boarded the bus to Kelo. From there we changed vehicles and got an another mini-bus headed to Pala. We enjoyed the trip a lot because the scenery was different than we are used to. Instead of the usual flatness that surrounds Bere, we traveled across beautiful rolling hills. It almost felt like we were in a different country. Even the style of buildings and thatch roofs was different.


David and Sarah Macomber also joined us, and the pastor from Lere (west of Pala) came to Pala to install the new pastor and to open our training. We appreciated his help. Amazingly, he chose to preach almost exactly the same sermon that I had planned to close the Last Day Events seminar with a week later! God obviously planned that. The pastor gave  a strong appeal to the people of Pala to wake up and attend the meetings.

The Pala church used to have around 120 members, but nearly all of them have left the church. Now that there has been a new pastor for some months, about 30 regularly attend. Our goal was to encourage revival and reformation in Pala. While this was the most challenging group we have taught, we believe that God was at work and that He answered our prayers for the Holy Spirit to work mightily there. We had about 30 people in regular attendance. About half of those were people from the community who were curious about what was being taught. Several regular attendees were young people in their low teens including one 13-year-old boy who eagerly attended nearly all the classes.

Jonathan taught classes on The Word of God, Last Day Events, and Personal Evangelism. Melody prepared and delivered a Bible story in French almost every day to the small crowd of children that gathered near the church. Amazingly, these children actually raised their hands and asked questions about spiritual things. We have never seen that before in other places. Gideon and the other children enjoyed interacting with each other.

David taught a class titled The Character of Jesus. We want the people to see Jesus and be attracted to Him. We pray that as they see Jesus' character that they will see a great contrast with theirs and that they (and we) will desire to become more like Jesus. David also taught a short course on the Sanctuary. Sarah taught a lively health class which included some cooking demonstrations.

At the end of the course, we were honored by a visit from our mission president Jacques Wangkel. His visit was encouraging to us. He was present for my last class where the students shared their personal plans for evangelism. The pastor also shared the church's plan for evangelism for 2014. President Wangkel closed the training with an inspiring message which I will summarize here: "We thank all the members of Jonathan's team who have come to Pala and spent 10 days with you. We all have the same command (the Great Commission). Why do we have life now? Because our work is not yet done. We need to wake up. I am happy to see that there will be a change here. The devil knows his time is short, and he is angry. The devil has tried three or five times to break up the work here. You need to put into practice what you have learned and stick with your plan of evangelism that you formed. With prayer, Pala can change!"

An 84-year-old chief, also an onion farmer, left his job at the market for a week to attend the seminars. It was encouraging to hear his testimony. "I discovered the Sabbath truth back in 1940, before the Adventist church was officially in Chad, and I was baptized in 1945. Since then people say this, they say that, or 'It's like this' and there are lots of ideas spread around. But in this training, I see clearly that there is an unchanging line of truth. I see clearly that many will deviate from this line, but I am determined to remain in the line of truth. I am 84 years old, and near my end, but I am determined to die faithful to Jesus."

A lady gave her testimony: "Most of us women are not well educated. We can't read, but thank God that we know these things now." And then turning to her friends she appealed, "Women, let's follow what we have learned."

Another woman spoke: "During this time of training, I remark that some our brothers who have been long lost have come back to the church. Please do not go back to the world. Some of our sisters are here for the first time in a long time because I talked with them and they said they would come. Thank you for coming."

Another man said: "Before you came, I was thinking about our church in Chad. I wondered if it was possible to create a new church. Thank God that you came. First, the Character of Jesus class helped me. Jesus is humble, and I want to be like Him. Second, we learned about the line of the truth and the predicted worldwide union of churches in the last days. Let's stay in the line of truth."

Friends, the harvest is great. People are hungry for truth. We are grateful for all the help we had during this last training, but we need more help. We need more teachers. We need somebody to help with audio production and literature. Nearly everywhere we go people ask us for literature, and I have to tell them "I'm sorry. I'll try to work on that soon." Numerous signs around us indicate that Jesus is truly coming soon. Prophecies are being fulfilled right before our eyes, even in 2014! We know that "The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity, she will have to do in a terrible crisis, under most discouraging, forbidding, circumstances." Now is the time to be busy with the Lord's work. If you haven't already, please commit your life to God and to His service.

We thank God for His continual protection and care for us. Gideon is still doing well. Please pray that God will send more laborers. Please continue to pray for all the students that have been through our short trainings and that we will be able to identify the more serious ones to further train.

Between Broum and Pala

First of all, a quick update on Gideon. We praise God that he has fully
recovered. He is back to his normal happy self most of the time. The
heat is becoming more intense as both temperature and humidity rise. But
he gets to splash in his bucket of water and cool off sometimes.

We just returned from conducting an 8-day Bible training at Broum Tusu,
a medium-sized village out in the bush about 30km from here. David and
Sarah Macomber traveled with us and were a significant help with the
teaching and meals. We taught four main topics: Character of Jesus,
Health, Last Day Events, and Word of God. An average of about 70 adults
attended daily. God blessed greatly and the people were attentive and
very appreciative of the truth they were learning. They were full of
questions and very hungry for the Word of God.

Here is our experience from my wife's perspective:
==================================================================
Life in Broum Tousu was very rewarding but a challenge. This was the
first time we ever lived in the village with a baby and to be honest I
was a bit uneasy. At home it's a little easier to just bring Gideon
inside when evening is approaching (to prevent malaria) but in the
village there are no screened houses to go into. The place we stayed at
had sand as it's floor, one little window, an airflow door, and a small
dirty cupboard. Truly this was not a clean mosquito-free place. So home
became our tent during the evening, night, and morning for Gideon. (This
is when malaria mosquitoes bite most often.) It wasn't as hard as I
thought it would be. I just put him in the tent, sang songs to him,
played with him etc. until he went to sleep. Then in the morning
Jonathan or I ate breakfast with him in the tent. I even made a screened
porch connected to the tent with a mosquito net. Gideon did amazingly
well and we praise God. During the day I spent much of my time on a mat
under mango trees watching Gideon while Jonathan, David, and Sarah,
taught classes.

Meals where a whole other experience. We decided that cooking all our
own meals was just too much work with these conditions. So the locals
brought us breakfast and lunch each day and Sarah and I made suppers.
Our first meal was boule and green sauce. Hungrily, we sat around the
food on our mat and began to eat with some eagerness. After several
bites I noticed some crunchy things in my green sauce. "What was that?"
I thought and commented to Jonathan, David, and Sarah about it. Then
Sarah found a big chunky thing and examined it more closely. It looked
very much like a skeleton. Most of us stopped eating at that point but
Jonathan was brave and continued a little more. Then his spoon hit
something hard in the sauce; when he examined it he discovered a partial
exoskeleton of a creature, complete with eye sockets! That was the end
of the green sauce for all of us. The rest of our meal consisted of
boule (thoroughly mashed, salt-less rice). But we had brought some of
our own seasonings so we seasoned it up and it tasted pretty good.

The rest of our meals were all better then this one but very similar.
Lots of boule and green sauce and a few other variations. But we were
thankful for their help and enjoyed our suppers especially well.

One of the biggest highlights for me was telling children stories. There
were a lot of kids on Sabbath and Sunday so I decided to plan on doing a
children story every day. But then on Monday most of the kids were gone.
They were in school but I didn't think of this. I was just waiting
around for kids to show up so I could tell them a Bible story. Then just
after 12 o'clock all at a sudden Sarah and I saw a whole stream of kids
coming down the road toward us. There must have been over a 100 kids!
Wow, I guess now is the time to tell the story, ready or not. Sarah
hurried to the church to find a translator while I started showing the
kids pictures in the My Bible Friends book. The kids stopped right away
and waited eagerly. Out came a translator and we started the story. I
told the story in French and he translated it into the local language.
What fun that was! So everyday after that I told the kids Bible stories
right after school let out. On one of these days I told the story of
Daniel in the lions' den. I was disappointed at the beginning because
the kids weren't listening very well. But then half way through all of a
sudden they all stopped and stared quietly until the end. Thank you God!
It was such a blessing to share Jesus with these kids in this small way.
My prayer is that seeds will be planted in at least some of these kids
and bear much fruit later in their lives.

We were really out in the bush with not even cell phone signal! It was
quite the trip but the best part of all was the people and how eager
they were to learn. When Jonathan mentioned Daniel 2, they didn't know
anything about it. They said, "Wait, please explain Daniel 2!" So
Jonathan explained this amazing prophesy and showed clearly that we are
living in the last days of this earth's history. The only thing left to
happen in that prophecy is the rock hitting the statue. They people were
amazed and very eager.

==================================================================

We get to rest, reorganize, and prepare for a few days here at home for
the next training in Pala, a larger town about 140km from here. The
training starts March 30 and continues possibly until April 8. We are
happy that the mission president is planning on being present for part
of the training.

Please pray that the seed of God's Word planted in Broum Tusu will
germinate and take root in good soil. Please pray that the Holy Spirit
will go ahead of us to Pala to prepare the way and to give us wisdom to
teach and answer questions. Please pray that the devil's attacks will be
neutralized and that God's work will go forward.

If only more workers would accept God's call! Much work is on hold
because we lack the people to move it forward. We are ready to make
audio recordings of Bible stories to distribute on the solar mp3 players
and on the radio. We are ready to organize shipments of French
literature. We are ready to help organize more Bible trainings. We need
an accountant and/or office helper. We say "we need," but God knows how
to provide for His work. If you have any interest in coming over and
helping the work move forward, please send us an email.

As I teach End Time Events class, I am deeply impressed more than ever
that prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes. Time cannot last
a great deal longer. God's Word is sure. He has given us signs by the
handful that all indicate the nearness of his coming. Let's be busy in
the work God gives us!

Thank you for your continued prayers for our health, safety, and the
progress of the good news of the gospel.

Greetings, and Prayer Please

Happy Sabbath. It's about 100 degrees and night has come. The bats are
dinging in the trees. Our bug light is on and a 12V fan is blowing on
our sleeping Gideon.

We just got back from the hospital where we got Gideon tested for
malaria. We are waiting for results and should get them anytime. He
barfed last evening and today he has been a little more fussy than
usual. His latest fever is about 101.3.

For his bath, however, he was fairly normal. For the last several days
we have a fun routine. I get my face down low next to his. He pauses in
suspense and then vigorously splashes in the water. Water splashes
everywhere, including on my face. Then I flap my lips and wipe my face.
Gideon giggles and laughs over and over again. He loves water and bath time.

Please pray that Gideon will sleep well and that he does not have
malaria. We may start treating him even if the test result is negative.
Pray that we will make the best decision.

The Bible school at Bongor was rescheduled again. The pastor called this
morning and said that his brother died this morning. "Could we postpone
the school another week?" he asked. The devil is hard at work. He knows
the importance of this training and is doing his best to disrupt it.
Please pray that we will be able to give this training and that many
people will decide to get ready for Jesus to come and to help others do
the same. We plan to postpone Bongor for now and turn toward Pala and/or
Broum Tousu next, then to Bongor in mid-late April.

Three churches will be erected (Lord-willing) near Bongor this coming week.

The Bendele church library is scheduled to open next week! There will be
a radio announcement. This is an exciting project we have been working
toward off and on for a couple of years now.

Looking at current events, even in the news recently this month, I
cannot see how this world will last much longer. Prophecy is clearly
being fulfilled, as accurately as ever before. We have it all spelled
out for us in Scripture and in books like The Great Controversy. Earth's
history is soon to close. We do not know when. God knows that. But we
can know that it is going to be soon. Be watchful and ready!

I have given my heart to Jesus!

A few weeks ago we were talking with a dear crippled lady at church. She
comes almost every week riding on her donkey. After church she was eager
to say a few words to us. "Thank you so much for the audio Bible!" She
said with a great smile. "Before I didn't know much about the Word of
God. Now I am listening and listening to the Bible and know so much
more. I have given my heart to Jesus!" Her faced beamed with joy. "Oh
such joy she has!" I thought.

Last Sabbath again she had some things she wanted to share, "I am
listening day and night to the Bible. Before I was trying to do my best
to do what was right but now that I have the Bible I have learned many
things. I have learned that sometimes the things I thought were wright
were actually sins. Now I know what the Bible says and I am changing my
ways. Oh, this Bible is so wonderful!"

What a blessing it is to these dear people to hear the Word of God. So
many of them can not read and many of those who can stumble over the
words. It laborious to them. But now because of your donations for these
mp3 players we are able to give them the Bible in there own language!
Thank you! And praise be to God for His Word and giving us the privilege
to pass it on to others!

To Bongor and Back by Moto

It is a beautiful morning as I dodge potholes and bumps along the dusty road to Lai where I will meet up with my friend. We will travel together, each on a motorcycle, to Bongor, a trip totaling about 100 miles one way. The church members there are eager to build several church buildings. One group of believers is meeting at somebody's house. The church building for another group fell into the river as the river eroded its banks. So we will investigate the situation and do some preparation work for the next Bible Training session scheduled for Bongor March 2-15.

Arriving in Lai, the police stop me. "Is this your first time in Lai?" the guy asks. "No, I moved to Bere almost 5 years ago," I reply. He relaxes a bit and lets me go without trouble. I meet up with my friend and we continue north on a wide dirt road.

The Chinese have contracted to repair the roads before rainy season, so there is major dirt-moving happening and the road is blocked in many places. We have to deviate into the nearby fields where the trail is very rough.
Further along we come across a couple bags lying in the middle of the road. Somebody apparently didn't tie his luggage on well enough. We each tie a bag to our moto and continue to the next village where we deliver the bags to a group of 6 or 8 soldiers on benches at the police station.

Arriving at the paved road several hours later, we load the bikes with fuel and buy some bottled water and a little food. I snack on some yummy sorghum bush bars that my dear wife Melody made especially for this trip. From here on the road to Bongor is fairly good, but several long portions are being repaired and have freshly laid loose gravel on the surface. This slowed us down some.

Finally we arrive at Bongor. The plan is to call the pastor once we arrive, but we meet a friend of ours on the road. He decides to take us into town to the pastor's house. Before we continue, however, he wants to feed us. We must be hungry from the trip. "Jonathan's a vegetarian. What does he eat?" he asks my friend (not me). They finally settled on some sort of fresh egg/tomato/oil salad and bread. We sit down at a filthy table. The bread crumbs on the floor were probably 1/2 inch thick from previous guests and the flies were swarming all around. We prayed and ate and continued our journey.

We arrive at the church just as the committee members were arriving for the planning meeting with the pastor. I explain what the training is about and we talk about plans for visiting the churches. We decide it is best to try to make it to the church 33km from Bongor before sundown, spend the night there, and then have the church service there.

Pastor joins my friend on his moto. Just out of town we turn along a dirt road following a levee and continue all the way to the village. The levee controls flooding and allows the villagers to settle permanently near the river where they fish and plant their gardens. We drive by a gang of angry snarling dogs who try to snap at pastor's leg, but they miss. Following a short distance behind, I carefully maneuver to avoid the dogs.

Arriving at the compound, we are warmly welcomed and greeted by church members as they trickle in. I am tired from sitting on my moto for 7 hours today, but they insist that I sit and rest on a plastic chair. They have sewed old cement sacks into a tarp and hung it for shade on wood poles.

As a short vespers program begins, I look around at my surroundings. Darkness has fallen. There are several huts arranged in a circle around us. The members continue to trickle in and sit on the ground or various benches or bricks. There is a cooking fire in the cooking hut where they are preparing some food for us. Pastor stands up and gives a worship thought about how the wise men considered seeing Jesus so important that they traveled a long distance. "So Jonathan has traveled a long distance because he has something very important. Come in two weeks to the Bible training. You won't regret it." We sing another song or two and are finished. We visit with the members.

We are tired and dusty and hungry. They show us the hut where we will sleep. The mud walls are very neatly plastered with clay, and the mud floor is covered with a plastic mat. I put my backpack in the hut and am given the invitation to take a warm bucket bath. What a luxury to have a whole bucket of hot water to bathe with! I duck behind the little grass fence and enjoy ridding myself of the grime and dust from the trip.

Pastor and my friend and I talk long into the evening. We talk about evangelism. We talk about the spirits and God's mighty power. We talk about many things before drifting off to sleep. I end up in the middle. My friend snores violently most of the night, as does the pastor to my other side.

The next morning my eyes are glued shut and I break off the crust with my fingers. As I step out of the hut I realize that a dust storm has come in and that it is chilly. A lady brings me a bowl of warm water to wash my face with. We eat breakfast.

Then the church members begin assembling again. Probably 20-30 adults were there and maybe a dozen children. We met under the make-shift cement-bag tarp for shade. I wonder what it is like to have church in the rainy season. I am happy that we plan to build a new structure here for this group of believers. I am given the honor of giving the sermon and talk about the desert shrub vs. the flourishing tree.

The village chief comes by to welcome us strangers. He is happy about having another church in his area because he recognizes that Christianity benefits his village.

After another meal, we leave to visit another church. But by the time we arrive, they have finished and left. But the condition of their building was sad. The tiny building is covered with a very thin thatch roof and the benches are splitting and the pulpit has a large hole it it. Nevertheless, this is where a small group of believers meets every week.

Our hope was to visit the last group, but we were so delayed that most of them left. Their church recently fell into the river because each year the river banks cave in and erode the surrounding land. This group already has some materials such as sand and brick and is ready to rebuild with the help of one of our One-day Church structures.

The members show their appreciation. They give a chicken to my friend. They give us cabbage and eggplant and wild bush fruit and tomatoes and some sort of dried leaves.

Because the route was so difficult on the way in, we take a different route on the way back home which is significantly faster. At one point we drive past a wall of fire at least a kilometer long. The wind was blowing hot smoke across the road. I just held my breath and blasted through the thin wall of heat on the moto.

By the time it was almost dark, we turned off the pavement onto a dirt road for the last 45km or so to Bere. What a challenge! Much traffic was on the road returning from the market in Bere. The dust was very thick. I could barely see the tail light of the moto about 100 feet in front of me. As vehicles whizzed by, we pulled into the sandy ditch for more safety. We kept encountering herds of longhorn cattle being herded by the Arabs. One pair of cattle were tied to each other as one tried to go on one side and the other on the other side of my friend's moto. He acted quickly to startle one and then quickly moved the moto. That was a near disaster. We pressed on, even though we could hardly see anymore there was so much dust in our eyes. Only about 6km from home, I heard a different swwoooossshhhh sound from my front tire; it was flat. I pulled out my pocket pump, pumped it up, and made it home.

Upon arrival, my wife was eager to greet me and happy that I was safe. She had prepared a wonderful meal of tomato sandwiches with oat burgers and soup. Mmmm. It was good to be home, even though I was only gone for two days.

I was eager to bathe. Even though I tried to wear a sun hat and long sleeves much of the time, I still got badly burned. Thankfully my sunglasses kept most of the filth out of my eyes. And my sweaty face collected much dust.

And so ended my trip to Bongor. We are excited to see that the pastor there is ready to begin preparations for the school session. Please pray that many of the members from the four sites we visited will attend the two-week training and that the Holy Spirit will go ahead of us and prepare the hearts of the people to receive the messages of truth in Scripture. Please also pray for the five of us (Jonathan, Melody, David, Sarah, and Lyonl) who are preparing the material to teach. This time most of us will take public transportation instead of motos.

I thank God for safety on such a long journey by motorbike. We also are looking forward to when our vehicle arrives, hopefully within a few months. God has provided the funding already, and we are almost decided on the make and model and a source. This way it will be a lot easier for my family to come with me as we do mobile schools around the country.

Stay tuned for more updates. We start the school in Bongor in just over a week!

In His service,
Jonathan and Melody and Gideon

African "custom"

In this dialogue, I use the term "African custom" to mean specific
animistic customs related to spirit worship. I do not mean African
customs in general (such as dress, food, etc). The word used in French
"coutume" is translated to "custom" or "habit" in English, but this
translation does not fully capture the meaning the way it was used.

"I'm going to be gone today. Me and my friend here are going to spend
the day at the mortuary place," my friend explained.
"Who died?" I asked.
"Oh, he was the paternal uncle of so-and-so."
"The one who makes grass fencing and palm-leaf hats?"
"Yes, he's the one."
"Was he sick?"
"He was paralyzed on one side for three days. He absolutely refused to
go the the hospital. He died last night around midnight."
Wanting to know more of the story, I continued with more questions as we
walked from my house toward the gate. "Was he sick before that?"
"Yes, he was not stable in his mind. He was crazy. He has been that way
for years."
Seeing that I was still a bit puzzled, my friend continued to explain
more of the story.

"You know that big tree by the Adventist church in Bendele? The really
big cassidra with lots of branches on the same land as the church? That
tree used to be the sacred African custom tree. That tree used to be our
church. My father and grandfather and great-grandfather used to worship
that tree. My great-grandfather gave his knowledge of that tree to my
grandfather, and my grandfather gave it to my father. That tree and the
land around it used to be for the devil. But when my father became a
Christian, he left the tree and did not pass it on to me."

"Very interesting," I replied. "So how does this affect the man who just
died?"

"Oh, yes," he continued. "Years ago, that man cut down a palm tree on
the African custom land. That land belonged to the devil and so did that
tree. Ever since that day, he has been crazy in his head. He has tried
many times to kill himself. He threw himself into the well, but he came
up alive. He went at night to an Arab camp and began beating their oxen,
but then the Arabs saw that he was crazy in his head, they didn't kill
him. He tried throwing himself into the river, but the river spit him
out. And now, God has determined his time to go and he has died. They
plan to bury him today."

"The devil has power, that is for sure," I said. "But isn't God stronger?"

This question aroused a defensive response. At the gate, we stopped
walking and faced each other. "Jonathan," my friend said decidedly, "our
African custom is very complicated. When you are 100% Christian, you
must not touch anything that belongs to the devil. If you do, you will
absolutely have problems. You can't go and cut down something of African
custom. You can't just go and combat Satan like that. It is very dangerous."

My friend continued, "I know someone in our village who works with the
African customs. If you mess with his things, you have two months to
live—maximum. Stealing is still wrong, even if you are stealing the
devil's things. You can't just go and steal those things without having
big problems."

To reinforce his point even further, he told me of another story. "One
man became a pastor of a church. Since he was a Christian and a pastor
for God now, he decided to cut down the tree in his yard. It was the
same kind of tree that is on the land for the church, the same kind that
people worship. The neighbors and other villagers warned him not to
touch that tree, for it was a sacred tree. But he claimed that he was
God's now and that the devil could not hurt him. He cut down the tree.
Right away he became paralyzed and remained paralyzed until he died two
and a half years later. It's God who made the tree grow, not Satan. Why
should he cut down something that God has made?"

"You see," he concluded, "our African custom is very complicated. If you
say that you are 100% Christian and that the devil doesn't have power
over you, you don't understand our custom. The best thing for a
Christian to do is to never touch or go near things of African custom."

My mind begins to think of various Bible examples relating to this. I
think of Gideon who tore down a monument to Baal. I think of various
kings who tore down high places. These people did touch the things of
the devil and destroy them. I also think of Job, who experienced the
power of the devil even though he was faithful to God. I think of the
seven sons of Sceva. I think we have good material here for several
Bible studies together.

Solar mp3 story: Joel

Joel recently approached me with his request that I would teach him
English. I agreed to help him with English if he would help me with
Nangjere, the local language here. So we have started meeting once or
twice a week to do some language study together.

Tuesday afternoon is one of our normal meeting times. Last Tuesday he
came to inform me that he would not be doing language study that day.
His small child had died. We talked for a short time before he returned
home.

On Wednesday I went to visit his home, though he did not know that I was
coming. In African culture, it is good to go and sit for a while with
the family of whoever died. For us, it is an opportunity to connect with
them and to show that we care. As I walked up to the mat in the shade of
a large Neem tree, I heard the audio Bible playing. Three or four ladies
had come to visit Joel and his family, and they were all sitting around
the mp3 player on the mat.

I greeted the others, then approached the father and mother. With bowed
head and in silence, I squeeze their hands--first that of one parent and
then the other. Nothing is said for a half a minute or so. We grieve
together. Then, we squeeze hands again.

That part of the ritual finished, Joel starts a conversation that
quickly turns to spiritual topics. The audio Bible is playing
continually. He starts asking questions about some of the verses he has
heard. Some of the ladies are interested in the questions too. A simple
visit turned into an opportunity to share the Word of God.

The Bible was still playing as I left.