Seventeen Maliyali Believers Publicly Declare Their Faith
Chad and Martha Earl, along with the Muellers and Trotts, minister among the Maliyali people of Papua New Guinea. We recently praised God for new Maliyali brothers and sisters in Christ. There is more good news. Praise God that 17 believers were baptized in June. The Earls share, “[T]he church made the 20 to 30-minute trek to our small, dug-out, muddy, creek-fed waterhole so that 17 new believers could publicly declare before the gathered church, the attending unbelievers and the unseen powers and authorities that they are on team Jesus! It was a sweet time as the current members welcomed them, and we all got to sit and thank God for making us one in Christ as we took communion together afterward.”
An Earth-Shattering Shift in His Thinking
Matt and Starr Arnold, serving itinerantly, minister among the Tepehuan people of Mexico. Traditionally, the Tepehuan have seen themselves as God’s children by birthright and therefore in no need of a Savior. José is an older man born into this belief system. Praise God that in recent conversations with José, Matt noticed an “earth-shattering shift” in José’s thinking; he was recognizing himself as a sinner and Jesus Christ as his Savior. Pray for José and this older generation. Pray that they would not mix their folklore with Christianity* but would understand and believe the pure gospel. Praise God that the younger generation has grown up with the clear gospel, and many of the believers are even expressing “a desire for the thousands of others who haven’t yet understood.”
*This practice, known as syncretism, is a blending of belief systems where elements of a new worldview are adopted but do not completely displace the previously held worldview, resulting in a distorted gospel.
From the Archives: Read the story “Mixed-up faith”
Momentum in Mozambique
Rachel Lewis is working towards ministering among the Tawara people of Mozambique soon. Praise the Lord that she recently completed formal national culture and language acquisition. Pray for her now as she begins studying the Tawara culture and language in the provincial capital. This is a challenging language to study as the people are multilingual and often mix languages, even within a single sentence. Pray “for God to lead us to the people in the provincial capital and in Tawara territory who will be helpful Tawara contacts and friends in the future.” Rachel plans to travel in July with a local pastor to survey a Tawara community that “would potentially be a good place for a team to locate for long term ministry. … Pray for the Lord to bring together the details for that trip if that’s His will, everything from key conversations to transportation, lodging and food.”