I’ll Fight ‘em All!

“And he will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers.” Genesis 16:12, NAS.

Danny* and I began sharing stories from the Bible with a local cabbie named Mr. Brett.  Mr. Brett is a small, middle-aged man. He weighs less than 100 pounds, stands about five feet tall, with dark skin that clings tightly to his prominent facial features and eyes that glimmer like black pearls. He usually sports long shorts that hang well below his knees, a short sleeved cotton T-shirt that has become soft with age, and a clove cigarette. Although he is small in stature, he’s as tough as a pine knot and always ready for a fight. However, through the months of our friendship I came to notice something much more distinctive about him. When Mr. Brett smiles, it is an enjoyable sight, because all of him seems to ignite with enthusiasm. Whenever I see him smile, it always makes my day better.

Well, Mr. Brett agreed to help Danny and I translate stories from the Bible, from the national language into his local language. So far we have only been able to meet with him once, but that was well worth it. Before meeting together we gave him a copy of some stories so he could begin reading them before we met. During our time together, we worked our way through the creation story, and towards the end, Danny asked him what he thought the stories were about. Mr. Brett replied, “It’s all about being holy. But I don’t understand why the people in my religion continue to sin. All you Christians live differently.”

They were speaking in another language, so I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I could tell he asked something important because Danny looked at me in amazement. Danny shared the Gospel with Mr. Brett and explained to him that believers still sin, but they live in a personal relationship with the Father because of Christ. Danny explained that the relationship with God makes the difference. He told Mr. Brett that he could learn more about Christ if he read the Bible, and then gave him a Bible in the trade language and asked him to read Matthew.

Danny tends to be a little nervous at times, so he quickly warned Mr. Brett to be careful with the Bible because, if his neighbors saw him with it, they might attack him. Mr. Brett, in his usual feisty manner said, “Let ‘em come. I’ll fight every one of ‘em.” At that, we finished up for the day and Mr. Brett left with a Bible in hand. Last I heard he had been discussing some of the stories with his eldest son, in order to better understand how to translate them.

*Names changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

Mr. Brett and his entire family will become followers of Jesus.

The translation work with which Mr. Brett is helping will enable many of his people group to hear and understand the Gospel.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.