Basic Stuff

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” 1 Peter 2:2-3, NIV.

In good weather, with a four-wheel drive truck it takes three hours from the nearest city to reach one small, new tribal church. Most of the leaders from this church are baby believers, having been led to faith by their pastor within the last year. Before coming to faith, these men and women worshiped the spirits in trees, rocks and animals. Few of them have formal education beyond elementary school.

The Bible is a new and big book to them. For the Last Frontier worker invited to provide training, the challenge is stepping out of teaching seminary and keeping everything very basic. His first session, which lasted for most of an evening, covered the organization of the Bible and how to look up verses. The room buzzed with excitement as these leaders discovered how to access the Bible for themselves.

After gaining some confidence in looking up verses from the Bible, the rest of the training focused on a series of simple Bible stories. The idea is to convey an overall picture of God’s purposes for mankind.

Looking up Bible verses and learning a few Bible stories may not seem like much, but it’s a beginning and an encouragement to one isolated, rural pastor. After all, God doesn’t despise small beginnings! And babies who are properly fed and cared for will in time become strong, healthy and mature.

Pray that:

Leaders in this rural church will become church planters.

The pastor will experience joy, blessings and much fruit in his ministry.

Christian workers will have safe travel and wisdom to effectively reach remote areas and encourage the spread of the Gospel among this people group.

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