Unreached People’s Group LTE
When I found out that I was going to be a tribal member for the Unreached People’s Group LTE, I was really excited. Being a tribal member was so much fun. The first night, we hiked out there after work and spent the night. It was so realistic to start out the morning like a legitimate tribe and not have our missionaries there yet; we really got into character. We had a blast setting up and getting ready. When our missionaries showed up, we had a really peaceful greeting. It was hard to communicate at first. Even though I knew what they were saying, I had to pretend like I didn’t. I had a ton of fun confusing them; our poor missionaries. We were a very friendly, loving and family oriented tribe. There were no faults in our attitudes. We showed no deep despair and we had no complaints about our life. During our meetings before the LTE, we set up our life and our beliefs very well. It was only a matter of time, though, until the nature of life without Jesus started to take effect. I don’t know about the others, but I felt so unfulfilled. I suppressed my heart for God for the sake of the experience so I honestly felt very hopeless. Our downfall was in the afterlife; the inexistence of one, actually. Our tribe believed that we turned into the Earth when we die; never to see our friends or family again. When the missionaries mentioned Heaven, a few of us latched on. I honestly felt the deep longing to spend time with the missionaries; I wanted them to tell me more about God and Heaven. At one point the government came, but we didn’t really like them because they martyred our friends. I was interrogated about what the missionaries were saying, and was able to tell the truth and keep them out of trouble. After that, one of our missionaries actually led a government official to the Lord. This missionary was the one that learned our language the quickest and was telling us about God the most. I remember when the depth of the hopefulness of the Gospel to an unreached person hit me. This particular missionary was sharing with us about Jesus, he was standing by the dwindling fire and the smoke was drifting past him. At one point, he had his arms out like he was ready for a hug and a government vehicle’s headlights shined behind him right at that moment, casting this surreal and beautiful silhouette. I was sitting at his feet, listening and looking up. Right then, it dawned on me. “This is what it is all about. This is why we GO!” I can’t possibly explain that feeling on this paper right now, but I can say that I will never forget that moment or the feeling of urgency to reach the lost for Christ because now I know what it feels like to be in an Unreached People Group.
No comments:
Post a Comment