Yesterday we were able to witness and take part
in an amazing day! God wants the people of Baungon and He saved about 40-50 of
them yesterday!
It
started with a young man called Yongyong, (bottom right in this picture) who
got saved in Tumpagon. He was so thrilled with his new relationship with the
Lord Jesus, and he started thinking about his grandparents and uncles and
aunties and relatives a long way off, who had never heard about Jesus and knew
nothing about salvation.
So, he
spoke to Udi (our son-in-law) and offered to guide them to the place and help
them establish contacts, if they would be willing to go and to preach the Word.
And Udi of course went because he has such a heart to reach the lost, and he
took a few other teachers and evangelists with him from Tumpagon and Cauyunan.
So, the outreach into Baungon began on August 23, 2019. They have literally
poured hours and days of their time travelling to this remote place, enduring
hardships, and have been in dangers…….and they ended up being asked to teach in
three different villages.
Yesterday was the culmination of almost six months of preparing hearts with foundational teaching for the day of salvation and for the first time yesterday, they heard what Christ went through on the cross to pay for their sin. Udi and the others with him asked Paul if he would preach yesterday and it was with great joy that we were able to witness firsthand about 50 people accept salvation!
One of the men saved
was Datu Efren. He is one of the head chiefs of the area. He was sobbing as he
heard what Christ had done for him and at the end of Paul’s message, you can
see him here hugging Paul and still wiping tears. Many were crying as they
heard for the first time how Jesus had cried out, “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabacthani,”
and that he was forsaken on account of our sins while he hung on the cross.
Afterwards,
there was a huge rejoicing together as all of us from the Cauyunan, Tumpagon
and Lapoc churches (I counted more than 60 of us who had come to help and to
encourage on this great day) burst into singing, praising God for His
salvation, while we shook hands and hugged our newest brothers and sisters in
the Lord. This went on for quite some
time and we were just amazed at what God has done through the work Udi, Alan,
Mico, Ryan, Victor, Jo-Jo and others who were willing to take the Gospel to
Baungon.
Another amazing part of the day that we must
share is that Lola, one of the ladies who was saved yesterday, is 102 years
old! She can still hear and see, now after more than a century of life, she has
finally been able to receive salvation!!
Yesterday I watched her leaning near the people who were singing and
praising Jesus and she was tapping her feet and tapping her cane and loving it!
Another story that we must tell you is about
this smiling lady next to Lola, who ran up to me and hugged me when we first
arrived and said, “Do you remember me?”
I answered, “Where did we meet before?” And she said, “I used to live
near Cauyunan and my 9-month-old baby boy got really sick and after a few days,
he was almost dead, and I ran with him all the way to your place. When I got
there, you took one look at him and you grabbed him from me and ran into your
house and I wondered if I would ever see him again alive. And you treated him
and cared for him and he lived! And now he is 28 years old and has three
children of his own and our whole family has trusted Jesus!”
These
beautiful children belonging to Datu Efren wanted to sing a praise song! They listened
so intently to the whole message of the Gospel. I was sitting behind them and watched
them listening carefully as Paul was teaching about the cross and about Jesus’
suffering to pay for our sins. These two precious young lives are amongst those
who we believe were saved yesterday and now have eternal life!
