Into The Fire — REACHING RED

When our student first described his hometown to us and explained what all we would be doing, he had to use his phone for translation… the words he was trying to get across to us were “mentally prepare yourself!” While this was funny to us that this expression is translatable, we really took this “advice” to heart and entered this opportunity with minimal expectations. We knew we needed to be as flexible as we could be, and brace ourselves to simply be willing. More than anything, we trusted in Father and His gift of the HS to be the strength within us that would be necessary not only to endure this adventure, but to also thrive.

We were fortunate to stay in a hotel when we arrived in the nearest city to his village and also when we exited, to ease the transition up and down the mountains to his home. One night at dinner, his parents shared with the other family members about their experience in the elevator of our hotel. It was their first time in an elevator, and they were describing what the elevator was like. We also had conversations about where America is located, because many of these people have never seen a map or a globe. Most of our student’s family didn’t make it past primary school, and only a few attended/completed high school.

Where we have just traveled to, there's a good chance you have never heard of this people group or region they live in. They live in hidden valleys and are hard to find. Sometimes they are referred to as the "monkey people" because they live perched up on cliffs and mountains. What they believe is sad, but what they told us is the saddest of all. They have never heard the Truth, nor seen someone who knows the Truth. They would be classified as an unreached people group.

Our student’s home is located in this village about 10 hours north of where we live. It is about 18 km up and through the mountains from the nearest city with available drinking water. Pryers were answered as we had plenty of bottled water to last us the whole trip! We camped in our tent on the grounds of the primary school that sits across from his home. He told us that 250 children from the surrounding villages in the mountains pack into this school and sleep there 5 nights a week.

All of these E people live off the land as much as they possibly can on a day-to-day basis. They spend their time farming, walking goats, feeding water buffalo, tending to various village needs, and helping others. We helped them with food preparation as they killed and cleaned their pigs and chickens for each meal. They pick wild mushrooms from the mountainside, vegetables from their crops, and green leafy plants anywhere they can find them along dirt paths.

A good friend of ours asked us, “What do you think their purpose in life is?” It was evident to us based on living their lifestyle with them for the time we were given, that their purpose in life is to simply survive and take care of their family.

We absolutely fell in love with our student’s family and in particular, his sister. His sister is 17. After she finished middle school, she felt like high school wasn’t the best option for her so she joined a 5-year nursing program. She has 2 years left until she becomes a nurse, and then she will be the nurse for her village. This sweet girl is one of the most hardworking, selfless people we have EVER met. She spends all of her days at home helping with whatever needs exist. She and Becky shared an instant heart connection.

Our student’s mother spent 2 hours a day, everyday, for 3 months making Becky authentic E people clothing for the Fire Torch Festival. She completed the entire outfit and hat solely by hand. It was incredibly touching that she spent so much time working on such a beautiful masterpiece and Becky wore it with honor. The clothing represents the cohesiveness of this particular E village, but more than that, it represents a personal initiation into our student’s family. Becky became one of the women and fit right in.

The first Torch Festival we experienced was held in the larger city at the bottom of the mountain of our student’s village. We spent the day trekking through mud as it poured down rain. In between showers, we sat with our student’s extended family members and enjoyed each other’s company. We watched goat fights, chicken fights, and bull fights while eating carnival-type snacks together.

Father really stretched our relationship with our student and deepened our bond. He asked us to pry at each meal, and we used that time to lift up his family and their needs. We spent several hours each day with him and had some pretty powerful discussions. Father opened doors to talk about stewardship, b--lical financial responsibilities and freedoms, the meaning of faith, how to grow your faith, and how Father provides for our every need. Our student voiced to us his desire to read the good book with Chris and learn more about what the Son has to say. We ask that Father may continue to expand that desire in this boy’s heart and give him an undeniable craving to know Him more and to fill his thirst.

The Fire Torch Festival for his specific village lasted 4 days. Beginning on the second day Chris awoke at 6am to shots being fired in the village. This is customary to do when someone passes away in the village. When Chris finally got out to see what was going on he found out that our student's great aunt on his father's side had passed away, which really affected the village celebrations. We are in awe of how the Father moved during this time of sadness for our student and his family. In E people customs, if a person dies outside of the home, the body is not allowed to re-enter the home. So, his great aunt passed away in a hospital in the town 18 km away, and our student’s parents along with many other relatives carried her body 18 km up the mountain and built a place for her body to lay outside of her house for everyone to visit/mourn. Once everyone has been given a couple of days to say their goodbyes, they burn the body outside of the home.

On the second day of the festival, we hiked up the mountain to be with our student’s family and participate in what felt like a neighborhood bbq. Back in March, the Texas team gave us an Instax camera to use for our ministry. We brought the camera to the village and took/handed out as many pictures as we could to the villagers. They were thrilled to receive such a wonderful, tangible memory of their cultural festival. Most of them do not have a camera aside from their phone, and they certainly don’t have many ways to print pictures. This was such a blessing to our student and his family! Below is a picture of our student’s grandmother and her best friend. They were in love with the photos they were given and the smiles on their face touched our hearts deeply!

The villagers at the festival wrapped everything up and began hiking down the mountain towards the great aunt’s home. We walked with them in what felt like a massive funeral procession. Several village men played somber tunes of grieving with handcrafted instruments. It was pouring down rain, and everyone carefully made their way to the house. Several men set off loads of firecrackers to notify dead spirits. We walked through a tunnel of firecrackers and smoke as we approached the makeshift room built for our student’s great aunt. About 50 E women gathered around the body and began wailing and moaning cries of agony. It is tradition for the men to gather outside of the tent while the women are with the body. Becky was inside the tent holding the hand of our student’s mother the entire time. Becky began prying over his mother and asking Father for peace and comfort during a time of loss and that He would reveal Himself to her and her family in a mighty and powerful way. The sounds of wailing and moaning were overtaken by a large clap of thunder and a bright bolt of lightning. Becky immediately felt tears coming as she was reminded by the power of the Father. He overcame death for everyone, even these people. They may not know it, but His presence was definitely there.

The family of the great aunt prepared enough food for about 100 people. We all gathered for this meal and wore strips of burlap tied around our heads. It really reminded us of times in the OT when people were mourning the loss of a loved one or experienced a time of distress. People of the OT would strip away their clothes in anguish and replace them with burlap.

We think about the funeral process in America and how we have grieved our passed loved ones. More times than not, we have spent time rejoicing in the enrichment of our memories, praising Father for saving and rescuing them from suffering, and rejoicing in the truth that they are with the King. This was definitely a different process for the people of this village and our hearts break for them.

Father sptually protected us the entire time during this visit. From the funeral gathering to our time in our student’s home, we felt the overwhelming presence of the HS as he covered us with armor. Thank you to those of you who remembered us in pryer during this critical time of serving. Ancestral worship is huge in this village. They believe that when a person dies, their spirit will look after the remaining family members. They also worship the sun and fire. Our student’s mother called out each family member’s name (including ours) to the g*d of fire to ask for protection over us as she sacrificed a chicken. We were not present during this ritual, and we know without a doubt this was because of Father’s protection.

When calling out one’s name the mother was chanting for the second spirit of the identity she called to come back and enter the body. They said that where there is two you are stronger than one. It was never told to us when this second spirit leaves the body or why it ever would leave and that is because they believe your body has a twin that is already present in the spirit world. So the slaughtering and sacrificing of the chicken, rice, and wine feeds the body in the spirit to replace the sadness that it will feel when the spirit leaves to come into the real world and make you stronger. After this we all went to the top of the mountain and had a BBQ.

What we saw in 10 days at one village was the darkest of dark. Extreme idolatry... a large mass of people traveling all day to worship fire or forcefully moan over a dead women... calls of prayer to a g*d that does not give life... chants shouted requesting their twin spirit and the twin spirit of their family members to come back and enter their body to make them stronger... people not sleeping for days so that the dead they are sitting next to could be protected and remembered... the slaughtering of animals as sacrifices... and many more. We saw the OT come alive today in 2014. The darkness that is here is evident.

We really saw Father working in the heart of our student in the midst of his loss. While his parents were away for several days helping with the funeral process, we were able to spend some incredibly intentional time with our student and his sister. We were all on our own to take care of the farm animals, crops, and kill/prepare dinner. We had so much fun doing all of this together. We spent our late nights teaching his sister how to play UNO and Spoons. She caught on very fast and we had a great time bonding together. Our student expressed to us how much we became his family during this time of need and how grateful he was to have us there. He asked us to spend some time prying for his relatives, and we were able to share truth and light about death and what comes after death.

Saying goodbye to our student’s family was very difficult. They have invited us back to this village, and we expressed to them that we would like to bring some friends from America with us when we come back in the future and they said OK. This is something Father has laid on our hearts to begin prying about for next year.

We will never forget all that the Father did in this visit to the village. In the midst of this trip, the HS affirmed us that we are right where we need to be, serving these college students, so that someday they will return to their villages and spread the truth in their local language. The love of the Father is higher than any mountain we can climb, deeper than any ocean we can dive, louder than the roar of any waterfall, and it wraps around us entirely with the security of the death and resurrection of the Son. We want to share this with as many people as we can so that they too may experience the divine culture He has prepared and designed for us.