Daily Topic for May 03, 2010
In today’s final missionary biography section, we see a community transformed because they were willing to take God at His word. Even the outside world could see the contrast in the transformed of the Curipaco villagers and those of the animistic peoples. Having your mind set on what the Holy Spirit desires changes everything for the better!
Pray that this month you will set your mind on what the Spirit desires so that your life may be drastically transformed.
by Keith Carey
One of Sophie’s key language helpers was Paulo, who died from a snake bite. The people invited her to preside at his memorial service. She ad-libbed a translation of Jesus’ words from John 14 in Curipaco. Before she prayed, Paulo’s mother put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “How is my son?” she asked the missionary. “He’s with Jesus,” Sophie assured the grieving mother. Sophie was now one with this tribe.
Muller could not change the carousing; that had to come from within the community itself. Eventually the village leaders in Sejal cancelled the drunken dances. As she translated Bible portions into Curipaco, she found that people merely read the words without understanding them. She soon began to insert questions with the Bible text so they would pause and think about the meaning.
Muller’s work faced opposition from many fronts. First there were the witchdoctors, and then the traders who could no longer exploit the Indians who were learning to read and think for themselves. Later Marxist guerrillas arrived with hopes of turning the people away from what they called the “fanatical religion.” They reintroduced drinking and dancing, but the gospel was there to stay.
In 1984, a television crew produced a video about the cultural life of the Curipacos. Their clean lives and clean villages contrasted with non-believing tribes. When asked what happened, Curipaco leaders replied, Forty years ago a missionary brought us the Word of God.”
Learn more at joshuaproject.netPray that the Word will affect hundreds of tribes in the Amazon Basin before this decade is over.