Please Pray…

My brother and I plant churches in the vast, wild, and undeveloped "Deep Forest" tribal region. It is something like an American Indian reservation, only with mountains and wild forests. We have planted or started 100 churches over the past 15 years in partnership with CRI. One of those villages is named Rollagadda. 

The first time we go into a village can be dangerous, so we never go alone. On the other hand, we don't want to show up with a large group either. It attracts too much attention. We decided  this time that five of us pastors would be the right size. Five is not so large a number as to be alarming to the locals, but not so small that someone could easily attack us. 

The village was difficult to reach. By the time we got close by car, the roads had become so full of ruts and boulders that we decided it would be faster to walk. At that point, we were still two or three miles away. Walking brought us close to others who were on the road. It was not a friendly area. No one said hello to us. 

At about a half mile away, the village came into sight. We decided to huddle together and pray. We asked for God's protection on our group, and for guidance from the Spirit.

As we drew near, more people appeared on the road. They could tell right away that we were from a different area. Some asked why were we there and what was our business? We said we were visiting to learn about the needs of the people in their village and to see if their was some way we could help. They didn't believe us. "No one comes here to help," they said.

We kept walking and soon we were inside the village. We noticed an old woman was sitting out front of a tiny thatched hut. We decided to talk to her as she seemed willing to visit with us strangers. So we did. She quickly perceived that we were Christians and said that around 20 years ago a pastor came to this very village with a goal to open a church. However, as soon as he started to preach the Gospel in the village, the locals immediately became hostile, and he was killed on the spot. "He is buried here somewhere," she said. Whether she was trying to warn us, or scare us, I am not sure. We replied that we were not afraid because God had sent us, but privately we were shocked by her story. This was truly a god-forsaken village. The woman asked us to pray for her because she was ill and lonely. Each of us five pastors took turns praying. By the time we had finished, the people who had been watching, had gone back into their houses and closed their doors. 

We decided to leave before someone confronted us and brought trouble. But we were happy! We had prayed for one person in the village! It was a good start. We will be back!

Please pray!

A & I G. Brothers