New Tribes Missionaries Chad Mankins and Jason Knapp have been teaching the Tobo people of Papua New Guinea through foundational portions of the Old Testament. On 16 January this was climaxed by an account of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The following is part of Chad and Jason’s report: ‘Yesterday 16 January 2007 was an historic day for the Tobo people! For the first time, people heard the gospel message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in their language. After the lesson, we were each surrounded by a cluster of excited people and the questions were really coming at us. We were able to confirm that several had indeed understood and believed that Jesus had paid for their sins through his shed blood.
‘After today’s teaching on the resurrection appearances and ascension of Christ, as well as a recap. of the gospel from yesterday, people just sat there, many with bowed heads, some with tears.
‘Jason went over to one man, Alis, who was sitting there crying. The first words out of his mouth as Jason approached were, “Thank you, Yesu!” When Jason asked him why he said this, Alis’ response was, “Because Yesu died for me, and I believe and now I’m not going to hell anymore!”
‘Alis has been a very loud, arrogant, outspoken, quick-tempered man who has given us more than our share of headaches since our arrival in Tobo-land in 2002. His change in demeanour the past few days has been nothing short of incredible! Would you pray for Alis and his family.
‘Chad talked to Agabus who is just a few years younger than him. He asked him what he was thinking, and Agabus said “I believe Yesu died for me, spilled his blood and saved me from the penalty for my sin. Thank you, Yesu!” He also said, “I still have lots more questions, and I really want to talk more about these things!”
