The Demon Possessed Man




Grant took a trip out to Mahafaly land this week. Overall, it ended up being a great week. He was able to share the story of the demon possessed man in two villages. Although the villages struggled with some of the Tandroy dialect mixed in with the Mahafaly dialect, the reaction was still overwhelming. They were so excited to hear Grant speak in Mahafaly. They understood him, and were able to answer his questions about the story. The feedback from them included them saying that from this story they learned that Jesus is all powerful over all spirits and loves people. One thing they didn't understand was why Jesus allowed all of those pigs to die. I guess that for a people who are starving to death, the death of a whole herd of pigs seems unwarranted. Interesting, huh?

Some other interesting things from his trip included:

1. Being given a chicken in a village where he has been trying to develop a relationship
2. A village chief beginning to understand that there is only one God, through the story of creation
3. Learning that one of Grant's good friends in the bush has 4 wives (because they keep having girls...he keeps marrying so he can have a son)
5. All of the villages are suffering from starvation and thirst
6. Grant was invited to a funeral on the 14th of May
7. Grant was allowed to see the hazomanga in one village...the sacred place of worship and sacrifice (no outsiders are allowed to look)

The trip was good, and now he will spend the next few months translating a storying set into Mahafaly with his friend. He will continue making trips down into the bush during this time, to continue learning the language and build relationships. Once we have the storying set translated into the Mahafaly dialect, we will begin preparing a week long evangelism event for one or two of the villages. We will use the storying set, that will start with creation and go through the Bible. We will teach the storying set throughout the week and hopefully end the last day with the Jesus film. Pray for Grant as he begins the tough task of making this story set. It's going to take a lot of work and patience.

Comments

Tim & Anna said…
As an ampersand, you would do well to put that camera away at the mangahazo...
May 4, 2010 at 1:33 PM
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