Kemantian Church and the Devil Annoyed

[Jeremy Gable]

Hi everyone!

 

Here is the letter that I had hoped to send out last week:

 

3/19/06

 

Church in Kemantian isn't quite like Sabbath church in the States.  Beginning at 8:00 am, church members gather in the school/church.  First, we sing a few songs, and then everyone gets off their benches (those who aren't already sitting on the floor) and sits on the slatted bamboo floor for prayer meeting.  Usually Seblitu (one of the pastors-in-training) leads out in it, and then we go around in a circle.  Not everyone prays, but often alot of the people present do (usually around 20 or so, not counting the children [children meaning under 12]).  After prayer meeting, we have song service, which is led by a different church member each week.  Following song service and opening prayer is tithes and offerings, then children's story.  Aside from the prayer meeting, most of the rest of this is pretty much like what we have in the States.  But from here on, it gets very different.  After the children's story comes the sermon...but not just one.  There are almost always at least two, and usually three sermons, each given by a different person.  Sometimes Pastor preaches, but not always.  Most of the sermons are given by the Pelawans.  After the sermons is Sabbath School... yep, AFTER.  Sabbath school is divided into three groups, men, women, and children.  Anyone not of marrying age (age 12 and over) goes to the children's sabbath school.  I can't speak for what goes on in the women's sabbath school, but in the men's sabbath school it's straight up Bible study, no quarterly lesson or any other lesson book from which to draw lessons.  We just read through the bible in order (as much of the Bible as they currently have in Pelawan) and then discuss the material that was read.  After the Pelawans have shared their thoughts on it, then Pastor George shares his knowledge of the scriptures that were read, and brings into it his knowledge of other scripture and spirit of prophesy that haven't yet been trasnlated into Pelawan.  Because the work here has been ongoing for many years now, most of them already know that there is more for them to draw truth from than what has been translated so far (for instance, they know that they don't currently have the whole Bible translated into Pelawan yet).  After Sabbath school is over, everyone comes back into one group again, and discusses where everyone will be going for Branch Sabbath School.  Branch Sabbath School is this church's form of evangelism and consumes the majority of a Sabbath afternoon.  Seblitu writes on the chalkboard the names of the surrounding villages, and then people decide who's going to which village, and how many people went to each village last Sabbath, as well as how many were in attendance at those villages.  Once that's decided, there's a church meeting.  Lately, church meeting has consisted of talking about the new church building which will be started very soon.  After church meeting, comes everyone's favorite part of Sabbath (both here and in the States), pot-luc (yay!)!  Of course, there's a big difference here, too.  In the States, there's often more food than what can be eaten, and it's usually all very tasty and flavorful.  Here, it mostly consists of boiled roots, or rice.  Pot-luc is mostly a starch meal, though sometimes someone will bring some fruit (usually bananna or occasionally jack fruit).  Often it's pretty bland, but you would be amazed at the many ways you can cook this stuff so that it tastes pretty good!  After pot-luc, everyone heads off for their Branch Sabbath Schools.  Some of the villages are a good 1.5 hour hike from here, through the jungle, up and down mountains, and through rivers.  Branch Sabbath schools usually consist of a short song service, prayer, and Bible story.  Sometimes they also include special music, and coloring pictures from the Bible story presented (even the adults like to participate in the coloring!).

 

Yesterday, I saw Satan become very annoyed at the Branch Sabbath School I went to.  Each week I usually accompany Pastor to a village called Kensuli [Kuhn-soo-lee] about 45 minutes to an hour hike from here.  Usually it's just the two of us who go there, and yesterday was no exception.  Even though it's currently the dry season, we've been having a bit of rain lately.  Yesterday, it had been raining off and on, with a couple short downpours in the morning.  When we arrived there, we found that they were already having a siburan [see-boor-ahn] in the school building there (this was a school built by the Philippine government years ago but the teacher only came twice right after it was built) where we normally have our BSS.  A siburan is basically a big drinking party that the animist Pelawans have in order to appease their "rice god."  They beat on drums, dance, and drink rice wine until they're completely drunk.  This one had just started so they weren't all drunk yet, fortunately.  But we came storming in like it wasn't going on, and began the Branch Sabbath School anyway!  Amazingly, as soon as Pastor started singing "Soon and Very Soon" and "I Want To Be Ready" (in Pelawan of course), everyone stopped their devil worship and paid attention.  Almost immediately after we started singing, it began to downpour again.  But this time, it poured ALOT harder than it had earlier, and it lasted the entire time we were there.  If the building had a grass roof, that wouldn't be such a big deal, but it had a tin roof, so the rain was very loud.  In response, Pastor and I just sang all the louder to be heard over the rain.  Almost in response to our increase in volume, we started seeing flashes of lightning, followed by tremendous thunder (we were on top of a large mountain so the lightning was alot closer than it would be in the lowlands).  After singing, Pastor went into his Bible story/sermon.  I was very amused when the rain actually increased even more, and the frequency of lightning and thunder increased as well.  I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that Satan was not very happy about the fact that we'd interrupted his siburan to bring the Gospel of Jesus to these people!  Once Pastor finished, I had special music on my harmonica and played "Amazing Grace."  The commotion of the storm continued through my playing as well, but I just put as much air into it as I could manage and by God's grace my little harmonica pierced through the storm with a soul-soothing melody that was in stark contrast to the beating of drums previously heard at our arrival.  After the sermon/Bible story, and the all the songs were finished, Pastor took the opportunity to show those who were interrested how to write a few basic things (since most Pelawans don't know how to read or write).  Interrestingly, with the sermon and music finished, the storm backed off to a light drizzle, and by the time we left, it had quit altogether!  Now I was convinced that Satan was just upset about us interrupting his siburan.  After we left, they started beating the drums again, and while that may seem a bit discouraging, I take comfort in the knowledge that God put it into the people's hearts to stop and listen to us in the first place, and that no matter how hard Satan tried to drown us out, the Lord carried our voices and music over the clamor of the devil!  We might not be able to determine right now what seeds were planted that day, but the Lord knows the hearts of those people, and He wouldn't have worked in the way He did without there being a very good reason!

 

 

With love in Christ,

Jeremy Gable