"From Murderer to Missionary? Is this really what we have seen taken place in these past few years? God surely has done a miracle in this mans life!" I thought to myself as I watched Daapooi walk through the cool morning mist and down the jungle trail away from our village this last Wednesday. It was 6:45 in the morning and he wanted to get an early start on the trail. He was headed to Taomi, the same place where he watched his close friend and fellow evangelist Wikipai waste away from the lowland sicknesses during the first attempt to teach literacy classes and lay the groundwork for teaching the Taomi people about their Creator only a few months ago. This would be Daapooi's (Top center picture He and I together) second attempt to gather and teach the Taomi village of their Creator but he was just as determined as ever. He walked down that trail with a sense of urgency after we prayed together and commited his journey to the Lord this last Wednesday morning. He said to me before he left "If it were just pig meat or money or anything else that needed to be talked about, I wouldn't be going. I am going to finish what my friend Wikipai started, I am going because it is the Creator's talk that needs to be carried there. It is the biggest talk of all."
We still remember the day that this same man went down and filled Etokaatadi with arrows. It is a day we will never forget. It was only a few years ago, while we were still trying to learn the Dao language so that we could tell them of their Creator. Etokaatadi had been accused of withcraft. They blamed her for the sickness of a prominent Dao man and decided that she needed to be killed before she could strike again. Daapooi led the group that was sent to accomplish what their animistic beliefs demanded of them. They yanked her young daughter Matauwoo from her arms. Then arrow after arrow was released. The bamboo shafts striking her chest and the blood pouring from her body until she was no longer breathing. Within minutes Matauwoo (Top right Picture) was left motherless and Etokaatadi departed into eternity without ever having a single chance to hear of her Creator and what Jesus has done. A whirlwind of emotions hit us when we received the news and when we heard the cries of Matauwoo for her murdered mother, we were enraged! Even now I can almost still hear those cries. Little did we know on that day what God would do in the life of Daapooi, the very one that had released the arrows one after another into the body of Jennie's good friend Etokaatadi.
The Taomi people (Top left picture - one of the Taomi men) sent word up to Daapooi last week saying "We have all temporarily returned from working with the Chinese business down river. We are gathered and ready to be taught about the Creator! We want you to come down and teach us! Please come down quickly!" Daapoi along with his wife Otopina and their two young children, had thier things gathered in no time and were ready to head down to Taomi. Our recently returned team mate Derek Grant, also volunteered to make the two day hike down with Daapooi and be a support to him in those first few days of teaching. We received word yesterday that they made it down to Taomi despite the bad weather and jungle rains and that many were gathered and waiting for them! The first day of teaching ensued on Friday morning. For the next couple months Daapooi will be teaching all the way from Creation to Christ the same exact way that we taught him and the other Dao people from our area a few years ago! What an exciting and encouraging time it is. A time we wondered if we would ever really see happen for the Taomi people! To us, it is a historical day, a landmark in the first group of Dao believers. Because another few of those ones that we taught and God saved, have come full circle and begun to teach others in far away places in the same way that we came and taught them - God is awesome!
Please pray for Daapooi, Otopina and their two children during this time. We know that the enemy is not in the least bit happy about what they are doing and that they will be facing many hardships because of the attempts they are making to carry God's message to the Taomi people. Pray also for the Grants as Derek is temporarily separate from his wife Sarah and also his baby boy Silas until mid next week when he hikes back. Pray also for the Taomi people that God would grant them repentance and salvation through this outreach. Pray also for Jennie and myself as we continue working here in our village. For me (Scott) as I am daily team teaching a separate outreach five days a week with Debaatomaa for the wives and some of the school kids that have not yet had a chance to hear the gospel. Also pray for the Sunday teaching going on as well as we continue to move through the book of Ephesians. And finally, pray for Jennie as she continues to translate through the books of Matthew and Luke and also as she is wrapping up the translation of the book of John and preparing for a Bible translation consultant check which will happen the last week of March when an NTM consultant comes in to check her work. And pray for Jennie's pregnancy and the healthy development of our first child inside of her (She just hit the four month mark - We are so stoked!!!). Thanks again so much for your prayers and a special thanks to you specific individuals that have stepped up to the plate and gotten involved with the recent "Project of the Month" we love and appreciate you all!