Scott, Jennie and Moses Phillips
New Life and New Birth. This is what we are trusting and pleading with God for in the Dao People group in this new year, 2012. Why are we pleading with God for this? Because if there is anything that we have learned over our time here in the Indonesian Jungles, it is that God is the only one that can give new life, both physical and spiritual. One is not any less of a miracle than the other. As we have over the past couple years welcomed our own firstborn son into the world, we have been able to enjoy watching firsthand the intriquate knitting together and forming of a little baby as it grows and develops in its mothers womb. Its so amazing to us how many little parts and individual organs and functions have to work together perfectly so that the baby itself can be born and live without complication! We are convinced now more than ever that physical life itself is an absolute miracle of God.
Likewise, we are convinced more now than ever that spiritual rebirth is no less amazing and no less of a miracle than the physical birth we have witnessed with our own firstborn. Unless God says “Live” when someone hears the words of life in the gospel for the first time there will be no life. Unless God breaths spiritual life into the listener, the words spoken by the teacher are useless. Unless God decides to open the eyes of a spiritually blind person, that person will simply never have the ability to see. We are absolutely helpless as missionaries and our work is for nothing here in the jungles of Indonesia unless God Himself does the work which we as the message bearers cannot do. He must cause spiritual life. He must open the eyes of the blind. He must do a miracle. Otherwise all of our work is in vain. (John 10)
We have seen God do many such miracles here in the Dao valley over the past few years as the message of the Creator and his son “Yesusi” has begun to move beyond the borders of our little village and deeper into the Dao jungles. More and more people are being spiritually awakened as the message moves farther and farther into the Dao territory and people group and even now to other dialects and villages two to three days hike away that we ourselves have never been to. God continues to do the miracles that we ourselves cannot do. We are trusting Him to continue to do that work of giving new life to the spiritually dead and opening the eyes of those that are spiritually blind as we continue to teach and translate His Word into the Dao language. We are praying for Him to do the work that only He can do as Dao Bible teachers that we have trained continue to carry the message of Jesus to new unreached villages in 2012.
Also, It seems we are once again going to experience in our own family the miracle of physical new birth this year as Jennie is due to give birth to our second child. Lordwilling, we will be welcoming him or her into the world around the first week of June. We are trusting the Lord also for the health of this little one as he/she grows and develops inside of Jennie. Please pray together with us as we ourselves pray and trust God for new life both physical and spiritual this coming year. Pray that He will do the miracles that only He can do both in our own family and in the Dao people group all the way to the last unreached villages and Dao families that have still not yet had a chance to be taught His message for the very first time!
Because He said "GO" - Scott & Jennie Phillips - Luke 9:60/17:10