by [name withheld]

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” –We are celebrating the increased level of hunger and thirst for God and his ways in the lives of the Tay people. We witnessed that again recently while we were in the village in June and July. We held a third Scripture Use course on money issues such as tithing, compensation demands, and serving God or mammon. We were blessed to see the Holy Spirit challenging and convicting through His Word and to hear the deep discussions with resulting commitments. Some declared their intention to give God a tenth of the money made from selling vanilla and coffee or sharing a tenth of their garden produce with church leaders and those in need.

Another day we were visited by “Hungry Humphrey”. We had never met Humphrey until he came to our door during our recent village visit. Humphrey lives in the nearby dialect area. He came to share a story. About eight years ago, Humphrey was given a large King James Version (KJV) family Bible. Despite his limited understanding of English, Humphrey poured over this KJV Bible month after month, year after year. I sat amazed, and convicted, as he told his story. Would I have been that diligent and committed to knowing God if all I had was a Bible in another language, and a “dialect” of that language that was archaic!? Often, throughout his testimony, Humphrey would illustrate his testimony by sharing a Scripture that he had learned by memory from the Melanesian Pidgin Bible. He expressed deep gratitude in having God’s Word now in his own language.

May God continue to break the Word open to the Tay and may they courageously walk it out in obedience. May God deliver me from taking His Word for granted. May God pour out in my heart an insatiable hunger for His Word and His Ways.

May Hungry Humphrey and his tribe increase.