A Day Late... A Life Lost

There’s a true story about an African man named John who went to a village to tell the people, in their own language, the Good News of Jesus.  He arrived just in time to help the elders bury an old man.  Afterward they asked John why he had come.  He told them the Almighty God had sent him with a special message.  So they gathered in the shade, and the chief said, "Tell us this news or you will never carry news again in your life."

John told them the story of Jesus: His life, death and resurrection.  They were amazed and some wept.  John also showed them the JESUS film in their own language.  Everyone, including the chief, gave their lives to Jesus.  But the son of the man John had helped to bury asked, "When did God give you this message?"

John replied, "God gave this message to people a long time ago, but they did not come.  As for me, God gave me this message last year."

The man grabbed him and shook him.  "God gave you this message last year and you did not come to tell us until my father died?  I will tell this God to put His blood on your head for not coming in time to save him."  John broke down and wept.  Kneeling, he asked the people to forgive him.

The chief asked him to stay until there was a church in the village.  Within 2 days 187 people were baptized.  One hundred thirty others were preparing for baptism.  There are now three unpaid evangelists discipling the people daily.

This story sounds like a report from the Early Church, but it is a story of today.  The fields are ripe for harvest, but it is from an area of the world where people are often labeled as "resistant" to the Gospel.

When I heard John's story, I was overcome with a sense of urgency and sorrow for all who never heard the Word simply because no one got there in time.  Yet I am filled with hope for what is possible when we make ourselves available to God.

God is working in an amazing way around the world as Bible translation is accelerating at a pace never seen in history.