The last of the first

This elderly man, pictured at the Ikoma Luke dedication, was one of the very first Ikoma believers.  The Ikoma people all followed their traditional religion, but this man and a few others heard about Jesus and believed.  He became a pastor with the Mennonite church and planted churches in several Ikoma villages.  For years he worked to reach his people with the gospel and to start local churches.

Eventually, all of the other first believers died.  This man is now the only remaining one from that original group.  When he arrived at the Ikoma Luke dedication, he was ushered to the front of the church to sit in an honored position (and a comfortable chair).

One of my (Misha's) jobs during the dedication was to give copies of Ikoma Luke to the important guests sitting at the head table.  When I handed the bright blue copy of Luke to this elderly Ikoma man, I was sad that none of the other first believers had lived to see this moment.  But I was also happy that at least one of that group was there to see Scripture in his mother tongue.  After his years of work to preach the gospel among the Ikoma, I hope he was pleased to see God's Word in the Ikoma language for the first time ever and think that now the churches he planted can read about God in Ikoma, and maybe they can reach even more people!