Andrew writing here (any gasps are understandable)...
Last Sunday I visited a Pentecostal church in a Zanaki village on my list of villages to get to for the first time. (Actually, I thought it was a Catholic church until I arrived and was informed otherwise.) I've visited a lot of churches over the last several months, which I actually quite enjoy once I get out the front door of the house and on my way. This church visit wasn't really one of my favorites, but there was a highlight moment I thought was special.
At the end of the service I pulled out all of the books I'd brought with me for sale, covering about seven of the different languages I expected might be spoken in that village. As usual, a mob immediately formed around me, consisting mostly of small children, but also including a few other individuals who had some level of interest in looking or buying. After about fifteen minutes, I starting packing up the remaing books and most of the children had been shooed away by various adults. At that point a teenage girl came running up saying she'd gone home to get her grandfather because she was sure he'd be interested in the Zanaki books.
Sure enough, as I looked up, a gray-haired man was walking into the church. My encounter with him lasted all of about one minute. He asked what Zanaki books I had, and I showed him the five options. He selected the Gospel of Luke and a guide for reading the Zanaki language, paid for the books, and quickly left.
If I had to guess, I would guess this man is not a Christian, but he's proud to be a Zanaki and was motivated by the desire to check out what it might be like to see his language in print. He seemed very uncomfortable in that church building, but we can hope and pray that after he reads the Gospel of Luke in his language that the Lord will change his heart.
If he IS a Christian and I just completely misread him....I'm sorry for my mistake, but I still hope that reading Luke's Gospel will bring a smile to his face.
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