Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation - Day 7

Hello,

All the kids are busy and tired, so I thought I'd jump in and write one of the days this year. ;)

We had a busy weekend at the tribe but left yesterday and made it back to the Ranch safely late last night. I tried to update last night but actually fell asleep while doing it. haha. Never try and work on the computer in your bed. I woke up this morning next to the computer still laying on my bed.

So, I'll be back tracking a bit to share with you about our day on Sunday.

Sunday: We got to sleep in till 8 which was much needed. I woke up feeling great and was actually talkative and ready to go, but the rest of the bunch looked more groggy then ever. Who would have thought? The tribe church service wasn't till 3pm so we had time to work all morning. After we discussed our Devo from the previous day about forgiveness we went back down to work on the church building. Several people finished cleaning the walls to prep them for paint and others finished painting the window bars. Monte and a few people laid some concrete block for the entry way of their church building. The most manly job of the day though was digging and pick-axing through about 8 inches of solid hard clay to level off an area for them to lay down a stone patio. The area was about 275 square feet! It took several of us manly men all morning till about 1:30pm to level it out. Tony the missionary helped us and kept it fun.

At 3pm we went down to the church building and while the band was finishing practice all the Tarahumara were showing up. The women and men traditionally sit on different sides but we sorta mixed and mingled. It's custom to shake everyones hand the Tarahumara way when you enter a room. (They don't squeeze when they shake they just touch hands.) So we went around and shook about 30 hands before sitting down, I even went up to the front and shook the hands of the guys in the band. (Tony told us that people even walk right up to someone leading a meeting sometimes and shake their hand) By the time everyone showed up there were about 80 Tarahumra Indians there. Some were not believers but the majority actually were.

It's not a cultural thing for Tarahumara to gather unless they are going to drink beer. It's also not custom to sing, let alone in groups. The only time that their culture is not shy is usually when they get drunk. But we were witnesses to the great transforming and miraculous power of the H.S. that day. The Tarahumara were gathered as believers in Jesus Christ to worship God. They sang for almost 45 minutes and clapped their hands. To be there was incredible. We were right there with people who have been cast out because of their faith in Christ. People who have lost land or homes for the sake of their faith were now worshiping God by meeting together, praying, and even singing! Tony said this was something they couldn't even imagine 20 years ago. How incredible is our God!

The missionary Tony and a Tarahumara man both taught from God's word. Even though we didn't understand we could see the Tarahumara soaking in every word and paying attention. Even the babies and children were quiet! After the service we hung around a bit and took some pictures and played with some children. I think we all left that service on an incredible high of joy with what God was doing there.

That night after supper I had asked Tony and his wife, the missionaries who have been there since 1988 to share about their journey. It was an incredible story of God's faithfulness and power that brought them through almost 7 years of culture and language study before they actually started teaching. The Tarahumara are very shy and reserved people so it took them many years to even establish relationships of trust. The worked hard on just getting the people to believe that when they started teaching the bible it was going to be worth listening to. When they started teaching there were almost 100 people who came every day they taught. Out of that first teaching there were over 20 believers and it has just grown since. Every one of us were hooked on every word of the story of how God worked through them and another missionary family there to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people there. We'll have to tell you more about it when we get back. :)

We discussed our Devotion on rest and trusting God and then got some sleep. We have been learning alot this trip. I know God has been speaking to me to trust everything about this trip into his hands. I know I must let go of "my" schedule and ideas to allow God to work His schedule in our lives here. I want to trust that God will be who He said He is and be faithful to us here and to my family back at home. I love you Kimberly and James! (I miss them mucho!!!)

God is good.

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the missionary family, the Finch's, and the Tarahumara believers in Caborachi.
Please pray for Monte's rash to completely heal.
I'm going to try and talk to my wife and son tonight on Skype, please pray that it works! I am looking forward to it big time! :)
Pray for our team to keep focus and love each other. Pray that we don't give up or check out too soon. There is much left here to learn and do.



Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support.
Because He said go,
Josh Harris