[:en]THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

On Thursday, the mission team from Fiji arrived home safely. We welcome them home but more importantly we applaud them for going away from home. It was no vacation for sure; the whole time they were in Fiji there was only a day—their last day—in which they stayed in a hotel. The rest of the time they stayed in local houses. They went away from home—our comfort zone—with a single purpose—to share the Gospel to the Fijians. Now they are home, many are still weak and tired, not only from the long journey but also from flu and stomach ache they suffered while in Fiji.

In 1934 an American by the name of Hubert Mitchell along with his wife Mary and their two-year-old son, David, sailed to Sumatra, to preach the Gospel to the Kubu people. As you might recall, the Kubus are the aborigines of Sumatra. Through a translator Hubert began to share the Gospel but when he came to the part of Jesus’ crucifixion, these people stopped him and asked him, “What is paku (a nail)?” You see, these people had never seen a nail and had no idea what that was. Consequently, they lost interest in listening.

Hubert was frustrated; he looked all over but could not find a nail. So, he prayed. Later, after lunch he took out a can of Mandarin orange that he bought in the city, opened it and poured the oranges into his tin dish. It was when he was about to throw the can onto the ground that he heard a clinking sound in the empty can. When he looked, he couldn’t believe what he saw—a nail! He called the people back to tell them the rest of the Gospel story. At the end, many gave their lives to Jesus and through this tribe, many other Kubus heard the Gospel and knew Jesus as their Savior. You see, no one—including we—heard the Gospel on our own. We heard it from somebody else—somebody who had left his or her home.

Pastor Paul[:id]THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

On Thursday, the mission team from Fiji arrived home safely. We welcome them home but more importantly we applaud them for going away from home. It was no vacation for sure; the whole time they were in Fiji there was only a day—their last day—in which they stayed in a hotel. The rest of the time they stayed in local houses. They went away from home—our comfort zone—with a single purpose—to share the Gospel to the Fijians. Now they are home, many are still weak and tired, not only from the long journey but also from flu and stomach ache they suffered while in Fiji.

In 1934 an American by the name of Hubert Mitchell along with his wife Mary and their two-year-old son, David, sailed to Sumatra, to preach the Gospel to the Kubu people. As you might recall, the Kubus are the aborigines of Sumatra. Through a translator Hubert began to share the Gospel but when he came to the part of Jesus’ crucifixion, these people stopped him and asked him, “What is paku (a nail)?” You see, these people had never seen a nail and had no idea what that was. Consequently, they lost interest in listening.

Hubert was frustrated; he looked all over but could not find a nail. So, he prayed. Later, after lunch he took out a can of Mandarin orange that he bought in the city, opened it and poured the oranges into his tin dish. It was when he was about to throw the can onto the ground that he heard a clinking sound in the empty can. When he looked, he couldn’t believe what he saw—a nail! He called the people back to tell them the rest of the Gospel story. At the end, many gave their lives to Jesus and through this tribe, many other Kubus heard the Gospel and knew Jesus as their Savior. You see, no one—including we—heard the Gospel on our own. We heard it from somebody else—somebody who had left his or her home.

Pastor Paul[:]