God at work among the Pygmies

What an incredible day we had today. We got up at 5:30 and were on our way
to the World Wildlife Foundation. They have a huge project here and we were
encouraged to go see it while here. We got two guides, drove for one hour
and twenty minutes into the rain forest through narrow roads, huge
mudpuddles and with many tree limbs castigating our windows.

After that we got one more drive and proceeded to trek through the forest
for about two and a half hours in a big circle. We saw some elephants, not
too many of them, a herd of water buffalos, with about twenty of them, and
some gorillas. We came back to the starting point and refreshed ourselves
under a waterfall.

In the afternoon I played around with the little kids in the station here.
There are two Swedish kids (brother and sister) and several children of the
Pygmies who live here or whose parents are attending training here. There is
a creek on the back of the property and I swam with them for quite a while.
Then I played soccer with some of the boys. We had a lot of fun, even though
I didn't understand them and they didn't understand me. I found that even in
this end of the world the kids knew the names of all the Brazilians on the
national soccer team.

Around 4:00 p.m. we went out to the river, where we circled around a board a
big dugout canoe. The river and the vegetation reminded me so much of the
island I lived on until I was about seven years of age.

We left from there to visit a couple of Pygmy villages that have benefitted
from the well drilling work of ICDI. The group we spent time with are the
Bayakas. They are a minority group of Pygmies who have had a turbulent
history of relationship with the Central Africans. Some of them are stil
enslaved by other people, so this group suffers from a sense of
worthlessness that is very hard to overcome.

They do, however, interact with other people and somehow someone has to help
them enter into the 21st Century. We met with an American who married a
Pygmy lady and has lived here for over 20 years. Though he was not open to
the work of missionaries before, because of the work of ICDI, he has begun
to see the importance of God's work here. He thanked Jim in our presence for
the well that was drilled in the village and gave testimony that people are
not as sick as they used to be. There is still overwhelming needs, but these
people have taken the first step with the well. And they are also receiving
the hope of Christ.

We sat inside a crude building that serves as the church in this village. It
is completely built of bamboo material, including some of the benches, but
God is at work there. They have a local evangelist and several lay leaders
who have come to know Christ and are giving witness to the power of Christ
in their lives. One man leads a prayer meeting every morning at 5:30 with 20
or more peple present. What a testimony to their zeal and dedication to the
Lord.

Sitting on those pews I couldn't help but think that I was sitting where
some of God's most faithful people sit. They still struggle to eat every day
of their lives. They are still sick. Their children still face the real
possibility of not living pass five, but the joy of the Lord, the zeal for
God, the fervor in their worship serve as an example to us who once perhaps
had this kind of love but now have lost it.

Tonight I prayed that God would restore to His church in American this sense
of fervor and dedication. I prayed for spiritual awakening and revival. I
hope you will pray that prayer with me as well.

We hit the road again at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, back to Berberati. It will be
another arduous day, but based on what we saw here in Bayanga, I can tell
you that it will be all worth it.

Keep praying!

Pastor Ivanildo Trindade