Kandie, Timothy, and I traveled to the village of Mulipido this morning. This is the village where Daniel Batoln, one of the evangelists lives and works. It is west of Saboba about 15 miles. The village is small and in the bush. There are not a lot of trees in this area and not much shade even around the houses.
The congregation was already singing when we arrived. They like to sing the member’s “in” so everyone knows it is time for services to begin. Our gifts today to the Church were a metal strong box with a padlock for the Church to keep important papers in so the mice can’t damage them. We also took them a bible, communion juice, and bread.
Instead of having a children’s class they gave me and Timothy all the time for the lesson. The church building is small with little air movement but the brethren still wanted to meet inside the building because the tree besides the building was leafless. There were 98 people mostly children squished together in the room. All in all, everything went fine.
At prayer request time two ladies asked for prayers. One was concerned about some dreams (nightmares) she had several nights ago and the other asked for prayers so she might see. After services closed I use these two requests to open the question and answer period. Due to the influence of a pagan society, dreams are thought to be the forerunner of future events. The people need the reassurance that God is in control and Satan tries to use ideas like this to worry us. The other lady wants her eyesight back. After asking a few questions about her ailment there is a possibility she has cataracts. I gave the woman some money for her and a companion to come to Yendi and have her eyes checked to see if she has a condition that can be corrected. She was very happy! Thanks to all who give us special money for situations like this one.
It just so happens the chief of the village is a brother to Daniel Batoln . We went to his compound to pay him respect . While we were there we looked at his idols that are in the middle of his compound. There are also two different kinds of large plants next to the idols. One is a type of cactus while the other is a spiny plant that looks like a desert plant but when you break off a segment of the plant a white milky substance comes out like a milk weed. The brothers told us the milky substance has a corrosive effect on the skin. The chief happily agreed to give us a cutting to start our own plant.
Before we left his compound Kandie went back to video some more of his juju. When she got back to the pickup she told me I wouldn’t believe how much juju he had. “I have never seen so much juju in one place” was her comment.
At the house of Elijah, one of the church leaders, we were given a big meal of soup and TZ and a soup with Fufu. We were stuffed. On our trip back we went another way to Yendi. We were glad we did. The road was much smoother and we made better time.
It will not be too long before it’s time to leave for Kulkpeni so I will close for today. Have a great Lord’s Day and may God bless!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
P.S. We just got back from Kulkpeni after baptizing two young men into Christ. Please keep them in your prayers.
