Simon – Once Persecuted and left as dead stands at my side after a recent baptism of 20 people. The other guy is Billy our student missionary working in this same region.
Imagine living for 5 years in Malaria infested jungles eating only what the jungle can provide you, being beaten and left for dead. Imagine during those 5 years you lose all contact with your extended family. Only your wife and your 4 children, age 13 months to 5 year old, go with you as you run for your life. Why are you running? You can barely read but you read a book about God’s almost forgotten day—The Sabbath of creation. This seventh-day Sabbath you learned from Isaiah will be kept in heaven and was kept by Jesus and all his disciples. This Sabbath is the commandment that God says to “remember to keep it Holy”. You become convicted that you must keep the Sabbath. When you decide to keep this Sabbath your extended family runs you out of the village burning your house to the ground. You become a Seventh-day Adventist but your family persecutes you, beats you and leaves you. They leave you, thinking you’re dead.
This is the story of Simon. A tall, thin Papuan man. For 5 years after he became an Adventist his family and tribe persecuted him. So he just vanished with his wife and children into the jungle. Each time he attempted to share this truth of the Sabbath to his extended family they tried to kill him. His wife remained faithful to him, always beside his side. Simon prayed for his tribe and slowly the tribe came under conviction. One day when God convicted him to return to his tribe he stepped out of the jungle. After 5 years living off the jungle only, he was just scarcely more than bones. In all that time he was never sick not even once. He, nor his wife nor children got sick. His wife even delivered 2 more babies all with no medical assistance. Simon cut the umbilical cord for his babies born in the jungle with his own teethe. After 5 years of being in the jungle his clothes had completely disintegrated. He and his wife wore only jungle clothes – a penis gourd for him and a grass skirt for her.
After 5 years living by the plants, fruit and meat of the jungle they felt convicted to attempt to give the Adventist message to their village. The strange thing was that after 5 years the extended family had become convicted that if Simon and his wife were that sure of this new faith then it must be true. Simon was immediately allowed to preach and teach. Today, Simon has 9 children. One of his brothers who once persecuted him is now a deacon in his church. Everyone is clothed and he has been instrumental in bringing 74 active people into the church.
I met him because he had traveled for 24 hours down the river by boat to be trained hoping that he can become a paid Global Pioneer to help spread this Adventist Message to the rest of his tribe. He brought 5 baptismal candidates with him. His village has agreed to let him build a church on the very ground they once left him to die at. Here is a man who has been saved by nothing but the blood of Jesus and today he keeps Sabbath not to be saved but because his “Papa di Sorga” – Papa in Heaven said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy, Six days you shall labor . . . but the Seventh-day is the Sabbath of the Papa di Sorga.” In the words of Simon, “Why would any son want to disobey a loving Papa in Heaven who sustained me for 5 long years. My roots and water were sure and I never even got sick. Look at me know. . . I have 3 sets of clothes for me and all of my children and my wife now has 4 dresses. My children want to get education so they can help our tribe.”
What makes Simons story even more compelling was the day he accepted the Sabbath was the day he was suppose to start working for a large national church as a Pastor. He would have started with a good salary and benefits but instead he left it all. I asked him why? He answered, “If my Papa di Soroga was willing to leave it all for 33 years then die for me so that I could have gold streets, who am I to disobey the Sabbath that He never changed nor his disciples never changed?”
To make sure he wasn’t trying to keep the Sabbath to in some way save himself I asked Simon a leading question. . . “So don’t you think your amazing faith will help God judge you more worthy of Heaven?” Simon clearly understood and said, “No, Pastor nothing I did got me any closer to heaven. Only Jesus blood can get me into heaven. Even my best works are like the dirty rags I once wore.”
Perhaps you can help share some money each month for the next two years to help fund Simon and other Global Pioneers who will share the Gospel in the heart of Papuan jungles. I’m praying for you to help us!
Send donations to my old church in America: Battlefield Community Church of Seventh-day Adventists PO Box 5306 Ft. Oglethorpe, GA 30742. Be sure to mark your check “Papua Evangelism Fund.”
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