Greetings all,
In an email while still in Asia Pacific I had asked for prayer as we went to one of the Wana villages to deal with some challenges that the church leaders were having amongst themselves, and which had the potential to cause division. We took along three pastors from a couple of the other Wana churches to help us as we knew they would be able to understand the situation better than we and be a big help.
While not everything has been resolved we are happy to report that we feel good progress has and is being made toward that end. You might be wondering, “What was the major problem they were having?” – a good question! Well as it turns out one of the biggest problems they were having was that of making false assumptions amongst themselves, and then acting upon those false assumptions (never happens to us – right 😊).
My co-worker, Doug, and I meeting with the church leaders of this village.
We just finished a draft of the book of Joshua and I was reminded of the false assumptions that the 9-½ tribes on the west of the Jordon River made of their brothers who lived on the east side. As the eastern tribes were going home, after they had conquered Canaan, they had built a replica of the altar at the tabernacle to remind them that they all were Israelites and that they all had access to the altar and tabernacle on the west side at Shiloh. It was never meant for sacrifices but yet the tribes on the west made that assumption and were ready to kill their brothers on the east.
How easy it is for any of us to get caught in the same trap, and what a lesson for us to learn to keep up good communication amongst ourselves. This all reminded me once again the reason we feel that the Old Testament is so important as it addresses so many of the felt needs of the Wana people (and us, too). Thanks for your continued prayers. The gospel has been going forth in Wana like never before and Satan has not been blind to it. He is continually seeking for ways to disrupt the spread of the gospel and division often seems to be his favorite tool.
Thanks so much and God Bless,
Ed & Jeanne Casteel
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