"Not What We've Been Taught"
They left their homes and everything they knew in the remote, undeveloped, mountains and moved to town in search of education and work. That is the story of countless Papuans, including a group of Ketengbang people whom we have gotten to know during our time living in this town. When these Ketengbang friends moved out to our small town, their world expanded immensely...but not without them bringing some of their cultural ways with them: although here in town buildings are typically built of cement, and running water is common-place, this little Ketengbang subdivision is set along a small stream where they bathe and wash their clothes/dishes, and their wooden houses are all built on stilts.
Jim and a couple of coworkers teach weekly in the Ketengbang community, and the group of men who attend have started commenting on how different this teaching is from what they have been taught their whole lives. Almost all Papuans throughout the whole island consider themselves "Christian," but this rarely is an accurate representation of their personal faith; for the vast majority, it's simply a cultural identifier. This past week, after learning about Cain and Abel, and the effects of The Fall (namely, that we are all born into sin, separated from the Holy God), one of the listeners said, "Pastors always say we (Papuans) are all God's children. But if this teaching is true, then that can't be a true statement." Join us in praising God that interest is being piqued to continue to come listen to what God's Word actually says!
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