Two Stories from Last Sabbath

Written by Melody DietrichJune 28, 2024

Dear friends and family,

Truth-seekers in Guissa

Last Friday Jonathan had a visitor from Guissa. She is an elderly, crippled lady that came and asked Jonathan if he could come and visit their group in Guissa. We know this lady from years ago. Her name is Mary and she used to come to church at Dabgue (a village not very far from Guissa) riding on a donkey because she is crippled. Those were the early days when Jonathan and I used to go to the village of Dabgue for church, almost every Sabbath morning. This was back in 2011-2014. At first there wasn’t a church in that village, and we met under mango trees or a little shelter, but eventually we were able put up a One-Day church. I remember Mary coming to church (the new church building), riding on her donkey. She would stop her donkey somewhere close to the church, but at a little distance away, tie the donkey up, and hobble into church. We were happy to see her but knew it was difficult for her to make this trip from her village of Guissa to this church in Dabgue. Mary asked us if we could visit her in her village of Guissa. We said we would and occasionally we were able to visit her in Guissa. We gave her an audio player with the New Testament on it and she was very happy for that. Eventually her donkey died and she wasn’t able to go to Dabgue anymore but continued worshiping God at her home.  

For years the Netteburg family went to Guissa to do “bush church” and so Mary was able to be part of this group. Over the years other missionaries from the hospital have been going to this group and encouraging them. The main emphasis has been a Sabbath school for the kids but some adults have been coming too, and learning.  

Now, just last Friday, Mary came on a motorcycle, with another man from Guissa, to visit Jonathan. They said the place under the trees where the group has been meeting is too wet and that they have built a little grass building where they would like to meet together. But before they start meeting there, they would like it if Jonathan would come and pray and ask God’s blessing on the new building.  

So last Sabbath morning we drove to Guissa as a family and also the Waterbrooks went with us. It’s only about 30 minutes away from our home. It had been awhile since we had gone to Guissa and we were happily surprised to see a group of about 15-20 adults, plus children, meeting there. This is a much bigger group than the last time we saw them. As we arrived we found the group of adults sitting on benches close to their newly built structure. The children were sitting on a mat, on the ground, next to the adults. The group was singing songs together as they waited for us to arrive. Mary was there too!

It was so special to see the new group of people. Back many years ago, it was just Mary, but now lots of new people are interested, and even built a little place to meet together. After greeting them and joining in their song Jonathan shared a few words about how happy he was to see all of them and the new grass building. He said we could all walk over to the building and pray there before going inside.  

The little grass building was quite crowded by the time we were all inside. But we were so happy to see the effort that they had put forth to make this place of worship. After a little while we split into two groups. The children (there were lots of local kids!) went outside and sat on the mat under a tree where Katie Waterbrook and I led out in a Sabbath School class for them. Jonathan and Dr. Waterbrook stayed inside the grass building with the adults and Jonathan led out in a program for the adults.  

Everything went very well. The kids enjoyed songs and a story on the days of creation (what God created on each day) and the adults enjoyed learning more inside. After Jonathan shared two Bible studies with them, he asked the group if they had questions before we would leave. The group definitely had questions! They were eager to learn. One of the men asked Jonathan about the Sabbath. The people there are just starting to learn about these things and have such huge needs for a Bible worker or someone that could go there regularly to do Bible studies.  

As we left we noticed that the group had staked out a place close to the grass building where they would like to build a church! We were excited and happy to see that they already had plans to build a church.  

This group is ready and eager to learn. They need someone to disciple them. Someone that really cares about them. Someone that is willing to invest a lot of time and effort into teaching them what the Bible says. May God lead someone here to this group. We will do what we can but this is not the only church/group that needs lots of encouragement and teaching. There are so many groups and people that need and want Bible studies.  

Divine Appointment in the Field

Now I will share one more short story. On Sabbath afternoon, our family took a walk from our house to a little forest not very far from the back side of our property. On the way we stopped at a termite mound and our kids had fun playing on the mound for awhile. Then we continued and walked through the little forest. It really isn’t like a forest in America but is a place with bigger trees and more bushes. On the other side of the forest it opened up to small fields where the locals have been planting peanuts, sorghum, millet, etc.  

Soon after arriving at the other side of the forest we noticed a man with 3 small boys coming toward us from the field. He wanted to visit with Jonathan and knew our family although we couldn’t remember him. After some small talk he told Jonathan he had a question for him. He said, “I used to be rich. I had 20 cows and two vehicles. Life was going very well for me. But when I was rich and had gained all of these things a “wise person” (someone that works with the devil) came to me and said that since I was rich I needed to protect myself and my things. He said I should drink some special thing that he would prepare and then I would be protected. So I decided to drink the thing the man prepared for me. But Jonathan, after I did this my life changed. My cows started dwindling away. I lost them one by one until now, you see, I have only two cows. My riches, my vehicles, left me. Now I am poor and it’s hard to even have enough to eat. Jonathan, I have repented of my sins and have decided to follow God but I am still poor. Even one of my cows is sick. Look over there. You see my two cows over there in the field? One of those cows fell down yesterday because it was so weak. My cow even cried tears because it’s suffering. So I prepared a meal for my cow with millet and sorghum. Now today, I brought my cows out to the fields so they could eat lots of green grass.”  

“But Jonathan, how can I get my riches back? Why is life so difficult? Is God just?” As this man talked to Jonathan I was sitting on the side of the sand road close by. I prayed God would give the words to Jonathan to know what to say. Later, Jonathan told me that he also prayed that God would give him the words to say.  

At first Jonathan talked to the man about some basic Christian principles, encouraging him to make time for God every morning and night before going to bed. Jonathan told the man that is would help him a lot. Also Jonathan told the man in a very kind way that he should examine his own heart and ask himself if he has a place in his heart where he still trusts in witchcraft. Jonathan said, “Leave this behind. You need to put your trust completely in God.” After talking about this for awhile Jonathan felt impressed to talk to the man about paying tithe. Jonathan told him that if he was faithful in tithe and offering God could bless him. Even though he would be giving some of his money (really God’s money) to God, he could experience and a much greater amount of blessing in his life. God could help him not to get sick. God could help his clothes not to tear. God could bless his fields and cause them to produce more. Jonathan said, “Try and see what God will do for you if you are faithful to Him.”

The man was very impressed with what Jonathan said. He said he had not been faithful in tithe but he believes God led Jonathan to tell him this very thing.“You gave me the same counsel that the pastor gave me, you said almost the same words!”  

After kneeling down together in the sand and praying with the man, the man thanked Jonathan, and we said goodbye. We need to pray for for him. There are many people like this man. They need Bible studies and personal encouragement.  

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In His service,
Jonathan, Melody, Gideon, Liliana, and Eliora Dietrich