the people 'of the mangoes'

Matt came literally floating in the house late Saturday afternoon, deep-red sunburnt, parched, sweaty, coated in a thin layer of dust and beaming.

"THAT WAS AWESOME" he gushed, plopping down in a plastic chair and guzzling an icy Coke. "We gotta do that like EVERY weekend."

I wish I had seen Matt, Belony and Jean-Marie, all packed onto John's motorcycle heading through the countryside for this unknown area.

The area might be more realistically called "Of the Bamboo" because Matt said just forests of bamboo, some almost 40 feet high, went back as far as the eye could see, just unbelievable. They travelled past all of the bamboo and stopped the bike in front of the first little hut.

Two teen-age girls were squatting on little chairs, scrubbing clothes against each other in a large black tub. Belony started talking to them about Jesus, and one of them prayed with Him for forgiveness of her sins and for new life.

The next yard was empty but for an old woman shelling beans. Her foot was badly injured, with the skin peeling off of it and pain excruciating. As soon as Jean Marie began talking to her about the Lord she said she has waited for a very long time to become a Christian.

"I want to. I have wanted to for a very long time. But this is not my home, and they let me live here, but they worship Satan. I think they will put me out if I become a Christian."

Matt jumped in, and talked to her about the Spirit of Death that we are born with, and the Spirit of Life that God is offering. "You can choose not to become a Christian, and choose to keep that Spirit of Death, but your reward, keeping this house, will only be temporary. But if you choose to take on the Spirit of Life, NO one can take that away from you."

"Who created those beans that you're picking?" Matt asked. "Who gave you life?"

"God, of couse," she said quietly.

"Then those are His beans. You are HIS. How can you deny Him?"

"I want the Spirit of Life, please" she said after they spoke a while longer. She was the second.

Belony prayed with her for her salvation, and Matt prayed while they prayed, silently, for her foot.

When they finished, she was beaming. "I feel different!" she grinned, "AND I feel a tingle in my foot!"

After a few more houses, Belony, Jean-Marie and Matt split up, because there were WAY more homes than they had expected.

The first house Matt approached alone had a 20-something year old girl in the yard. As soon as Matt approached the tiny girl, her boyfriend approached to see what Matt was doing...dreadlocks, no shirt, rotten teeth, attitudinal.

Matt felt the Spirit leading him in a different direction than the typical, "Jesus wants you to come to Him" approach.

"Can I tell you a story?" Matt asked.

"Yeah!" they both said, and all sat down.

"We were all born, right, of a man and a woman, so we're all alike, you know? But one time, there was ONE man who was different, not like we all are. The God that created the earth and gives us each life, His Spirit put a child in the belly of a woman, and many people knew that this was a miracle. As this special guy got older, people could see that he was very special. Have you heard this story before?"

"No," they both said, very interested.

"Well, He was different than all other people, and demonstrated power and authority. Like, He was able to heal people just by touching them...a blind man, a lame guy. AND, He controlled nature...walked on water, calmed a storm."

"An another amazing thing that He did that showed His power was raising a guy named Lazarus from the dead. This special guy had two friends, Mary and Martha, and their brother was very sick, and they knew that if this special guy came, He could heal them."

"But, the special guy couldn't come right away, and Lazarus died. And four days after he died, the special guy came, and his friend came to meet him, so sad that He did not heal their brother. They were so sad, and the special man was sad too. And He asked them if they believed He could raise their brother."

"So they took Him to Lazarus' tomb. You know what happened? The special guy said, 'Lazarus, come out!' and you know what? He DID. EVERYONE could see that this guy was special, good, unique, powerful."

"You've never heard this before?"

"No, tell us more!"

"Well, people got upset with Him, because He told them about how God was His Father, and so they killed Him. And many people were so sad, because He was dead."

"Yeah, but He raised, Lazarus, right, so He could raise himself, right?" the boyfriend asked eagerly.

"YES," Matt said. "Not even death could hold Him down. He came back to life, and many people saw Him after He came back to life. After a short while, He was hanging out with His friends, and He told them that He had to go, but that He would send His Spirit to help them."

"And THAT'S where He still is, with His Father, God. And because He's different, and He wanted everyone to have the same Spirit that HE had. The Spirit of LIFE! But we have the Spirit of Death, and we can't get that Spirit of Life for ourselves."

"Like you," Matt said, pointing to the skinny girl. "I KNOW you have done bad things."

"Yeah, I have," she agreed honestly. Quietly, she whispered, "We are pregnant. We are not married."

"God wants you to be married," Matt said. "You know why? Wouldn't it bring you joy and peace and comfort to stand before your family and God and promise to love each other and always be faithful to each other, no matter what? Wouldn't you have such joy and peace if he told everyone that he would NEVER love another woman and always be yours?"

"YES," she said.

"And you," Matt turned to the guy, "Wouldn't you have joy and peace knowing she would always be faithful to you?"

"YES," he said.

"And you," Matt said, pointing to her punk boyfriend. "I know you've done bad things, too."

"YES," he said wholeheartedly.

"We ALL have, me too, and we all deserve to die for all that bad stuff. But you remember I told you that people killed Him. Well, He died in OUR place. He suffered our consequence FOR us. And He said many times that He wanted us to be forgiven and that He took our sin on Himself, even though He was GOOD and did nothing bad."

Matt could see clearly that both of these young people were so devastated.

"Do you know what to do if you regret the bad that you have done and if you are so sad that you have disrespected God and His love for you, do you know what to do?"

"No, we don't." they both said.

"Just ASK." Matt told them both. "He will forgive you. The special man? His name is Jesus! And once you are forgiven, you can leave your Spirit of Death and take Jesus' Spirit of Life and He will LIVE in you. Jesus lives in me, right now! And you know, this morning, I know He sent me here to you, even before I knew you, He did."

"Is that something that you want?" Matt asked the girl, then the guy.

"YES."

"YES."

Belony joined them, and holding hands, these two became these four in the Spirit, the Spirit of Life.

After praying, Matt reminded them that in the same way that they breathed, they could call upon the Lord in ANY moment. "Satan and your friends and even yourselves will try to make you doubt, but when that happens, be quick to call on Him, and He will come to you. He will help you and come alongside of you, just call on Him."

Three and four. Three and four beautiful people, sitting in their yards like they have every day since birth, just waiting to hear the Truth. Just waiting for TODAY. Waiting for someone to tell them.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, one more person Of The Mangoes became Alive, and many choose to keep the Spirit of Death. Beyond Of the Mangoes? A thousand, a MILLION other villages, other people, sitting, sleeping, eating, waiting...

Praying we will always go when sent. Praying for these five and for the many who have taken on His Spirit of Life these past weeks...