"Suffering was not just a consequence of the Master's obedience and mission.
It was the central strategy of his mission. It was the way he accomplished
our salvation. Jesus calls us to join him on the Calvary Road, to take up
our cross daily, to hate our lives in this world, and to fall into the
ground like a seed and die, that others might live." - John Piper

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"We are like people living in the dark and all we need is someone to bring
us the source of light. We know even now that the words you bring are that
source of light! Bring us these words! Teach us these words! My wife and I
wait for the day that we can live in the light." This is what Amos (Top Left
Photo) said to us nearly 6 months ago after we had hiked two days down to
the village of Taomi to visit our Dao teachers that were there planting
gardens and preparing to teach Bible lessons from creation to Christ in that
area.

When Amos said these words to us he had just the week before lost his
daughter to sickness and so he and his wife spoke openly about how they
wanted to know what happens after death. It seemed that God had planted a
seed in their minds through the death of their daughter and Amos' wife
Etowaa said to Jennie that same week "My children keep dying and my heart is so sad that I feel like my spirit has left me altogether. I know however that you carry the message of how to go up to the good place above the sky. So when you come to teach us I will be there listening to the teaching every day. I am waiting for the day that you will bring us these words!"

Many of you have already been praying for Daapoi, his wife Otopina, and for their two young children as they have been hiking back and forth to Taomi to teach there. Taomi is one of the only lowlands Dao villages, with many lowlands sicknesses. Even after Daapoi's best friend and fellow evangelist fell ill because of a lowlands sickness he picked up in Taomi and died toward the end of last year he would still not give up. After burying the
body of his closest friend last November and then spending nearly a month in mourning Daapoi looked at me with determination in his eyes and said "I will not give up because God's message is the biggest and most important message of all! If it were not so then you and Jennie would not have come from so far away to tell us about it now would you!?"

Now this morning we received word from our teammates the Grants that early this last week Daapoi finally wrapped up teaching the Taomi people from creation to Christ and that Amos and his wife Etowa were some of the first to step forward and place their faith in Christ along with many of the other Taomi people! The Taomi church has been born and another Dao village has finally had the opportunity to hear for the first time of what their Creator and His son Jesus have done for them!

This incredible day for the Taomi people has not come without great
sacrifice however. As they were wrapping up the teaching, Daapoi and
Otopina's young daughter named Ikimiya (Top center picture-Daapoi holding his daughter Ikimiya) fell desperately ill. They carried their daughter the two day hike back up to the area where we live, where our teammates the Grants began to administer medicine to Ikimiya but it was too late....God
decided to take Ikimiya home early this morning. And so while many received spiritual life this week it was also a time of physical death. Now Daapoi faces the task of burying his only daughter not far down the mountain from where he buried his best friend a few months ago. And as these steps are taken forward to see the gospel penetrate every last unreached group of people we are reminded that this is, always has been, and always will be a message that moves forward through hardship, suffering and affliction. From Jesus to Stephen to Paul all the way up until today the gospel has always been carried forward through many tribulations and Dao is no exception to this sobering truth.(2 Corinthians 6:10)

May we, the carriers of this great message be able to stand by God's grace
and say with Paul "I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that
which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's
sake, which is the church" (Colossians 1:24) Pray that Daapoi and Otopina
(Top right picture - Otopina) specifically, would find the strength to see
the loving hand of our Creator even in these afflictions and sufferings. The
believers wanted to worship together this morning anyways and hear the
Sunday lesson on Ephesians despite their loss but the funeral will start
this afternoon after church and Daapoi and Otopina desperately need your
prayers as do the rest of the Dao believers as they mourn together. Pray
also that God would grant wisdom to our team mates the Grants as they
rejoice with the new group of Taomi believers yet also mourn the loss of
little Ikimiya. Finally, pray for the new believers in Taomi that they will
grow in their faith and also for our little baby inside Jennie¹s belly that
it will continue to grow strong and healthy!

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Because He said "GO!" - Scott & Jennie Phillips - Luke 9:60/17:10

For more pictures and info on the ministry God has allowed us a part in
here, check out www.sjphillips.org