Liberating Peoples
"I will free you from being slaves to them" Ex: 6:6.

A few years ago, in the village of Bakelalan on the island of Sarawak, Malaysia, a group of Christian women were gathered for prayer. As these members of the Evangelical Church of Borneo prayed and waited upon the Lord, one of the ladies involuntarily said, "Manobo."

"What does that mean," asked the others.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Let's ask the Lord what it means," another woman suggested.

As they continued to pray, the Holy Spirit impressed on the women that 'Manobo' was the name of an unevangelized people group somewhere in the world.

The women went and told their church elders, "We think God wants us to share the Good News of Christ with the Manobo."

"But," the elders asked, "who are the Manobo? Where do they live?"

"We don't know," the women said.

They could have left it as an unsolved mystery. Instead, the church elders took the Manobo question to the leaders of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) in Kuala Lumpur.

"Yes," OMF leaders confirmed, "The Manobo are a tribal group on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines."

With this news the believers in Bakelalan renewed their intercession for the Manobo people. As of this writing, the Holy Spirit has sent two women from the Evangelical Church of Borneo to go work with OMF among the Manobo.

Thirty-five centuries ago, God announced to the Israelites through Moses:
"I am the LORD,
and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
I will free you from being slaves to them,
and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm
and with mighty acts of judgment.
I will take you as my own people,
and I will be your God.
Then you will know that I am the LORD" (Ex. 6:6-7).

In the Book of Exodus God liberated a people group called the Israelites from slavery and from unbelief. This foundational Old Testament event is being repeated again and again around the globe, among peoples like the Manobo.

The Lord delivered the Israelites by means of ten plagues. The Triune God often liberates people groups today through steps like the following.

1. Christians "adopt" a people group and intercede for them.
2. Christians learn about and visit the people group.
3. Missionaries are called, prepared and sent.
4. Missionaries build friendships and gain acceptance.
5. Scripture is translated.
6. The Gospel is proclaimed through spoken word and media.
7. Initial converts are baptized and gather for worship.
8. New believers are discipled and witness to their neighbors.
9. New believers are trained and assume leadership.
10. New believers select another unreached people and repeat the process.

The Lord loved the Israelites in Egypt. He loves the Manobo in the Philippines. He also loves the unreached people group that He will call you and your church to adopt.

1. What has God done to mobilize you and your Christian fellowship to evangelize an unreached people group?
2. Review the 10 steps listed above. Describes the triumphs you have experienced. Identify the remaining obstacles.
3. Pray for further progress, using Ex. 6:6-7 as the basis for your petitions.

• www.adoptapeople.com
• www.calebproject.net
• www.bethany.com/profiles/home.htm