A Week in the Bush, A New Way to Understand the Gospel

Some thoughts from Nick about the Dental Trip:

I just spent the past week in a Kissi tribal village in a remote corner of southeast Guinea, co-leading a Dental Outreach Trip from Mercy Ships. The Kissi are a West African people group who live in the forested border region between Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

We were a 25-hours-drive away from the coast - a two-day journey that took us first over winding mountain pavement, then zig-zagging through pot-hole infested highland roads, then flying through forested dirt roads, then crawling at a snail’s pace through hilly back-country trails. The last four hours of the drive were spent in first gear, going over what could be equated to four-wheeler or dirt-bike paths in the States: a thin, winding, forest “road” - if you could call it that - climbing huge boulders, dodging giant pot-holes and drop-offs, traversing hand-made log bridges over ravines, and fording creeks.

This description is a testimony to the remoteness of the people we were able to go serve. Their nearest medical facility is four hours away. The likelihood that ANY of these people had ever seen a dentist before in their entire lives was very slim. The need was great, and we were able to help over 400 people with free dental care during our week’s stay in the village.

During our Sunday in the village, we were able to worship and share with the local Christian congregation and share in a humble-yet-delicious meal of rice, sauce, and a small fish. On our way back from the church service to our team camp site, we passed by a huge crowd that was gathered under a patch-work awning in front of a small house in the village. I asked our interpreter, Morris, a Kissi elderman in the Christian church, “Is this another church gathering?”

“No.” He answered quickly. “This... this is a ceremony.”

I pushed further: “What kind of ceremony?”

He said, “they are offering a sacrifice. A person has died. The funeral was two days ago. Now they are gathering to offer a sacrifice to ask God to open the door for the dead person to enter heaven.”

“What will they sacrifice?” My curiosity was piqued.

“They will sacrifice a cow or a goat as an offering to God.”

A long silence passed as thoughts swirled in my head of how to possibly communicate the Gospel in the midst of such a deeply-engrained, traditional spiritual environment...

Then it occurred to me! The sacrifice that opens the door to God has already been made! Jesus’ self-sacrifice rids us of our separation from God and opens the door for us to be in His Presence! I shared this with Morris - who, as an elder in the Christian church, already knew. The rest of our journey back to the camp site was filled with discussion about the depth, the power, the amazingness! of Jesus’ self-sacrifice on our behalf.

Man is not able to offer a sacrifice great enough to open the door to God for himself or his loved ones. But that is what is so amazing about the truth of the Christian Gospel: man does not make the sacrifice for himself; God does! The sacrifice that opens the door to God for man was made by God Himself! He offered Himself as our sacrifice, opening the way for us to have direct access to Him now, as well as to dwell with Him in perpetuity in heaven!

Amen!! Hallelujah!!

As a non-medical person, it was an honor to get to be a part of the transformative medical work that our organization gets to do.  I am so grateful to have been a part of this awesome trip and this amazing team.

Surely there will be more to come.