“Do you have any books I can read—something that will help me grow spiritually?” Alfi’s words surprised me. As a boy in 1989, he was one of the first Gogodala to be baptized into the Adventist Church. He exhibits a caring quality that is not common among Gogodala men. We frequently see him strolling down the path with his two small boys, one on his shoulders and the other holding his hand. Lately, Alfi has shown a desire to know Jesus even better.

Alfi’s spiritual life was stagnant until recent events started to change him. In 2004, his firstborn infant son, Bobby, became sick with diarrhea and was severely dehydrated. Not wanting to witness his son’s death, Alfi ran away into the bush. Later, when he returned home, he found the village nurse administering IV fluids to Bobby. Slowly, the boy regained his health. In 2005, Alfi’s second son also had a near-death experience with dehydration, and his life was spared, too.

One day this past July, Alfi’s wife, Dimila, was fishing from a canoe along with their two boys. As she was checking her nets, Bobby fell out of the canoe and disappeared beneath the water. Frantically, Dimila searched for her son, but to no avail. Several minutes later, his little head finally bobbed to the surface. She grabbed him and pulled him out of the water. To her amazement, he had not taken any water into his lungs, and he was conscious. “Mommy,” he whispered, “I saw Jesus lifting me up. He was with me.” Alfi is truly thankful to God for sparing his two sons’ lives.

Wondering what literature would be best to help Alfi, I invited him inside while I pulled several books off the shelf. Steve asked him if he had ever read The Great Controversy. He had not. We explained that it tells the history of the world as it relates to the controversy between Christ and Satan. It even reveals what is going to happen at the end of earth’s history based on what the Bible teaches in Daniel and Revelation. This piqued Alfi’s interest, and he gratefully accepted the book. Later, he told us he had been so inspired by what he’d read that he’d shared it with his wife’s family, and they, too, were amazed.

Alfi’s keen interest in spiritual matters encourages me. It gives me a glimpse of what it could be like here when people really start to grasp the full meaning of the message God has for each of us in His word. Please pray with us that, like Alfi, the rest of the Gogodala people will hunger and thirst after righteousness.

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