You never know what God will use as a witness to His greatness.  I personally have experienced the witness of God’s Spirit in my life through very unexpected encounters.  As a pre-teen I remember very clearly the impact one camp counselor had upon my life.  The power of his testimony was not through his words but instead God used his servant attitude while sorting dirty dishes to speak to my heart and leave me desiring God more than anything else.  I had a similar experience this past week as I spent time interior with the church (tribal believers) for a few days of fellowship and Bible teaching.  These believers represent several different language groups as well as many different local bodies of believers.  Their theme was the autonomy of the local church with Christ as their Head.  The elders of these churches spent time teaching from Gods word and testimonies were shared from different ones of their local congregations how body life is happening among them.  These tribal people are often looked down upon because of their lack of education and more traditional lifestyle.  Yet here they are fellowshipping as believers seeking to uphold the pattern they have learned from the Scriptures and shining as lights in this dark world. 

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NASB95)
²⁷ but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,²⁸ and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no man may boast before God. 

Starting in June we have been given the opportunity to help support the translation efforts of an NTM co-worker here in Borneo.  Darcy Berglund has been working on the Semandang bible translation and is getting closer to being finished with a major portion of her translation work.  Andrea and I have been asked to spend time interior with Darcy in order to both learn from her and also support the translation effort.  This move will not be a permanent move but it will meet a need that she has and also give us greater interaction with the churches in the interior area of Borneo.  We would appreciate your prayers as our family will need to uproot and readjust to life interior.  Also we will be in a tribal area that speaks yet another tribal language and so we will be stretched in our language learning.  Our sole desire is to bring glory to God through serving His body under His authority.

Last week we got away as a family for two nights to a place called long beach.  This was a place we have retreated to before we had kids for prayer and refreshment.  It was great to have Dina and Abby there with us to share a special time as a family.  It’s especially meaningful for me to share with the girls a love for the ocean.  Growing up in Florida we always spent several weeks at the beach in the summer.  It was a tradition for the Ullum family growing up and we hope it will continue to be something we can share as our family grows. 

One final thought on the power of a testimony.  When the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon to see for herself if what she had heard was true it’s instructive for us to note where she got her answer.  1 Kings 10:4-5 (NASB95) When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.  Look how God used very common things such as, “the food of his table, the seating of his servants…” to testify to Solomon’s God.  Under the authority of the Holy Spirit the common things of our life can proclaim the power of the gospel. 

Grace to you,

Tim & Andrea Ullum