Isaiah is prompting the people to glorify God, who has the victory and gives us the victory, through our faith in Christ Jesus. God has redeemed us and displays His glory throughout the earth. However, not everyone can claim this victory – not everyone knows the glorious saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These are the people we are in search of on our trip. We ask questions about where they live, if churches are there, the language they speak, etc.
In our quest for the Vidunda people we meet Ezeckiel, the pastor of a GCC (Great Commission Church). As we sit and talk in the little clearing behind his house, Ezeckiel introduces us to his neighbor; a Vidunda woman who has moved down from the mountains and made her home here in Mkamba village.
Many people see the Vidunda as somewhat backward and are indifferent toward them, “Oh those people – they live in the mountains.” Because of this attitude and the fact that it is difficult to go where they live, there is no road – you must climb the mountain, people turn a blind eye to them.
As we fellowship together, we discover that some Vidunda people come down the mountain to sell their goods; bananas and beans, at the market on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Guess what today is – Thursday! Off we go to the market in hopes of meeting other Vidunda people.
Scanning the market, we make our way to a man and woman selling bananas and sure enough they are Vidunda. Jerry greets the woman saying, “Chiwaso” (Chee-wah-so), she is so excited, she hops over her piles of bananas and begins dancing on the path – someone is greeting her in her language!
In our conversations we learn that this Vidunda man has walked two hours down the mountain to bring his bananas to market. He will use the money his bananas bring to buy goods needed in his village and carry them back up the mountain in the evening.
We did not make it up into the mountains on this visit. Previous commitments make it impossible to spend the two or three days it would take visiting with the Vidunda people. But now we know where they live – we have seen for ourselves the remoteness of the area and the high probability that they have not heard the Gospel. We will make plans to return to the Vidunda.
Ask God to open the hearts of the Vidunda, even now-- that the soil of their hearts would be tilled and ready for the seeds of the Gospel message.
Pray for a person of peace to come forth when we return that the door would be open to us.
Pray that the Vidunda would lay heavy on our hearts until either we return, or someone in our stead, to share the Gospel with the Vidunda of Tanzania.
Sing to the LORD, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. Psalm 96:2-3