Dupuré’s story
I’m going to tell my story:
I will tell you about myself. I won’t tell about when we were in the jungles; I will tell about after we came to a place called Tobité.
I hated Dupade long ago:
I was not like the other women at all that so quickly loved Dupade. I hated him, I despised him.
I buried my babies alive:
I killed my babies. I killed two of them.
Evie (Evelyn Morrill) said to me: “Dupuré, have you heard about Dupade’s Word?”
I said: “Evie, I haven’t heard any of Dupade’s Words at all. There is no Dupade.”
Evie spoke to me. She said: “Well, Dapuré, did you know there is a Dupade, and he is in heaven?”
But I said: “Evie, of course I know, but there is no Dupade at all. There is no heaven; if there is, it’s far away. The sky is a long way up, and there is no Dupade up there.”
Now I believe in Dupade:
But now they know, the women, my fellow women, that only recently I have come to believe in Dupade. Though I almost didn’t. They have thrown me in the water. I said to them: “I want to be baptized and now I believe in Dupade.” And I believe in Dupade’s Son.
Now I pray:
Señora Marina said to me: “Dapuré, wouldn’t it be good if you would talk to Dupade?”
I said: “Señora Marina, that’s right, I’ll talk to him.” And I now pray to Dupade.
She said to me: “It’s wonderful that you now pray to Dupade. Now you need to stop doing the things you did before you believed in him. Don’t kill your babies, like you used to do.”
And I stopped. I stopped doing the bad things I used to do. I stopped, because I believed in Dupade. I really do believe in him. I have faith in him. And it feels good to me. I always go to meetings to hear Dupade’s Word.
Señora Marina will probably hear these words of mine, that I’ve not stopped going to meetings. She would be very sad if I had. But she’ll be happy that we never miss going to hear Dupade’s Word. We always go on Sundays. And along with that, we go on Saturdays also.
We women, though, still fight among ourselves:
Yuni talked to me recently and said: “Mother, as if you didn’t know what Dupade’s Word says. You women are always scolding and criticizing each other. Only Davidaté doesn’t scold people.”
This is all I have to say.
“For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Key:
Dupade – God
To throw someone into the water – to baptize
Dapuré – Tobité, Bolivia – August – 1975
Transcribed and translated to English by: Maxine Morarie
Scripture portions are added.
