Inside Story: Sibú of the Bible

Inside Story for Friday 10th of January 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Melvin wasn’t sure whether man was created from dust or corn. In the Bible, he read that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7, NKJV). But the Cabécar, the largest indigenous group in Costa Rica with a population of about 17,000, taught him that Sibú, which means “God” in their native language, created man from corn.

Growing up, Melvin always had thought that the Sibú of tradition and the Sibú of the Bible were the same deity. But as he studied the Bible with a Seventh-day Adventist, he realized that Sibú’s characteristics in the Bible were very different from those of tradition. He decided to accept the Sibú of the Bible, and he was baptized with his parents and two siblings.

A year later, his mother suffered a stroke at the age of 40 and died.

Melvin, who was 22, believed that death was an unconscious sleep. But Cabécar tradition taught that his mother remained alive and risked being lost in darkness forever unless her family partook in four days of rituals that guided her to the next world. As part of traditional funeral rituals, they needed to slaughter two pigs and three chickens and feed them to mourners. Refusing to do so would be considered very selfish. Cabécar tradition condemned selfish people as an abomination. Despite tremendous pressure from grandparents and other relatives to conform to tradition, Melvin and his family decided to follow the Bible. An Adventist pastor helped them find a place outside of Cabécar territory to bury their mother.

It was then that Melvin decided to become a pastor. He had sensed God calling him to gospel ministry since his baptism, but he had resisted. After his mother died, he resolved to dedicate the rest of his life to sharing the Sibú of the Bible. He wanted to lead his people away from the Sibú who created man from corn to the Sibú who formed man from dust. He wanted them to rejoice in the knowledge that animal sacrifices were not required to gain eternal life in the next world because the Sibú of the Bible gave His own life as a sacrifice to save all.

Today, Melvin Madriz is a 24-year-old pastoral student at Central America Adventist University in Costa Rica. Upon graduating, he will be the Adventist Church’s first Cabécar pastor. Only about 30 Cabécar people are currently Adventists.

“I believe in Sibú, but only the Sibú of the Bible, not the Sibú of tradition,” Melvin said.

Pray for the God of the Bible to be proclaimed to the Cabécar and all indigenous people worldwide. Thank you for your mission offerings that help share the gospel with unreached and underreached people groups.