Are there really STILL tribes out there?

"Are there really STILL tribes out there that have never been contacted by the outside world? After all this is the 21st century!" You might have asked yourself this question when you think about our work here with Asas that targets people in remote areas of Brazil. But the answer to this question really is - Yes! There really are still uncontacted people - not just uncontacted with the Gospel, but uncontacted by the outside world!



This week on Yahoo news I saw an acticle about a tribe in Brazil who was just photographed for the fist time by air. Never before has any contact been made with these people. What an encouragement to be reminded that the ministry of Asas still is critical, even in the 21st century.



Here are some pictures that came with the article. The photos were taken by Survival International, which estimates that there are over 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide. Over half of them are said to live in Brazil or Peru.
This tribe is located in Brazil, close to the border of Peru.
In the article this photo is described as, "...two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on"


This story and the pictures reminded me of the story of Nate Saint and the contact that the five missionaries made with the Auca tribe in Ecuador. Growing up in Ecuador, visited the Shell base where the missionaries took off from and this story was one of the ways Jeyson first became interested in missionary aviation.





Back in Anapolis, here are some pictures of the past days.

This past weekend we spent time with some of the other missionaries fro Asas. We went to a Brazilian style bbq - a "churrasco".

The day started with a game of soccer....here is our friend Andres playing.
Here is me and some of the women from Asas being spectators...always good practice for Portuguese even if the game itself wasn't so captivating.
Then came the barbeque part. Brazilian cookouts are very different from American cookouts and so much fun! In a Brazilian churrasco many different kinds of meats are slow cooked on this spits. Everyone sits around the chats as the meats are cooked and one by one as they are ready they are cut into small pieces and put on a platter. The platter is passed around and everyone can take a piece and eat it even without a plate. You just keep eating and trying as many kinds as you want until you are stuffed!
Here is how the meat is grilled.
Many houses, like this one, are even made with a barbeque area - a built in place to cook the meat and an area to sit around and chat and eat meat as it is ready.

Here is me and some of the women from Asas. The lady on the far right is actually a distant relative of Jeyson's who grew up in New Jersey of all places!

Unlike all the fun at the churrasco, this week we had quite a bit of frustration with our car. Here in Brazil it is very normal to have an old car from the 1980's or so, but ours is even older than most - from 1967! Generally it is in good condition but this week it was having some trouble so Jeyson had to spend time working on it. It is doing better now but our plan is to keep our eyes out for another vehicle.

Next, I thought I would take a moment to zoom in on part of my week - working with the children's program in our city, PETI. This is the secular program where I have been teaching English to some of the older kids and have been able to incorporate reading a children's Bible right in the classroom. I really feel like my relationship with these kids is deepening and I have been able to share the Gospel with my class. Each lesson I read the next chapter of my children's Bible in English and they pick out words they know in English and I explain what they can't understand in Portuguese to make sure they really get it. Their enthusiasm has been so encouraging. Each lesson they ASK me if I am going to read the ext part of the story. Some have heard many of the stories before but still do not understand it on a personal level. Others have never heard any of the Bible before. It is such a open door that I know is from the Lord.

Three of the girls in this picture are my students. From left to right their names are Amanda, Ingrid, and Nubia

On the left above is one of my students, Carol.

On the left is my student, Iran

On the right is my student Amanda again.

In class I taught the names of the colors in English. Then I brought beads the colors of the wordless book which explains the Gospel story through colors. I used the new color vocabulary in English and taught them the meaning of each color in the Salvation story. Then as a project the students got to make the bracelets after class. I will bring these bracelets on our big outreach trip in July to give out to people as we explain the Gospel. The students were really excited to make the bracelets so other kids could also hear the story of Salvation that they just heard.

On the left is Marcio, the one student who is particularly interested in the Bible.

Here we are making the bracelets. It was hard to catch everyone in one shot.

Here are some other kids from the program who are not in my class, but who I spend time with afterwards.

Above is Eliana who works at PETI cooking a healthy meal for the kids to eat for free each day.
The director of the program, Eliana, is in the white shirt. It is through knowing her that I first got connected with PETI.


The program is very structured and well attended, but there is a major lack of resources. The building is just this covered patio area and a few small classrooms. They only have very basic supplies like pencils/paper, paint and a few paintbrushes that they have to take turns using. There isn't even a copier, instead when copies are necessary a hand crank machine is used. However, despite the lack of resources the students and leaders are very dedicated and enthusiastic about the opportunity.

Here is everyone lining up to go home. It is exhausting keeping up with the kids, but definitely worth while for such an open door to share the Gospel with eager ears.