*Note I'll have to leave out or change names of people and places, details, and pictures for safety sake on this one
About 40 years ago missionaries were serving in a certain village that was known to be exceptionally hostile to outsiders and even towards their own. (We'll call this village the fictitious name of Jarix). Asas de Socorro was the ones who would transport the missionaries back and forth to Jarix as needed. But things began to get really aggressive and at a certain point the plane even got shot at by arrows. The missionaries serving there and Asas felt it was time to pull out for safety reasons.
Durning the next 39 years or so that followed absolutely no contact whatsoever was made with Jarix. Then one day some natives from a different village (we'll call this village Dina) who spoke the same language as in Jarix, were in Boa Vista because one of them had become very sick was in the hospital. At the same time that people from Dina were in the city, there also happened to be some people from Jarix in the city who had come to resolve some things with the government, I believe. Anyway, somehow the people from Jarix ran into the people from Dina and noticed that the people from Dina were speaking their same language, but not only that, the people from Dina knew how to read, write, were well educated, etc. The people from Jarix approached them and wanted to know all about how they had learned these things that in Jarix were unheard of. The people from Dina began to explain that it was because missionaries were living in their village and they had put their language in writing and taught them how to read, write, etc. The missionaries had also taught them about God, making their village a peaceful place. The people from Jarix were fascinated and they spent the next days in Boa Vista exchanging information and also the people from Dina began to tell Jarix about God and salvation through Christ.
Only after several days together did the people from the two villages realize that they were from historically warring villages. The people from Dina were now a peaceful people, but Jarix still had a strong reputation of aggression. But the people from Jarix had enjoyed the visit so much and were so interested in what they could learn from Dina that they implored the people from Dina to come visit them in their Jarix. Dina was very wary of the invitation for their safety but the people from Jarix kept reassuring them that no harm would come of them. So, about a year ago 5 native pastors/leaders from Dina decided to go visit Jarix. One of our pilots picked them up and dropped them off about an 8 hour hike from Jarix, since there was no landing strip there. 5 days later he picked them up again.
Back in Dina the men shared the exciting news that they had been able to share the Gospel in Jarix and that 20 people from Jarix became Christians. A while later, there was a baptism in Dina and several of the new Christians from Jarix came to it, to Dina's surprise. And to add to the surprise, several of the people from Jarix asked for the pastors of Dina to baptize them as well! Although the leaders from Dina weren't sure how much the people from Jarix understood and had grown, they agreed to the request. Then, the people from Jarix went home. They told Dina that they were going to plant some crops and that when the crops had a harvest, they would get in contact with Dina. Well this just happened. And in the contact, they requested that several missionaries be sent to Jarix to spend time with them. So, Dina passed on that request and asked a missionary couple to go visit Jarix. This will be the first time anyone other than these 5 pastors from Jarix have been to village A in 40 years! The missionaries agreed, and on Friday Asas will be taking the couple to the village to spend 4 days there. They will get dropped off at this "nearby" strip and hike 8 hours to get to the village. Then they will hike back and get picked up again 4 days later.
Please join us in praying for safety and open doors for the future. Pretty exciting to see what God is doing!
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