Saturday, October 26, 2024

Interest = disappointment - Dead like me



 I excel at not giving a s##t.

Interest begets expectation

and expectation begets disappointment

the key to avoiding disappointment is to avoid interest.

...

I am also not interested in being good or bad

bad people are punished by societies law and good people are punished by murphy's law.


Dead Like Me - Pilot

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Donald A. McGavran - People Groups

 


A Church in Every People:

Plain Talk About a Difficult Subject

Donald A. McGavran

Introduction: Ralph D. Winter In many ways this is the most remarkable “letter” written by the most remarkable mission strategist of the Twentieth Century.

It is extremely doubtful that any other person in history has tramped more places, inquired about the hard facts of the real growth of the Christian movement in more out of the way places—and thought it through more profoundly—than Donald A. McGavran. A third generation missionary to India, that is only where he began, although even in his nineties he touched base again in that vast sub-continent that was so dear to his heart.

But that is only where he did most of his work. His burning, wide-ranging concerns took him everywhere else and relentless, inevitably pushed his thinking into global prominence.

This particular, brief document is about like a cautioning letter to the younger people who are coming after him, warning them against oversimplification. In this brief epistle, then, almost off the cuff, he throws out seven principles which embody more solid understanding of the essential factors in Christian mission than most missionaries could accumulate in a lifetime.

In the last eighteen years of the twentieth century, the goal of Christian mission should be to preach the Gospel and, by God’s grace, to plant in every unchurched segment of mankind—what shall we say—"a church” or “a cluster of growing churches”? By the phrase, “segment of mankind” I mean an urbanization, development, caste, tribe, valley, plain, or minority population. I shall explain that the steadily maintained long-range goal should never be the first, but should always be second. The goal is not one small sealed-off conglomerate congregation in every people. Rather, the long-range goal (to be held consistently in view in the years or decades when it is not yet achieved) should be a cluster of growing congregations in every segment.

The One-by- One Method

As we consider the phrase above, we should remember that it is usually easy to start one single congregation in a new unchurched people group. The missionary arrives. He and his family worship on Sunday. They are the first members of the congregation, He learns the language and preaches the Gospel. He lives like a Christian. He tells people about Christ and helps them in their troubles. He sells tracts or Gospels, or gives them away. Across the years, a few individual converts are won from that. Sometimes they come for very sound and spiritual reasons; sometimes from mixed motives. But here and there a woman, a man, a boy, a girl do decide to follow Jesus. A few employees of the mission become Christian. These may be masons hired to erect the buildings, helpers in the home, rescued persons or orphans. The history of mission in Africa is replete with churches started by buying slaves, freeing them and employing such of them as could not return to their kindred Such as chose to could accept the Lord. A hundred and fifty years ago this was a common way of starting a church. With the outlawing of slavery, of course, it ceased to be used.

One single congregation arising in the way just described is almost always a conglomerate church—made up of members of several different segments of society. Some old, some young, orphans, rescued persons, helpers and ardent seekers. All seekers are carefully screened to make sure they really intend to receive Christ. In due time a church building is erected and, lo, “a church in that people.” It is a conglomerate church. It is sealed off from all the people groups of that region. No segment of the population says, “That group of worshipers is us.” They are quite right. It is not. It is ethnically quite a different social unit.

This very common way of beginning the process of evangelization is a slow way to disciple the peoples of the earth—note the plural, “the peoples of the earth.” Let us observe closely what really happens as this congregation is gathered. Each convert, as he becomes a Christian, is seen by kin as one who leaves “us” and joins “them.” He leaves “our gods” to worship “their gods.” Consequently, his own relatives force him out. Sometimes he is severely ostracized, thrown out of the house and home; his wife is threatened. Hundreds of converts have been poisoned or killed. Sometimes, the ostracism is mild and consists merely in severe disapproval. His peoples consider him a traitor. A church which results from this process looks to the peoples of the region like an assemblage of traitors. It is a conglomerate congregation. It is made up of individuals who, one by one, have come out of several different societies, castes or tribes.

Now if anyone, in becoming a Christian, is forced out of, or comes out of a highly-structured segment of society, the Christian cause wins the individual but loses the family. The family, his people, his neighbors of that tribe are fiercely angry at him or her. They are the very men and women to whom he cannot talk. “You are not of us,” they say to him. “You have abandoned us, you like them more than you like us. You now worship their gods not our gods.” As a result, conglomerate congregations, made up of converts won in this fashion, grow very slowly. Indeed, one might truly affirm that, where congregations grow in this fashion, the conversion of the ethnic units (people groups) from which they come is made doubly difficult. “The Christians misled one of our people,” the rest of the group will say. “We’re going to make quite sure that they do not mislead any more of us.”

One by one, is relatively easy to accomplish. Perhaps 90 out of 100 missionaries who intend church planting get only conglomerate congregations. I want to emphasize that. Perhaps 90 out of every 100 missionaries who intend church planting get only conglomerate congregations. Such missionaries preach the Gospel, tell of Jesus, sell tracts and Gospels and evangelize in many other ways. They welcome inquirers, but whom do they get? They get a man here, a woman there, a boy here, a girl there, who for various reasons are willing to become Christians and patiently to endure the mild or severe disapproval of their people.

If we understand how churches grow and do not grow on new ground, in untouched and unreached peoples, we must note that the process I have just described seems unreal to most missionaries. “What,” they will exclaim, “ could be a better way of entry into all the unreached peoples of that region than to win a few individuals from among them? Instead of resulting in the sealed-off church you describe, the process really gives us points of entry into every society from which a convert has come. That seems to us to be the real situation.”

Those who reason in this fashion have known church growth in a largely Christian land, where men and women who follow Christ are not ostracized, are not regarded as traitors, but rather as those who have done the right thing. In that kind of society every convert usually can become a channel through which the Christian Faith flows to his relatives and friends. On that point there can be no debate. It was the point I emphasized when I titled my book, The Bridges of God.

But in tightly-structured societies, where Christianity is looked on as an invading religion, and individuals are excluded for serious fault, there to win converts from several different segments of society, far from building bridges to each of these, erects barriers difficult to cross.


The People-Movement Approach

Seven Principles

Now let us contrast the other way in which God is discipling the peoples of Planet Earth. My account is not theory but a sober recital of easily observable facts. As you look around the world you see that, while most missionaries succeed in planting only conglomerate churches by the “one by one out of the social group” method, here and there clusters of growing churches arise by the people-movement method. They arise by tribe-wise or caste-wise movements to Christ. This is in many ways a better system. In order to use it effectively, missionaries should operate on seven principles.

The First Principle

First, They should be clear about the goal. The goal is not one single conglomerate church in city or a region. They may get only that, but that must never be their goal. That must be a cluster of growing, indigenous congregations, every member of which remains in close contact with his kindred. This cluster grows best if it is in one people, one caste, one tribe, one segment of society. For example, If you were evangelizing the taxi drivers of Taipei, then your goal would be to win not some taxi drivers, some university professors, some farmers and some fisherman, but to establish churches made up largely of taxi drivers, their wives and children and mechanics. As you win converts of that particular community, the congregation has a natural, built-in social cohesion. Everybody feels at home. Yes, the goal must be clear.


The Second Principle

The second principle is that the national leader, or the missionary and his helpers, should concentrate on one people. If you are going to establish a cluster of growing congregations amongst, let us say, the Nair people of Kerala, which is the southwest tip of India, then you would need to place most of your missionaries and their helpers so that they can work among the Nairs. They should proclaim the Gospel to Nairs and say quite openly to them, “We are hoping that, within your caste, there soon will be thousands of followers of Jesus Christ, who will remain solidly in the Nair community.” They will, of course, not worship the old gods; but then plenty of Nairs don’t worship their old gods—plenty of Nairs are communist, and ridicule their old gods.

Nairs whom God calls, who choose to believe in Christ, are going to love their neighbors more than they did before, and walk in the light. They will be saved and beautiful people. They will remain Nairs while, at the same time they have become Christians. To repeat, concentrate on one people group. If you have three missionaries, don’t have one evangelizing this group, another that, and a third 200 miles away evangelizing still another. That is a sure way to guarantee that any church started will be small, non-growing, one-by-one churches. The social dynamics of those sections of society will work solidly against the eruption of any great growing people movement to Christ.


The Third Principle

The third principle is to encourage converts to remain thoroughly one with their own people in most matters. They should continue to eat what their people eat. They should not say, “My people are vegetarians but, now that I have become a Christian, I am going to eat meat.” After they become Christians they should be more rigidly vegetarian than they were before. In the matter of clothing, they should continue to look precisely like their kinfolk. In the matter of marriage, most people are endogamous, they insist that “our people marry only our people.” They look with great disfavour on our marrying other people. And yet when Christians come in one-by-one, they cannot marry their own people. None of them have become Christian. When only a few of a given people become Christians, when it comes time for them or their children to marry, they have to take husbands or wives from other segments of the population. So their own kin look at them and say, “Yes, become a Christian and mongrelize your children. You have left us and have joined them.”

All converts should be encouraged to bear cheerfully the exclusion, the oppression, and the persecution that they are likely to encounter from their people. When anyone becomes a follower of a new way of life, he is likely to meet with some disfavour from his loved ones. Maybe it’s mild; maybe it’s severe. He should bear such disfavour patiently. He should say on all occasions:

“I am a better son than I was before; I am a better father than I was before; I am a better husband than I was before; and I love you more than I used to do. You can hate me, but I will not hate you. You can exclude me, but I will include you. You can force me out of our ancestral house; but I will live on its veranda. Or I will get a house just across the street. I am still one of you, I am more one of you than I ever was before.”

Encourage converts to remain thoroughly one with their people in most matters.

Please note that word “most.” They cannot remain one with their people in idolatry, or drunkenness or obvious sin. If they belong to a segment of society that earns its living stealing, they must “steal no more.” But, in most matters (how they talk, how they dress, how they eat, where they go, what kind of houses they live in), they can look very much like their people, and ought to make very effort to do so.


The Fourth Principle

The fourth principle is to try to get group decisions for Christ. If only one person decides to follow Jesus, do not baptise him immediately. Say to him, “You and I will work together to lead another five or ten or, God willing, fifty of your people to accept Jesus Christ as Savior so that when you are baptised, you are baptised with them.” Ostracism is very effective against one lone person. But ostracism is weak indeed when exercised against a group of a dozen. And when exercised against two hundred it has practically no force at all.


The Fifth Principle

The fifth principle is this: Aim for scores of groups of people to become Christians in an even-flowing stream across the years. One of the common mistakes made by missionaries, eastern as well as western, all around the world is that when a few become Christians—perhaps 100, 200 or even 1,000—the missionaries spend all their time teaching them. They want to make them good Christians, and they say to themselves, “If these people become good Christians, then the Gospel will spread.” So for years they concentrate on a few congregations. By the time, ten or twenty years later, that they begin evangelising outside that group, the rest of the people no longer want to become Christian. That has happened again and again. This principle requires that, from the very beginning, the missionary keeps on reaching out to new groups. “But,” you say, “is not this a sure way to get poor Christians who don’t know the Bible? If we follow that principle we shall soon have a lot of ‘raw’ Christians. Soon we shall have a community of perhaps five thousand people who are very sketchily Christian.”

Yes, that is certainly a danger. At this point, we must lean heavily upon the New Testament, remembering the brief weeks or months of instruction Paul gave to his new churches, We must trust the Holy Spirit, and believe that God has called those people out of darkness into His wonderful light. As between two evils, giving them too little Christian teaching and allowing them to become a sealed-off community that cannot reach its own people, the latter is much the greater danger. We must not allow new converts to become sealed off. We must continue to make sure that a constant stream of new converts comes into the ever-growing cluster of congregations.


The Sixth Principle

Now the sixth point is this: The converts, five or five thousand, ought to say or at least feel:

“We Christians are the advance guard of our people, of our segment of society. We are showing our relatives and neighbors a better way of life. The way we are pioneering is good for us who have become Christians and will be very good for you thousands who have yet to believe. Please look on us not as traitors in any sense. We are better sons, brothers, and wives, better tribesmen and caste fellows, better members of our labor union, than we ever were before. We are showing ways in which, while remaining thoroughly of our own segment of society, we all can have a better life. Please look on us as the pioneers of our own people entering a wonderful Promised Land.”

The Seventh Principle

The last principle I stress is this: Constantly emphasize brotherhood. In Christ there is no Jew, no Greek, no bond, no free, no Barbarian, no Scythian. We are all one in Christ Jesus. but, at the same time, let us remember that Paul did not attack all imperfect social institutions. For example, he did not do away with slavery. Paul said to the slave, “Be a better slave, “ He said to the slave owner, “Be a better master.”

Paul also said in that famous passage emphasizing unity, “There is no male or female.” Nevertheless Christians, in their boarding schools and orphanages, continue to sleep boys and girls in separate dormitories!! In Christ, there is no sex distinctions. Boys and girls are equally precious in God’s sight. Men from this tribe, and men from that are equally precious in God’s sight. We are all equally sinners saved by grace. These things are true but, at the same time, there are certain social niceties which Christians at this time may observe.

As we continue to stress brotherhood, let us be sure that the most effective way to achieve brotherhood is to lead ever increasing numbers of men and women from every ethnos, every tribe, every segment of society into an obedient relationship to Christ. As we multiply Christians in every segment of society, the possibility of genuine brotherhood, justice, goodness and righteousness will be enormously increased. Indeed, the best way to get justice, possibly the only way to get justice, is to have very large numbers in every segment of society become committed Christians.

Conclusion

As we work for Christward movements in every people, let us not make the mistake of believing that “one-by-one out of the society into the church” is a bad way. One precious soul willing to endure severe ostracism in order to become a follower of Jesus—one precious soul coming all by himself—is a way that God has blessed and is blessing to the salvation of mankind. But it is a slow way. And it is a way which frequently seals off the convert’s own people from any further hearing of the Gospel.

Sometimes one-by-one is the only possible method. When it is, let us praise God for it, and live with its limitations. Let us urge all those wonderful Christians who come bearing persecution and oppression, to pray for their own dear ones and to work constantly that more of their own people may believe and be saved.

One-by-one is one way that God is blessing to the increase of His Church. The people movement is another way. The great advances of the Church on new ground out of non-Christian religions have always come by people movements, never one-by-one. It is equally true that one-by-one-out-of-the-people is a very common beginning way. In the book, Bridges of God, which God used to launch the Church Growth Movement, I have used a simile, I say there that missions start proclaiming Christ on a desert- like plain. There life is hard, the number of Christians remains small. A large missionary presence is required. But, here and there, the missionaries or the converts find ways to break out of that arid plain and proceed up into the verdant mountains. There large numbers of people live, there great churches can be founded; there the Church grows strong; that is people-movement land.


I commend that simile to you. Let us accept what God gives. If it is one-by-one, let us accept that and lead them those who believe in Jesus to trust in Him completely. But let us always pray that, after that beginning, we may proceed to higher ground, to more verdant pasture, to more fertile lands where great groups of men and women, all of the same segment of society, become Christians and thus open the way for Christward movements in each people on earth. Our goal should be Christward movements within each segment. There the dynamics of social cohesion will advance the Gospel and lead multitudes out of darkness into His wonderful life. Let us be sure that we do it by the most effective methods.

Friday, September 20, 2024

Quotes Hudson Taylor


  • A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing.
    Source:(A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Four: Survivors’ Pact. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1984, 154).
  • Brighton, 25 June 1965: “All at once came the thought – If you are simply obeying the LORD, all the responsibility will rest on Him, not on you! What a relief!! Well, I cried to God – You shall be responsible for them, and for me too!” (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Three: If I Had a Thousand Lives. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1982, 454)
  • Christ is either Lord of all, or is not Lord at all. (Roger Steer. Hudson Taylor: Lessons in Discipleship. OMF International, 1995, 34).
  • God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies. (Leslie T. Lyall. A Passion for the Impossible: The Continuing Story of the Mission Hudson Taylor Began. London: OMF Books, 1965, 37).
  • He that sanctifieth and those who are sanctified, find their full satisfaction in [Christ], and in Him alone. (J. Hudson Taylor. Separation and Service: Or Thoughts on Numbers VI, VII. London: Morgan & Scott, n.d., 41-42).
  • I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done. (Leslie T. Lyall. A Passion for the Impossible: The Continuing Story of the Mission Hudson Taylor Began. London: OMF Books, 1965, 5).
  • It is not lost time to wait upon God! (Leslie T. Lyall. A Passion for the Impossible: The Continuing Story of the Mission Hudson Taylor Began. London: OMF Books, 1965, 68).
  • Let us give up our work, our thoughts, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into His hand, and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about, or to make trouble about. (Hudson Taylor’s Choice Sayings: A Compilation from His Writings and Addresses. London: China Inland Mission, n.d., 52)
  • Many there are who fail to see that there can be but one lord, and that those who do not make GOD Lord of all do not make Him Lord at all. (J. Hudson Taylor. Separation and Service: Or Thoughts on Numbers VI, VII. London: Morgan & Scott, n.d., 47).
  • We are taking our four little children, and I never need anyone to remind me that they need their breakfast . . . dinner . . . supper. And I cannot imagine that our heavenly Father is less able or less willing to remember His children’s needs, when He sends them forth to the end of the earth about His business. (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Four: Survivors’ Pact. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1984, 156).
  • We believe that the time has come for doing more fully what He has commanded us; and by His grace we intend to do it. Not to try, for we see no Scriptural authority for trying. Try is a word constantly in the mouth of unbelievers, . . . far too often taken up by believers. In our experience, ‘to try’ has usually meant ‘to fail’. (The Lord’s) command is not ‘Do your best,’ but ‘DO IT’. (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Six: Assault on the Nine. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1988, 47).
  • You are not sent to preach death and sin and judgment, but life and holiness and salvation – not to be a witness against the people, but to be a witness for God – to preach the good news – Christ Himself. (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Five: Refiner’s Fire. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1985, 258).
  • You do not need a great faith, but faith in a great God.(Roger Steer. Hudson Taylor: Lessons in Discipleship. OMF International, 1995, 51).
  • The vine . . . is not the root merely, but all - root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit: and Jesus is not only that: He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we ever dreamed, wished for, or needed. J. Hudson Taylor. Dwelling in Him. Robesonia: Overseas Missionary Fellowship).
  • According to Leslie T. Lyall, the secret of Hudson Taylor’s life and ministry could be summed up in four simple propositions: “There is a living God. He has spoken in His Word. He means what he says. And He is willing and able to perform what He has promised.”
  • Sunday, August 18, 2024

    faith, hope and love - Winchester Cathedral

     


    CALLING AND VISION

    Winchester Cathedral is called to renew, inspire and unite people in faith, hope and love.

    These are the values that we live by:

    Openness
    so that all may be renewed
    Excellence
    so that all may know God’s love
    Kindness
    so that all may find a place

    Monday, August 05, 2024

    Karl Barth on on Theology - Karl Barth


    The Swiss Theologian Karl Barth was once asked, "What is the most profound thing you have learned in your study of Theology?"  His response, without blinking an eye was, "Jesus Love Me This I Know, For The Bible Tells Me So.  The student laughed until he saw that Barth was deadly serious. Barth's answer demonstrates two things, First, in the simplest Christian truth there abides a profound depth, that can occupy the minds of the most brilliant.  Second, that even in learned theological circles, we can never really rise above a child's level when it comes to understanding the mysterious depths and riches of the character of God.

    No matter how learned we become, there will always be much about the nature of God that we cannot understand.

    None of us can understand God in an exhaustive manner.  We are finite creatures and the finite cannot grasp the infinite. This key doctrine, that is the doctrine of God's incomprehensibility should not suggest that we can know nothing about God, but rather that God is beyond our human comprehension.  Our knowledge is limited and partial.

    The Omnipotence Aspect

    Gen. 17:1 

    Psalm 115:3 

    Romans 11:36 

    Ep. 1:11 

    Heb. 1:3


    Ji Packer on Bible Study - JI Packer

     

    James Packer, in his excellent book, Knowing God, writes: Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives.  As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesman to fly him to London, put him down without explanation in Trafalgar Square and leave him, as one who knew nothing of English or England, to fend for himself, so we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it.  The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life with it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know God. Disregard the study of God and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.  This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.

    In a study of the King James Version of the Bible someone gathered the following facts: "The Scriptures contain 3,586,489 letters, 773,692 words, 31,173 verses, and 1,189 chapters.  The word 'and' occurs 1,855 times, but the word 'revered' only once. Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except 'J.' The longest verse is Esther 8:9, and the shortest in the English language is John 11:35

    Knowing miscellaneous facts about the Bible is fine. But far better is the diligent searching of its truths for knowledge.


    Tuesday, June 04, 2024

    self destruction for art - Justin Townes Earle



    "I discovered very fast that my way of doing things was going to get me in trouble, and I kept going with it, because I believed the myth for a long time, and I believed I had to destroy myself to make great art. 

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Townes_Earle

    Thursday, May 09, 2024

    Liberalism and the Mediocre Christ -



    “Lord, whose love in humble service.

    Before I came to St. Martin's in 2012, I was a professor at an American university, and on one occasion, I had a class of 170 students. And I thought I'd ask them what they thought Jesus came to do. I only gave them two options.

    Option one was he came to affirm and underwrite the deep purposes of creation and the way things are. And option two was to bring about a great reversal, and uphold those who were oppressed and bring down the mighty. I was slightly shocked to find that two-thirds of them thought the answer number one was the right answer.

    I didn't tell them what I thought the answer was, but I was slightly shocked that so many people thought he came to say, it's all just fine, on you go, carry on. The Magnificat is the great statement at the beginning of Luke's gospel that Jesus did not come to say, come, carry on, all's just fine. It's a great song of reversal.

    It's a song of reversal in which Mary, as a person pregnant outside what used to be known as wedlock, sees herself and identifies ith the oppressed of the earth and talks about God's great reversal. And it's a way in which Mary personifies Israel in its internal exile and its occupation by the Romans and proclaims God's purposes to restore Israel to its former glory. So we're going to hear a contemporary setting of the Magnificat in a moment.


    From Great Sacred Music: Thursday 2nd May: Justice, 2 May 2024

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/great-sacred-music/id1210908650?i=1000654323434

    This material may be protected by copyright.

    Monday, February 12, 2024

    Real Hope in Eternity

    Babae, being old I, too, am soon going to die. Going to live, then, in God’s place. I will wrap my arms around your father whom I speared first. There we will live happily together.” 



    WAEWAE MURDERED MISSIONARIES BUT DIED A CHRIST-FOLLOWER

    ON THIS DAY, 11 February 1997, Gikita (Guiquita) Waewae died. He had been ill for some time and had declared two days earlier that he had lived long enough.

    What made the death of this backwoods Ecuadorian significant? The answer to that requires a glance back forty-one years earlier. In January 1956, the world learned that five missionaries had been speared to death on the Ewenguno (Curaray) River in Ecuador. On January 8, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCulley, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian had landed on a strip of sand in a Piper Cruiser piloted by Saint, hoping to contact Huaorani (also known as Auca or Woadani) Indians with the gospel.

    In the past, the Huaorani had fiercely resisted encroachments into their forest, killing many outsiders who ventured near, including members of a recent oil exploration team. The missionaries hoped for a better outcome because they had made contact with the Huaorani in previous months by lowering gifts in baskets from the circling Piper Cruiser. Nonetheless, the Huaorani, led by Gikita Waewae, had speared them.

    Meanwhile a Huaorani woman named Dayuma had fled from the tribe because of endemic violence—the murder rate among the Huaorani hovered around 60%. Dayuma lived among the nearby Quichuas. There she became a Christian. Even before becoming a Christian, she had taught phrases of her language to the missionaries who were killed in 1956. When Dayuma's sister emerged from the forest in 1958, looking for her, Dayuma returned to her childhood village and shared the gospel. 

    Through her, the Huaorani invited Rachel Saint, sister of the murdered pilot, and Elisabeth Elliot, widow of Jim Elliot, to live with them. The pair agreed. The mission team recorded the gospel on phonograph—four short disks of about three minutes per side. As a consequence, many Huaorani learned to follow Christ. Later, Steve Saint, son of the murdered pilot, also worked among the Huao people.

    At first Gikita paid little attention to the message. “When I die, I will just become worms,” he asserted. However, within the year he had begun to pray to God before he entered the forest to hunt. Eventually Gikita Waewae also became a Christian. Under his leadership, Huaorani violence declined. He endeavored to rear upcoming generations in faith.

    After Rachel Saint died in 1994, Steve Saint, her nephew (known among the Huaorani as Babae), trekked half a day’s journey to inform Gikita. Gikita replied, “Babae, being old I, too, am soon going to die. Going to live, then, in God’s place. I will wrap my arms around your father whom I speared first. There we will live happily together.” 

    Dan Graves 

    https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine

    https://us1.campaign-archive.com/?e=56a8dbceaf&u=8afcbca846220ea5008858654&id=223a43d6f3

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