Korowai Treehouse the People ALSO in THIS ISSUE a View from the Field Africa, Europe, Eurasia, Latin America Missionary Spotlight David Silva in Peru Kris P
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78 JAN - MAR 2014 THAT GOD’S NAME BE GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS KOROWAI Treehouse the People ALSO IN THIS ISSUE A View from the Field AFRICA, EUROPE, EURASIA, LATIN AMERICA Missionary Spotlight DAVID SILVA IN PERU KRIS P. IN THE U.S. OFFICE For this reason, the Church can GREETINGS continue to march into the darkest places on earth with confidence in the Welcome to the Spring Edition of guarantee of ultimate victory. Although the HeartCry magazine. I hope that it we are a mixture of faith and doubt, finds you growing in the knowledge of obedience and hesitation, the Gospel God, the grace of Christ, and the power will ultimately triumph, because all of the Holy Spirit. authority in heaven and earth has I am writing this from Campiña been granted to Christ. This was the Grande, Brazil, where I am preaching strength of the early church, and it with other men in a week-long meeting must be ours. Like the first disciples, with over 9,000 in attendance. It is we look at ourselves and see that it is just another great illustration of how an impossible task; but when we look God is working in the world. Although to Christ, all our doubts dissipate. many parts of the West seem dark and David Brown writes: without hope, the Gospel continues to march forward in full strength, people “What must have been the feelings continue to be saved, and believers which such a Commission awak- continue to grow in grace and truth. ened [in the first disciples]! ‘We In the darkest times, we must conquer the world for Thee, Lord, always remember that God has not who have scarce conquered our abdicated His throne. Although the na- own misgivings – we, fishermen of tions are in an uproar and the peoples Galilee, with no letters, no means, devise a vain thing; although the kings no influence over the humblest of the earth take their stand against creature? Nay, Lord, do not mock the Lord and His Christ; God’s only us.’ [Then the Lord responds,] ‘I response is laughter. He has installed mock you not, nor send you to His King upon the throne of heaven, warfare on your own charges: All and the nations will not prevail against authority has been given to me Him (Psalm 2:1-6). In fact, if all the in heaven and on earth. Go ye armies of earth and hell were to join therefore. Lo, I am with you all the forces and come in full strength against days. Go ye therefore.’” (The Four Christ’s throne, it would be like a tiny Gospels, p.134) gnat beating its head against a world Your brother, of granite. Paul Washer IN THIS ISSUE Korowai: The Treehouse People ..... 3 efforts in planting biblical churches. HeartCry Associate Trevor Johnson Netherlands: Paul Washer shares about shares about the work among the a new ministry tool for Jacques Brunt. Korowai people: a remote, animistic, and sometimes polygynous lowland jungle Eastern Europe ......................... 16 tribe of Indonesian New Guinea. Sorin Prodan and Don Currin give a comprehensive overview of the work in A View from the Field: HeartCry Coordi- Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova. nators and Missionaries give updates on the Lord's work in their respective areas Eurasia ..................................... 24 of labor. Holden Barry and Dimitry R. give us an idea of how the Lord is currently Africa.......................................... 9 working in Russia. Zambia: Conrad Mbewe and Marc Glass share about a new strategy for training Latin America ........................... 28 students for the mission field. Kenya: Walter Isse shares about the advances Naphtally Ogallo gives a report of his in the work in Lima, Peru. 2014 recent work. AR Missionary Spotlights: Conversion testi- Western Europe monies from a missionary and a coordinator. ........................ 14 - M AN Germany: Peter Schild and Nathanael J David Silva, Peru ....................... 29 Armisen tell us about their recent Kris P., U.S. Office ...................... 31 HEARTCRY MISSIONARY SOCIETY | PO BOX 3506 | RADFORD, VA 24143-3506 (540) 707-1005 | WWW.HEARTCRYMISSIONARY.COM KOROWAI the P Treehouse BY TREVOR JOHNSON eople Trevor Johnson and Paul Snider house People.” Their jungle huts sit have been laboring among the North- perched at elevations of between ern Korowai, just north of Papua’s As- six and twelve meters (20-40 feet) mat region, since 2007 and 2012 re- off the ground. Four thousand semi- spectively. They are trusted associates nomadic, never-dying tribal souls of HeartCry. You can read their testimo- live spread out over these several nies on the HeartCry Missionary Soci- hundred square kilometers of dense ety website (www.heartcrymissionary. lowland jungle. The Mission Aviation com). Fellowship pilot who lands here calls our area “the most remote area in an THE FURTHEST PLACE already remote land” and “about the furthest place from anywhere.” His FROM ANYWHERE float plane sets down with a splash he island of New Guinea resem- on our narrow river – a river often bles a left-facing dead bird. Its too dangerous for a float plane due carcass lies sprawled across the to wide fluctuations in depth (which T makes medical evacuation for emer- South Pacific, just north of Australia. Formerly known as Irian Jaya, Papua gencies precarious during the dry season). Roads, electricity, and land is the left half of this envisioned fowl airstrips have yet to find their way – the eastern end of Indonesia. While into this broad region. Governmental Indonesia is the world’s most popu- presence has only recently begun to lous Muslim nation, its easternmost be felt. Two years ago, this tribe was portion is home to some of the most counted in the Indonesian census for remote and neglected tribal peoples the very first time. Two dozen villages and many treehouse clusters dot this vast green expanse, and two dialects of about 2,000 speakers each divide this area roughly in half between north and south. A faithful Dutch translator la- bors in the southern dialect of the Korowai and is making excellent lin- guistic progress. We live further up- river, in the centrally located village of Danowage, among the northern- dialect speakers (the Korowai Batu or “Rock Korowai”). We are currently partnering with seventeen indige- nous Christian evangelists from the highland Dani tribe. We desire to sat- A typical Korowai tribesman. urate this whole region with a solid Gospel witness. remaining on earth. Our two fami- OUR MINISTRY TEAM lies – the Johnsons and the Sniders – serve one such group: the Northern ur team which ministers to the Korowai people. Northern Korowai consists of National Geographic calls the O two American families: Trevor inhabitants of our region “the Tree- and Teresa Johnson (and their chil- THAT GOD’S NAME BE GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS 3 One of the local churches among the Korowai people. Advances are being made at great cost to both the cross-cultural missionaries and the indigenous missionaries who partner with them. dren Noah, Alethea, and Perpetua) already sent over two dozen evange- and Paul and Patricia Snider (and lists and airstrip workers here to the their children Lane and Marianne). lowlands to aid these efforts. Some We also work closely with a Dani have gone out with no financial sup- couple, HeartCry missionaries and port and have even arrived at mis- evangelists Jimi and Perin. They have sion posts with merely their machete proven particularly fruitful in help- and a net bag full of seeds and basic ing people to understand the Gospel, supplies to plant their gardens. They especially among the women and are a shocking redefinition of what youth in this region. There is also a it means to be a “tent-making” mis- broader team of over a dozen other sionary. These Dani evangelists are Dani Christian evangelists of vary- frequently stricken with malaria; and ing capabilities serving the various they endure much hardship, hunger, preaching posts throughout this re- and threats in the service of Jesus gion. However, at the moment, we Christ. Some have even buried chil- are a bit undermanned. Five of the dren here. But a readiness to suf- seventeen have been hospitalized fer and a zeal to reach their distant within the past several months due Melanesian kinsmen with the Gospel to illnesses contracted or injuries compels them onward. sustained while serving this region. For example: Pastor Bimber has a THOSE TO WHOM WE broken shoulder; Brother Ainus was mauled by a wild pig; and others MINISTER have malaria, tuberculosis, etc. he Korowai are a remote, ani- The Gospel was planted in the mistic, and sometimes polygy- mountains of Papua a generation T nous lowland jungle tribe. They ago among the highland Dani tribe. practice semi-nomadic cultivation While many problems still face the of sago trees, bananas, and panda- Dani tribe and church, many faithful nus for food. Tribal women, with ba- believers still remain, gripped by a bies swinging from their net bags, tremendous missionary zeal to carry dam up small streams and then use the Gospel to others no matter the shovel-like spathes of the sago tree cost. Rather than bypass these indig- to bale these streams in search for enous believers that God has raised minnows left on the muddy bottom. up, we hope to equip and facilitate Some villagers still use a local plant an indigenous movement in order to to stun the fish for easy capture, but help fully reach the Korowai. We want the younger men have all but forgot- to see highland Papuan Christians ten this skill. They hunt pig and cas- reaching lowland Papuan animists. sowary and consider the sago grub Zealous Dani highland churches have worm (the larva from a local beetle) 4 HEARTCRY MAGAZINE VOL 78 Missionary Paul Snider with some of the Korowai tribesmen after a discipleship lesson.