Participants: John Kent
Series Code: AFM
Program Code: AFM000011
|
00:42 Survival.
00:43 Virtually every aspect of jungle living is centered on it. 00:51 Animists believe that every object in nature, every bug, 00:56 every rock, every plant and raindrop has a spiritual entity. 01:00 They also believe that every sickness and crisis comes from 01:05 this spiritual world. For most animists, physical survival 01:09 is a spiritual battle. 02:03 My name is John Kent. I'm the director of training for 02:06 Adventist Frontier Missions. 02:07 This is our second video report on the work of Adventist 02:10 Frontier Missions in the country of Papua New Guinea. 02:13 In our first program we learned about the Gogodala of PNG and 02:17 how this animistic people group were in search of the 02:20 River of Life. 02:21 There we met two missionary families, David and Cindy White 02:25 and Steve and Laurie Erickson. 02:27 They live and work in the remote villages of Balimo and Kotali, 02:31 bringing to the Gogodala the good news of Jesus, the one true 02:35 source of the River of Life. 02:37 In today's program, we move from the lowland delta of the 02:41 Fly River to the Gulf Province villages of Kukea, 02:44 Suatua and Epakota. 02:46 Dale Goodson and his wife Lety established a church-planting 02:50 movement among the Dowa people living in this rugged 02:52 mountainous region. 02:54 Their goal was to establish an Adventist church where people 02:57 didn't just know Biblical truth but also applied it to every 03:01 aspect of their lives. In our final program, we will take 03:05 a 20-hour canoe ride to our last destination, the May River 03:07 Project. This is the most remote place on earth that AFM 03:12 is working in. 03:23 Today's story relates how God has raised up a brand new body 03:27 of believers among the Dowa people. 03:29 As we begin, I would like to share some fascinating insights 03:33 into their jungle life and culture. 03:36 One of the staple foods of the 03:38 Dowa people is called sak-sak. To make it, they start by 03:41 chopping down a Sago tree. They strip off the outer bark 03:44 and then use a special tool to chisel out the soft middle 03:48 part of the tree. The shavings are gathered up 03:50 and put into a palm trough. Water is then poured over the 03:54 shavings and the starch is squeezed out and collected into 03:57 this container made out of tree bark. Later it is cooked into a 04:00 thick jello-like consistency and then eaten with other things 04:04 like bananas, vegetables and meat. 04:08 Today, you will find many jungle-dwellers in New Guinea 04:11 who continue to do many things the same way they have done 04:14 them for hundreds of years. 04:16 For instance, this lady is picking leaves off of this 04:18 tree to use in cleaning her pots and pans. 04:21 These leaves are special. They have a very rough texture 04:24 similar to a scrubbing pad that you might find in a store. 04:31 Instead of going to a sink like you would to do your dishes at 04:34 home, she takes her dishes down to the riverbank, where she uses 04:38 the leaves to scrub them shiny clean. 04:44 They teach their children to be expert hunters 04:47 using bows and arrows according to the traditions of 04:50 their ancestors. They also use slingshots and traps to catch 04:53 birds and other wild game. 05:01 Tropical jungles can be a very uncomfortable place to be 05:04 if you can't find any fresh water, so Kopeko 05:07 is demonstrating a little- known secret for finding fresh 05:11 water from a jungle vine. 05:23 Having too much water can be 05:24 just as dangerous as not having enough. Working as a missionary, 05:28 I had to cross this river many times. During the dry season 05:31 it might dry up to barely a trickle. Then a big rain would 05:35 come and fill it up overnight. On occasion it would overflow 05:38 its banks, and we would have to turn back or wait for a few 05:41 days for the river to calm down again. 05:43 During emergencies, we would have to chance it 05:46 and just swim across anyway. 05:49 The women do most of the cooking, and it's always done 05:52 over an open fire. When they make a big feast 05:54 they start by gathering food from their gardens 05:57 and what they can find in the jungle. Here, they're 06:00 preparing a huge pile of bananas and an assortment 06:02 of other vegetables. After the food is gathered 06:05 together, they build a fire in a cooking pit and heat 06:08 rocks with it. Once the rocks are glowing hot, they cover 06:11 them with leaves and load the leaves down with food. 06:14 More leaves and hot rocks go on top, and the food 06:18 is allowed to steam for several hours. Food can also 06:21 be stuffed into hollow sections of bamboo and 06:23 cooked directly over the fire. 06:26 Roasted bugs and grubs go great with the veggies! 06:33 You might be wondering what these ladies are doing in this 06:36 muddy pond. Well, this is one of the ways they catch fish. 06:39 They get into the water and thrash around until all the 06:42 mud is circling around in the water. The fish dive to the 06:45 bottom for cover. The ladies then run 06:48 their hands through the silt and catch the fish there. 06:54 A quick bite to the head kills the fish and keeps them 06:57 from escaping if they fall from their mouths while 07:00 fishing for more. 07:02 Life in the New Guinea jungle isn't easy. Between the 07:05 struggle to find food and dealing with disease, it's 07:08 a struggle just to survive. On ocassion, unrest develops 07:12 between neighboring tribes. When I returned to the 07:14 jungle for a visit last year, I happened to arrive just 07:17 after an unfortunate incident had taken place. 07:20 It didn't take long to discover that something was dreadfully 07:23 wrong. As we got closer to the turn-off for our village, 07:26 the road was blocked by hundreds of warriors, and nobody 07:30 was allowed to pass through. Fortunately, an old friend 07:33 recognized my face, and after some hugs and 07:36 handshakes, the warriors parted and allowed us to pass. 07:40 It's an old Melanesian custom to dialogue and settle disputes 07:44 as calmly as possible. I was grateful that they 07:46 tried this custom first. Several days of meetings 07:49 were held to try and sort this one out, but nobody was sure 07:52 if it would work or not. One night I was awakened 07:54 from my sleep to hear people yelling and running 07:57 into the bush. A few minutes later, all was quiet again. 08:00 I had no idea what was going on, so I said a prayer and 08:04 went back to sleep. The next morning, we discovered 08:06 a threatening rumor had gotten started, and the entire 08:09 village had been evacuated and run off into the jungle. 08:12 All but my family and my friend, that is - the one 08:14 who took the video pictures for us. 08:16 We have included these cultural pictures, not 08:18 simply for your curiosity's sake, 08:20 but to provide a little 08:22 background to the stories, and demonstrate the unique survival 08:25 skills these people have developed 08:27 over the centuries. 08:28 While they might not think and live like you do, 08:30 this doesn't mean they aren't as intelligent or as skilled. 08:33 They have just had to use their intelligence to overcome 08:36 different obstacles and survive in 08:38 a completeley different set of 08:40 circumstances, that's all. 08:41 I love my Dowa friends. And my greatest desire for 08:44 them is that they might find a new life in Christ. 08:47 My wife and I tried to share the Gospel in words and concepts 08:51 they could understand. Not everyone accepted what we 08:54 shared, but for those who did, we praise God. 08:56 One of the people to give their lives to Christ was my 09:02 friend Titus. Before he was even baptized, he was witnessing to 09:05 people around him. His ministry was 09:07 so effective, his friends and relatives 09:10 soon gave their lives to Christ as well. And not long after 09:13 that, he organized a local school board 09:15 and started a village school. 09:17 His story begins with a sore leg. 09:23 When I became ill, or was in desperate need of something, 09:28 I would turn not to God, but to witchcraft and magic. 09:32 So was my life until one fine day when an AFM 09:37 missionary showed up in the neighborhood. 09:41 That missionary happens to 09:42 be Dale Goodson. He arrived here sometime in 1996. 09:46 I was here at home when he came. He had settled at Malowa. 09:52 But he came here looking for sick people to help. 09:58 My ulcer was a common knowledge to both denominations, 10:02 clergymen and members alike. But no one cared about the 10:06 painful damage it was doing to me. But this AFM 10:11 missionary, Dale Goodson, he took me to his house at Malowa 10:15 to be treated there, and he let me eat and live with his family. 10:19 It was then that I began to see what Adventist Christians 10:23 were like. They did not eat pork. 10:25 They did not chew beetlenut. 10:27 They did not smoke cigarettes. It wasn't long before I 10:31 realized that here was what I had been looking for. 10:37 When I first met him, my friend Titus already knew who Christ 10:40 was and had a longing to serve Him. It seemed the 10:43 more he understood, the more he committed himself to 10:46 serving the people around him as well and introducing them 10:49 to Jesus. Sadly, this past year, 10:52 my friend Titus contracted a liver disease and passed away. 10:56 Titus wasn't perfect, but I can honestly say that he 11:00 became a selfless, giving person; someone who 11:03 loved God with his whole heart. I'm looking forward to 11:06 seeing him again on that glorious 11:08 resurrection morning. 11:09 New believers from Animist cultures 11:11 have a whole different set of 11:12 spiritual questions, concerns and fears than do those 11:15 from the west. 11:17 Effective ministry must take all of this into consideration. 11:21 For multiple generations, people in our area had 11:25 depended upon enchanted necklaces, charms and plants 11:28 to connect them to the help and resources of the 11:31 spiritual world. For example, the tanget plant was 11:34 believed to be the home of tribal spirits. 11:37 They were planted by their human homes for protection. 11:40 Well, new believers wanted to know what to do with all of 11:43 these things once they gave their lives to Christ. 11:46 In many cases, they chose to follow Paul's example 11:49 in Acts 19 and burn them. 11:53 Satan has a thousand ways to confuse and destroy people. 11:57 One of these ways is through sorcery, witchcraft and other 12:00 spiritual practices that are deeply ingrained in the lives 12:03 of so many animist peoples. Once entangled, it can be a 12:06 real challenge to leave all this behind and experience a new 12:09 life with God. 12:10 Though often challenged by jungle living, I found my 12:13 work very rewarding, especially when I saw those 12:16 who had been controlled by Satan completely surrender 12:18 their lives to God. Listen to Kopeko as he 12:22 tells you how he went from living under the fear of 12:24 ancestral spirits to living by the Spirit of God. 12:29 I am here in the front of a graveyard, and I want to 12:33 talk about graveyards, how we Kamea people believe 12:36 and think about dead people. We Kameas, we believe that 12:40 when a person dies, he has a spirit that 12:43 continually lives when the body dies. But the spirit continues 12:47 to live and then communicates with the living people. 12:52 So by planting this tanget, so that this tanget becomes 12:57 like a door that stops the spirit from coming to the house. 13:02 So by planting this tanget 13:04 it helps people, or the living people, 13:07 to keep them in health and in a good place. 13:11 When I became a Christian, I am no more under the care 13:15 of this tanget. So by showing I am no more under this 13:18 tanget, I will burn the tanget to show that I am no more under 13:22 the umbrella of this tanget but I am under the 13:24 righteousness of Jesus. 13:40 So my life no longer belongs to the tanget. 13:41 My life belongs to Jesus. 13:47 My life belongs to Jesus. 13:49 The positive changes that took place in Kopeko's life 13:52 soon convinced family and other community members 13:55 that Christ had something to offer them as well. 13:58 Kopeko studied with them, and a large number of baptisms 14:02 soon followed. This church was then built to accomodate 14:05 their worship needs. 14:11 Kopeko and Titus's stories the freedom, joy and sense 14:15 of purpose animists receive as they move from living 14:19 in the darkness of fear and manipulation of 14:21 spiritual forces to lives of worship and 14:24 obedience to Christ. It's such a beautiful journey. 14:27 Now don't go away. There's much more to come. 14:30 We will be back in a few moments with the rest of our story. 14:37 You know, most people don't think about darkness unless 14:39 we are in it. 14:41 Darkness is a place of shadows and fears, 14:46 of things unknown. 14:48 It's a place where we go to hide. 14:52 A place where we wonder who's out there. 14:56 A place of uncertainty. 14:57 In John chapter 8, verse 12, Jesus declares, 15:05 So, when God steps into the picture, light dispells 15:10 Darkness. Life destroys death. 15:12 Whoever follows Me 15:14 will never walk in darkness. 15:18 Have you ever wondered why the Bible spends so 15:22 much time talking about light and darkness? 15:27 Could it be that behind the veil of darkness are faces? 15:32 Faces of people with hearts and families? 15:37 Faces of people that God loves? 15:41 Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. " 15:46 Will you go and bring the light 15:50 to the people God loves? 16:08 Welcome back to the second half of our video report from 16:12 Papua New Guinea. Through the conversion 16:13 of Dale's two Dowa friends, Titus and Kopeko, and 16:16 their witness to their families, friends and neighbors, 16:19 a brand new group of believers had begun to grow. 16:22 Let's listen as Dale continues his story on 16:26 reaching the Dowa people. 16:30 *children singing* 16:50 As work among the Dowa progressed, more and more 16:53 believers asked the question, "What's the purpose of 16:55 owning a Bible if no one knows how to read it?" 16:58 Three different villages soon formed their own school boards, 17:01 hired teachers, and started their own schools. 17:04 As enrollment increased, the appeal came for assistance 17:07 in building a large school 17:08 building. Although yet incomplete, 17:10 they built what they could with the funds that came 17:12 in, and here is the result. 17:17 I realize that the students - most of them are illiterate. 17:22 They couldn't read 17:28 or write a single word. 17:30 So, we thought it would be best 17:35 to start with the little children. 17:38 I will say it as a question. 17:40 Remember? 17:42 Your eyes? Dry them. *children repeat* 17:47 They slipped through a hole. *children repeat* 17:51 There's no one around. *children repeat* 17:53 When they are still young, we can educate them to 17:58 read and write and give them the Bible to read, so that 18:03 they can read the Bible and know the truth themselves 18:08 and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. 18:11 That prompted me to take 18:15 to switch to education ministry. 18:20 And so I started this year with 18:24 my colleague Mr. Nelson Job. 18:29 And he has done a terrific 18:32 job. Both of us work together 18:36 hand in hand, united together, and came this far. 18:44 I would like to appeal to our 18:47 faithful, cheerful and willing 18:50 friends and sponsors and donors 18:53 of the Dowa project to continue 18:56 the support you have always given us from day one 19:00 since Dale came to this place 19:03 through the AFM initiated 19:07 Dowa Project. 19:09 Hey, my name is Samuel Mora. I am 13 years old. 19:13 I am doing great. Thank you AFM and our 19:17 cheerful sponsors in the USA for the gift of this school. 19:21 Thank you, and God's blessings. 19:45 Hey, my name is Daniel. I am 14 years old. 19:48 The gift of this school is a real blessing to me. 19:52 Now I can see a bright future before me. 19:57 Thank you, and God's blessings. 20:00 This young man is making an announcement about the 20:03 beginning of the new school year. There are no P.A. 20:05 systems out here, so in a voice loud enough so the whole village 20:08 can hear, he yells, "When you hear the sound 20:11 of the bell ringing early in the morning, that means that 20:15 school is about to begin. Leave your hunting, fishing, 20:18 and other business for later and hurry over to class! 20:21 Do you hear me?" "Yes," they all reply. 20:37 AFM sends its missionaries into some of the most remote 20:40 and difficult areas of the world to reach. 20:42 After they launch to their projects, they dive deeply 20:45 into the heart of the people groups they target. 20:48 With the knowledge they learn through the study 20:50 of the culture, they're able to find the clues they 20:53 need to best reach their people with the Gospel. 20:57 Dale and his family lived among the Dowa for many 21:00 years, and while there, they faced numerous challenges. 21:03 Let's listen as Dale describes what his ministry was like 21:06 and what those challenges were. 21:08 Life wasn't easy, that's for sure, but I was probably my 21:11 own worst challenge. 21:12 I went to the jungle thinking that Biblical 21:16 teaching was the same thing as Christianity. So the bulk 21:19 of my ministry was wrapped around either teaching or 21:23 preaching. But I was wrong. Biblical teaching only lays 21:26 the foundation for Christianity. Real Christianity is 21:28 what you get when you take those Biblical teachings 21:31 and then apply them and use them to address the relevant 21:35 critical needs in everyday life. The Dowa people, 21:39 on the other hand, they were, their culture was built on 21:43 animism. And so animism pervaded and permeated 21:46 every aspect of their culture and day-to-day living. 21:48 And that's what they needed Christianity to do. 21:51 And I should have been modeling that to them. 21:53 The Dowa spiritual beliefs provided the foundation 21:56 that their entire culture was built upon, and it permeated 22:00 everything that they did. They hardly ever talked about 22:04 the beliefs, but those beliefs were reflected in their 22:08 entire culture. On the other hand, 22:10 my ministry was talking about 22:13 beliefs and teaching other people to teach about beliefs, 22:17 but did nothing to provide a model of how to appropriately 22:21 apply these beliefs to meet the needs of the jungle-dwelling 22:25 Dowa people, whether emotional, spriritual, physical or social. 22:30 But I was only demonstrating how a Western Christian could 22:34 take Biblical principles and apply them to meet Dowa needs. 22:37 I wasn't demonstrating how a Dowa jungle-dwelling person 22:41 could take Biblical teaching and and apply them to meet 22:44 their own needs. 22:45 I could show slides, exciting movies and PowerPoint 22:47 presentations. The Dowa couldn't do any of that. 22:51 My wife could go get the food and clothes and bring 22:54 them back and give them to the orphans. 22:56 I could go to the United States, or I could send a message 23:00 back and try to raise funds so that we could use 23:03 those funds to build bridges and a school and a clinic. 23:06 The Dowa people couldn't do that. I could get medical 23:09 supplies and come back and start a medical ministry. 23:12 The Dowa people couldn't do that. What the Dowa people 23:16 needed was someone to demonstrate to them or show 23:19 them how to take Biblical principles 23:21 and how they could 23:22 apply those to meet the needs of the Dowa people. 23:26 In Matthew 7:21-25, Christ said the truths he taught 23:30 laid a foundation that we could safely build our lives upon. 23:33 You might say the foundation supporting a house is like 23:36 the plate supporting healthy, delicious food. 23:39 Offering spiritual truth with no practical application 23:43 is like a plate with no food on it. 23:45 Having the plate would make people hungry, 23:48 but this hunger, if it wasn't satisfied, would leave people 23:52 worse off than they were to start with. 23:54 Our lay pastors found it difficult 23:56 to focus on this practical side 23:58 of ministry until one day Paul, a new believer, had a dream. 24:03 In the dream, I saw that Dale was 24:05 in the house, and the pastor and 24:07 I had gone to my place. In his hands, the pastor had 24:10 two plates, one containing nothing 24:12 but pieces of bread, but the other 24:14 was filled with rice and vegetables 24:16 and a variety of delicious food. 24:17 The pastor offered me the plate with 24:20 bread and told me to eat one. 24:22 I said to the pastor, 24:23 "Please, I prefer the other plate 24:25 that contains a variety of foods. " 24:27 "No," said the pastor. 24:29 "We will eat from that plate later. Not now. " 24:31 But instead Dale said 24:33 that we should eat from that 24:35 plate now and should share some with the some others in the 24:37 community. They would be hungry, too. 24:39 I love eating rice and 24:41 the other foods I saw on that plate. 24:43 But the pastor insisted that we 24:45 wouldn't eat from that plate now. 24:47 That was the dream. 24:48 When I woke up, the dream had seemed so real that I felt 24:51 surely the plate of food had 24:53 to be somewhere in the house. 24:54 I kept looking around for it, but it wasn't there. 24:57 It was only a dream. 24:59 After that dream, Paul was convinced that Christianity 25:02 was more than Bible studies. It needed the flavor, colors 25:06 and delicious smells of community life. 25:08 It really was to be found in the house. 25:10 As he and his wife began applying what they learned, 25:13 every aspect of their marriage and community existence 25:16 began to change. As they learned to pray, they taught others to 25:19 pray, too. As they learned to clean 25:21 their homes and care for their children, 25:23 they helped others do the same. Before long, 25:25 their influence had transformed the 25:27 entire community. 25:28 They had learned the value of presenting the Gospel 25:32 on a full plate, and now others were enjoying it, too. 25:36 This was a special torch-lighting ceremony 25:39 held at the new Dowa school. 25:40 I had the privilege of giving a new Bible to each of 25:43 these young men and lighting their torches. 25:49 They are being commissioned to continue applying God's 25:51 Word to daily life and serving full plates 25:54 to their native communities and beyond. 26:02 *singing* Jesus you come... 26:49 I really hope you've enjoyed this video on the Dowa Project. 26:52 My wife and I found living in the jungle 26:54 and working with the Dowa people challenging at 26:57 times, but it was also the most rewarding eleven and a half 27:00 years we've ever lived. It would also be fair to 27:03 say that the Dowa people probably taught us as much 27:06 about God and the meaning of Christianity as we ever 27:08 taught them. And I'll be forever indebted to them 27:11 for that. 27:12 I'll pray that God will continue to guide them, 27:14 and lead in their lives, and that He will guide you, too, 27:17 as you seek His will in your life. 27:33 If you have felt God impressing you to support Adventist 27:35 Frontier Missions, then please send your donations to: |
Revised 2014-12-17