Thank you for praying for Benjamin, Dave and Bart while they were away in the jungle recently. They returned safe and sound on October 3rd happy to be home and thrilled to confirm our hopes and prayers! God has paved the way for us to take the Gospel to the Amdu (Ahmdoo) people!
Some of you may have heard us use a different name for this people group, but we have decided to use a generic name instead, to create a degree of annonymity in our ministry updates now and in the future. We’ll be using this name exclusively from now on to refer to the people group, their language and to our ministry team, and would like to ask you to do the same. Thank you for working with us to protect this ministry opportunity. If you have any questions about this decision please don’t hesitate to shoot us an email!
Amdu is a word from the language that means “mountain,” and it is a very accurate description of this people group. In fact, on many occasions during the men’s recent visit the people referred to themselves as mountain people, in stark contrast to how they described us. The nine days that the men spent among the people were extraordinary. They live in mountains ranging from 3,500 – 7,000 feet high. So moving from village to village was physically challenging for the guys. None of them had ever hiked terrain quite like what they found in Amdu country.
In every village they visited, the men were met with enthusiastic curiosity. As they explained our desire to bring our families to live among them there was unanimous excitement and loads of chatter. Resident white people is a brand new concept for many of the villagers and it produced a ton of conversation. When the men explained that we wanted to learn their language everyone immediately became their tutors instantly throwing words and phrases at them. They were assured that it would only take us a few weeks to learn.
That won’t be the case – in fact it will most likely take us some years to reach the level of proficiency in the Amdu language required to communicate the priceless Gospel clearly. However, with every new name and face we learn, our motivation builds to get in there and become established so that the Gospel can shine brightly in another dark corner at the end of the earth. (To see more pictures of Amdu click on the picture below!)
With a heightened sense of urgency we are seeking to finalize our building plans so that we can begin as soon as possible. We will make another day trip to Amdu in two weeks time for an official ceremony between NTM leaders and their local leaders. This is an important cultural step that will clearly define our obligations to one another. Some weeks later we will return to begin clearing the building sites marked for our houses.
Hopefully by the middle of November we will be ready to begin building the first house. Our goal is to have two houses built by Christmas. We are trusting the Lord for the funds needed to purchase more plywood, plumbing and electrical supplies etc. We’re also looking to the Lord for the funds necessary for flying our supplies to the building site in Amdu. Thank you for praying with us, and if you would like to help more specifically with these projects you can click on the links below!
We have “crossed the Rubicon” so to speak – the point of no return. What lies before us can only be accomplished in the power of the life giving Spirit of God. We are fully committed to what the Lord has faithfully led us into, and we trust that we will see this task through to the end. If there was ever a time for unwavering and unceasing prayer support from the body of Christ it is now, and we are so thankful to so many of you who have dedicated yourselves to this. Thank you for standing with us, the Amdu team, and with the Amdu people, for their salvation.