Last Tuesday, Jeremy and I finally got our feet on the ground in the Wantakia tribe! As most of you know, we have been praying and looking forward to this day for many years. Our goals for this first contact trip were (1) to find out if we missionaries have an invitation to come live amongst these people, (2) to find out if the tribal language is still strong and if they need a translation of God’s Word, (3) to get the lay of the land by seeing it firsthand, (4) and to make sure there was no mission work being done in the area by anyone else.
We can say with confidence: YES–these people desperately want us to come; YES-the language is strong and needs God’s talk in their language; YES-we got to see, smell, taste, experience all 10 villages firsthand; and NO-there is no mission work being done there in the language.
It was an incredible 8 days. We trekked up and down the entire Wantakian area, from elevations of 4,000 ft. to 8,100 ft. Everywhere, the people are incredibly welcoming and friendly. In each village, the people provided us with a place to sleep, a warm fire to cook over, water to drink, rivers to wash in, and outhouses to use! 🙂
Pray for us to continue to follow the Lord’s leading and for Him to give us peace as we pray about taking a second trip in there next month. This is a HUGE decision, because a second trip in there means we are committing to come and live among these people!
This is so exciting! We are praying for you as you continue to pray for God’s leadership. Thankful for you!
Love and prayers from east Texas,
Ava