{"id":204,"date":"2022-05-12T18:07:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T23:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/christian-tshimanga\/?page_id=204"},"modified":"2022-05-12T22:22:33","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T03:22:33","slug":"ethnos360-new-tribes-mission-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/christian-tshimanga\/ethnos360-new-tribes-mission-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethnos360 \/ New Tribes Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Encouraging History<\/h3>\n

In 1943, NTM\u2019s first team of missionaries went to Bolivia to seek out people groups who had never heard the gospel and to establish a church among them. They succeeded \u2014 at great cost.<\/p>\n

Little was known about the Ayor\u00e9 people, and what was known would not put your mind at ease. Their nomadic way of life complicated every effort at making a friendly contact \u2014 if a friendly contact were even possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t come back alive,\u201d the missionaries were warned. But this did not deter them.<\/p>\n

Others asked them, \u201cWhy go out there and risk your lives?\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer was simple: \u201cIt is because the glorious name of Jesus is not known here,\u00a0and must be made known at any cost,\u00a0\u2026 that we are going,\u201d Cecil Dye explained. \u201cI don\u2019t believe we care so much whether this expedition is a failure so far as our lives are concerned, but we want God to get the most possible glory from everything that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so they went.<\/p>\n

After months of arduous labor, cutting their way through the dense jungle and suffering physical injuries and diseases in the process, they reached a small stream. It was November of 1943, and from here on they anticipated contact with the Ayor\u00e9s at any time. Clyde Collins and Wally Wright returned to Robore with the donkeys and excess supplies while the other five men prepared to continue on: Dave Bacon, Bob Dye, Cecil Dye, George Hosbach and Eldon Hunter.<\/p>\n

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Dave Bacon, Bob Dye, Cecil Dye, George Hosbach and Eldon Hunter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cecil\u2019s final words to Clyde and Wally were, \u201cIf you don\u2019t hear anything inside a month, you can come and make a search for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A month passed. A long month. And no word.<\/p>\n

\n

THE UNKNOWN<\/h4>\n

Search parties went out. They found items belonging to the men \u2014 but no men.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust below the surface \u2026 was the question, \u2018Are our husbands still alive?\u2019\u201d wrote Jean, Bob Dye\u2019s wife. \u201cThere was nothing we could do but wait. \u2026 It would be good to\u00a0know.\u00a0The days dragged on. \u2026 The waiting became unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Days turned into weeks, months and years before the truth would be known. But the remaining missionaries were determined to win the souls of the Ayor\u00e9s to Christ. Their loss was great, but their outlook unchanged. They picked up the torch laid down by the five men.<\/p>\n

It would be four long years of unsuccessful attempts before the first friendly contact was made on August 12, 1947.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat one who gave us things \u2026 the very white one with the very white hair, where does she come from?\u201d the Ayor\u00e9s asked amongst themselves. \u201cWho are her ancestors?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ejene, one of the Ayor\u00e9 men, had made up his mind about her. \u201cShe is Corabe\u2019s descendent,\u201d he answered them with an air of authority. \u201cShe and her companions are the offspring of White Butterfly.\u201d<\/p>\n

This brought about a stunned silence. In Ayor\u00e9 folklore, there was a fair-skinned Ayor\u00e9 named White Butterfly who was held in high esteem. To them, she was the essence of loveliness in body and spirit. Her fair skin stood out in contrast to her bobbed black hair, and though she and her friends prettied their bodies with charcoal designs, White Butterfly never left herself painted for long. She didn\u2019t particularly like getting painted up. And why did it matter? She was the most sought-after bachelorette in the tribe with or without it.<\/p>\n

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Left \u2013 Ayor\u00e9 Warrior; Right \u2013 Upoide, a transformed life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every eligible young man in her tribe pled with White Butterfly to choose him. But as was the tradition among her people, the choice was White Butterfly\u2019s \u2014 and she wasn\u2019t quite ready to settle down and get married.<\/p>\n

As fights broke out among her would-be suitors, White Butterfly felt pressured to make a choice. But how could she when she didn\u2019t know \u201chow her insides went\u201d? How should she choose a husband?<\/p>\n

And then it came to her. She climbed to the top of a slippery tree in the jungle. And like a night owl calls for its mate, she called out a challenge through a friend to her would-be suitors.<\/p>\n

Soon the village was buzzing with White Butterfly\u2019s unorthodox manner in choosing a husband: \u201cCorabe will be the wife of the one who climbs the slippery tree and reaches her first!\u201d<\/p>\n

Young warriors searched the jungles, peering through the foliage to the tops of each tree in search of the desirable White Butterfly. And then they found her.<\/p>\n

One after another, the young warriors attempted to climb the slippery tree. The crowd below swelled in numbers as relatives cheered on the would-be bridegrooms. But one after another they failed to reach the top. White Butterfly alternately taunted them \u2014 and then cheered them on.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, whoever reaches the top first will be my husband. It doesn\u2019t matter whether he is young, an inexperienced hunter or even if he\u2019s not handsome. Whoever reaches me first shall have me!\u201d<\/p>\n

And then Little Lizard pushed his way through the crowd. He was inexperienced, short, squat and far from handsome. But he didn\u2019t let that stop him. White Butterfly had said, \u201cWhoever reaches me first shall have me.\u201d That included him.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet out of my way so I can have a chance to shinny up that tree!\u201d he cried out. \u201cI think I am going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u00a0make it?\u201d the crowd jeered. \u201cWhere all the valiant ones fail, what makes you think\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0succeed?\u201d But they made way for him to approach the tree.<\/p>\n

Little Lizard began to climb. Slowly. Steadily. But with a firm grip.<\/p>\n

The jeering faded as the crowd watched him disappear into the upper branches.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made it!\u201d the crowd cried. And true to her word, White Butterfly claimed him as her husband.<\/p>\n

But that was not the end of it. Many of her would-be bridegrooms were consumed with jealousy. They began to continually find fault with Little Lizard, which in Ayor\u00e9 culture was a threat. And threats often led to killings.<\/p>\n

Fleeing was their only option. They fled north, farther north than any other Ayor\u00e9 had ever ventured, and that was the last they were seen.<\/p>\n

And now here were people from the north with fair skin, fair-skinned like their ancestor White Butterfly. Did it not stand to reason that these fair-skinned people could be descendants of White Butterfly?<\/p>\n

God used this thought process to instill in the Ayor\u00e9s a desire to become friends with the missionaries \u2014 and eventually brothers and sisters in Christ.<\/p>\n

\n
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Left \u2013 Cecil Dye\u2019s son, Paul, with his Ayor\u00e9 friend Jomone; Right \u2013 Ayor\u00e9 believer, Ecarai, sharing the gospel with fellow tribesmen<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR MEN?<\/h4>\n

But one question always remained: What had happened to the five men?<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 1950, after a friendly contact was established with a neighboring clan, that the truth came out. One of the men had been there. He knew what had happened. And he was willing to talk.<\/p>\n

He shared that though the Ayor\u00e9s were alarmed when the five white men walked into their village, they didn\u2019t shoot on sight. But they did keep a vigilant eye on the men placing gifts in the center of the clearing.<\/p>\n

At first, all went well. Gifts were a good thing. But an hour into the contact, trouble brewed. One of the warriors got upset, believing he deserved a bigger gift. And out of that greed, the five men were killed.<\/p>\n

Later, when the chief returned and learned what had happened, he was upset with the warriors. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have killed them,\u201d he told them. \u201cI would not have killed them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noticed what his warriors had missed. The white men had not brought guns. They had come in peace.<\/p>\n

But it was too late. The men were dead. They were buried in an Ayor\u00e9 garden.<\/p>\n

Do you remember what Cecil wrote before facing martyrdom? \u201cI don\u2019t believe we care so much whether this expedition is a failure so far as our lives are concerned, but we want God to get the most possible glory from everything that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

And God did. God brought beauty from the ashes. An Ayor\u00e9 church was born. And eventually, the family of those who\u2019d killed the first five men became part of the family of God.<\/p>\n

It was a bittersweet moment when these relatives, accepting the blame as their own, told Audrey Bacon, \u201cWe\u2019re sorry we killed your husband. We didn\u2019t know better.\u201d And then they waited for a response.<\/p>\n

Can you imagine being Audrey? How does one respond to that? In and of ourselves, it would be hard to come up with a good response. But God bringing beauty from the ashes wasn\u2019t limited to the Ayor\u00e9s. He turned the ashes of grief to something beautiful, to hearts focused on Him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was worth my husband\u2019s death to see you come to know Jesus Christ,\u201d Audrey reassured them, speaking from the heart for each of the widows.<\/p>\n

It was worth it. Do you hear the sacrifice behind those words? Do you hear the challenge behind those words? What is it worth to us, today, to see others reached for Christ?<\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a075th Anniversary,\u00a0\u00a0Establishing Churches,\u00a0\u00a0Ethnos360 Magazine<\/p>\n

POSTED<\/strong> ON Feb 07, 2017 by Rosie Cochran<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ethnos360.org\/magazine\/stories\/you-wont-come-back-alive-1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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