Most people probably understand the importance of teamwork from the perspective of their job or possibly a family project. \u00a0Missionaries however live everyday with the upfront reality that teamwork is not only crucial to the success of their work output but they realize they couldn’t even be out there in those isolated villages without the help of the entire missionary team.<\/p>\n
The reference here is to missionaries who live in the far reaches of the jungle accessible only by hiking weeks or months over difficult and dangerous trails, days or weeks of river travel in class ‘F’ accommodations or in later years minutes or hours in an airplane. \u00a0In the early days of travel in the rain forrest most of the missionaries in the country of these posts had only one option for travel to the general area of their work and that was by river. \u00a0Once in the general area of a tribal group travel to the inland villages was over in many cases very difficult trails. \u00a0It wasn’t till after several decades had come and gone that air travel became available. \u00a0Note- the Stinson airplane my Father flew in the jungle in 1950 was flyable for only a short time.<\/p>\n
So how did teamwork figure into the equation, well even the single missionaries living the most simple lifestyle and who were transported from village to village in dugout canoes by jungle paddlers needed a place to go for the most basic supplies, literacy materials and what have you. \u00a0They needed someone with the capability to make copies of the scripture portions they were translating and they needed a secure place their mail could be sent that was close enough they could pick it up every couple of months and not have to spend three weeks coming and going. \u00a0And yes they needed somewhere they could get a break from living 100% jungle style.<\/p>\n
In the very beginning days infrastructure such a guest home in town, supply buyers, river boat operators for transporting people and supplies, mk schools, and a mission office was not in place. \u00a0These essential services were added as \u00a0personnel became available. \u00a0Later came the air service and later still came the important contribution of consultants \u00a0to help the new missionaries with their language and culture learning along with church planting and Bible translation. \u00a0Once this infrastructure and these helps were in place missionaries could dedicate more time to their work and spend less time on just survival. \u00a0Don’t misunderstand, life and work in the jungle villages was still very much a challenge but the challenge was whittled a little more down to size.<\/p>\n
When we final got consistent air support in about 1965 things changed dramatically for the missionaries and the tribal folks especially in the most remote locations. \u00a0It may have taken a year or two but eventually all the villages where the missionaries were semi permanently located came to have airstrips and plane service. \u00a0Some village leaders even in places where there was no missionary presence got their people together and cleared airstrips to be used especially in medical emergencies.<\/p>\n
It now became more realistic to place missionary families in tribal locations far from navigable rivers. \u00a0Now, in the case of a medical emergency a plane could get a sick missionary family member or tribal person out to town in half a day over against days or even weeks when air service wasn’t in place. \u00a0With the airplane you could get mail at least once a month and often more frequently. \u00a0You could get supplies of all kinds and medications before you actually ran out. \u00a0And blessings of all blessings the supply buyers out in town could send you vegetables, cheese and other fresh foods (when they were available in town) to you about once a month. \u00a0Travel for the missionary became so much more doable, less traumatic and less exhausting.<\/p>\n
In an earlier post I wrote of “The Crew” telling about the men and boys that worked so hard and diligently in the transporting of people and cargo by river boat. \u00a0The same can be said for the men who flew and maintained those little airplanes as they served us so faithfully out there in the jungle. To hear the stories told about jungle pilots you might be tempted to attach a good portion of glamour to their work. \u00a0From having worked closely with many of these men I know their work is much of the time physically exhausting and dangerous. \u00a0That reminds me I should do a post sometime on the life of a pilot as I saw it. \u00a0To all of us out in the jungle these men and the wives of those who were married became essential members of our team. \u00a0These people were and are around the world, servants in the truest sense of the word.<\/p>\n
We are now back to where we began these posts, “The Beginning”. The more challenging, the more difficult, the harder life was, the greater the feeling and sense of community. Whether it was the tribal guy helping us build a jungle house or us helping his little child through some serious medical issue we became a community of people that depended on one another. \u00a0Missionary kids in our generation grew up with that reality being reenforced day after day all through our childhood and growing up years. \u00a0For some missionary kids the transition to further schooling and even missionary training in the U. S. became a painful experience. \u00a0There were trainers and leaders who though with good intentions in their interactions with their missionary kid students, did not understand the extent of how the thinking and personalities of these kids had been shaped and formed within an isolated community of missionaries and their tribal friends and neighbors. \u00a0Not being able to understand these missionary kids led to some very poor judgement calls as to who these kids really were on the part of some leaders.<\/p>\n
Well, it’s about time to end but I wanted to throw this out there before I leave. I know that only a very few folk read these posts but I’m wondering if any of you few have something in mind you’d me to do a post on? \u00a0If so let me know and I’ll try.<\/p>\n
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