Cecil Dye, a pastor turned missionary, left his church with some of the best young men and laid the foundation for New Tribes Mission to follow. Cecil wrote, “I believe some of your men will witness God’s power in their ministry as few have.” “I shall not be surprised if some will share with Stephen a martyr’s crown.”
He wanted to be with his boys when they made the first contact and this great leader of men died that day and shared with the boys, Stephen’s martyr’s crown. In 1972 when I was signing up with New Tribes Mission I was uniting with Cecil Dye, Paul Fleming and Bob Williams and the “Pledge and Covenant” they spelled out for the young new mission called New Tribes Mission.
I will not quit and cannot quit world missions because I too believe word for word what these men penned in August 1, 1942. “We hereby pledge ourselves to work for the completion of the Bride of Christ until death. To measure all our efforts in the light of this task and to refrain from doing even the good things if they do not contribute to the most important things; namely, reaching the last evangelized tribe in our generation. We will do nothing that would hinder or detract or render us powerless in the accomplishment of this goal. Pledge and Covenant in part from the [Story of New Tribes Mission.]
Cecil Dye was a pastor turned missionary and he died for what he believed. In a letter he penned a few days before he died living out that belief in the jungles of Bolivia he wrote. “I believe the real attitude of every fellow in this group is that they want, at any cost, that which will glorify God the most.”
How can Jack Housley do less? I signed on until death and no glory but that which goes to Jesus Christ my Lord. Missionaries are not about dying, none of us are looking to die, but we are about living for Christ until we die. God give us men and women; give us the courage and faith to lead them to the regions beyond with the good news of the gospel.