As I reflect on the interview transcripts from the Wana missionaries, one thing stands out: their eternal focus.
They have an urgency to see people in the surrounding area, and other language groups outside, reached with the Gospel. They’ve seen people die before they get a chance to hear. Their first missionary sent by their church passed away from a tumor while serving as a missionary, and that stands as as testimony for the church as they send more missionaries out.
As they go hike for 3-4 days over mountains, through sun and rain, to reach a village. They leave behind gardens and family. They have to carry all their food, as there is no garden for them in their outreach location.
Pak Saprin said, “Even though we feel that this ministry has been very burdensome, that is in the things that we have faced and the trials we have faced, yet we feel those trials are small when compared to the new life these people will find whom we are preaching the good news to.
“So we feel that it doesn’t matter even though we suffer trials like that because we have hope in the Lord and also because He has promised us that we will have eternal life and happiness, and a new body.
“…we still persevere in this ministry until such time the Lord tells us to stop working.
“…Because we feel the grace of the Lord Jesus which has already been given to us and which has already been made known to us. So we feel it is of great worth if we also share this grace with other people so they too will be saved from the judgement of sin by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
“…So we feel it is of great worth that we even though we encounter trials, because with those trials there will be a time when we will escape them. And eternal life will be something we experience for all eternity. Through all time we live together in the Lord in Heaven.”
These believers are focusing their life on reaching out, and the five Wana churches are networking together to send missionaries.
Pak Saprin said, “We feel we need prayer for this so we can be comforted inside and so we will have sufficient for our ministry in preaching the Good News to these people.”
Pray for strength for the Wana church.
And pray for the video I’m editing about missionary flight sponsorship that can help sustain and make their ministry possible in remote villages, through supplies and encouragement.
I’m polishing one of three drafts I edited to form the core story for this video. Knowing which details to keep in and leave out in a 5 minute story (which is more like 8 minutes now!), and how to work with the few visuals we have can be challenging.
But I’m excited for this opportunity to help the Wana church.
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