Shout out from I-TEC

Just received an email from I-TEC, the organization founded by Steve Saint to empower the Waorani tribe of Ecuador. If you are familiar with the story of the "Auca Indians" (or the movie "The End of the Spear") then you may know that Steve Saint is the son of Nate Saint, one of the first missionaries to the Aucas, now called the Waorani. I'm including an excerpt here as it pertains to the work of Amazon Focus. (ALTECO, mentioned below, is an extension of Amazon Focus.) If you are interested in reading more, you can see the full text at http://www.itecusa.org/breaking.htm

Steve [Saint] will be in Brazil September 5-9th, attending the CONPLEI (National Council of Indigenous Evangelical Pastors and Leaders) conference, to be held in Porto Velho, in the northwestern region of Brazil. According to a recent ALTECO bulletin, 3000 tribal leaders from across the Amazon will attend, many traveling by river for weeks to come to this event.

ALTECO is “Amazon & Lowland Tribal Empowerment Coalition”, and was formed to empower tribal believers to reach the unreached people groups in the greater Amazon region. Their purposes and concepts so closely match those of I-TEC, we are excited about our participation. Steve is on the steering committee and we hope to work more closely with ALTECO in the future, combining forces to reach a common goal.

The “ALTECO Pledge” is taken from 1 Corinthians 1:9-14: “Our desire from the very start is to always pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will and with spiritual wisdom, in order that you may:

1. Live a life worthy of the Lord


2. Please Him in every way


3. Bear fruit in every good work


4. Grow in the knowledge of God


5. Be strengthened with all God’s power


6. Have great endurance and patience


7. And joyfully give thanks to the Lord

That’s a great list to post in a prominent place in our homes and hearts!

We think so too!! :)

Better Than Nothing?

3/16/2006

On Friday night, we heard updates from the Amazon, delivered by nationals through interpreters. The first to speak was Henrique Diaz, a Brazillian national pastor and member of an organization called CONPLEI, which is a council of indigenous pastors and evangelical leaders. In September of this year, CONPLEI will be holding a tribal conference in Brazil. Organizers are expecting 3000-4000 Indian leaders and non-tribal participants.

The story that Henrique shared at the end that most affected me was this: “In the past when someone came to speak to the native, they did not speak the language of the native… When missionaries came and gave them scriptures [in Portuguese?], the native gave back the Book and said, “If God is so interested in us, why doesn’t he speak our language?”

Maybe you're thinking, what’s the big deal?!! Imagine that you are part of an Amazonian tribe in Peru. You speak the language of your tribe, and if you are a man, you also speak some Spanish, but if you are a girl, probably not much. If there are no translations of the Bible in your tribal language, you may be given a Spanish translation instead. Though you may accept the book, it is not written in the language that speaks to your heart, and you may not understand it that well. Surprisingly, some organizations would declare your tribe to be “reached” with the gospel, because you have access to a Spanish translation.

Incidentally, I found this article about Henrique and his work, if you are interested in learning more: Son Shine in the Amazon Valley.