“Everyone has moved away from Kebgen.” My heart sank. Where was everyone? What had happened to our fledgling church there among the reclusive Taw’t Deram people? However, as Dulpi and the rest of the contingent from that area described the situation to me, I found that things weren’t as bleak as they had first sounded. I was thrilled to hear that more than 15 believers were still gathering each Sabbath to sing and pray and study the book of Matthew in their language, read to them by a teenage girl who was taught to read by a teacher from Kemantian who used to live there. The group is trusting in God and waiting for someone to come and live among them and lead them.
We learned that the group had received no visits from our church in Kemantian since we had left for furlough nearly nine months earlier. Due to various circumstances beyond our control, the staff and church members appointed to make the visits in our absence had been unable or too fearful to go. The trail to Kebgen is about 14 hours of very difficult hiking. On their last visit to Kebgen, they had found a number of very sick people whom they assisted in getting out to the hospital in Brooke’s Point where they received extended care. It had been many months since we had heard from this church group, but now here they were visiting us. Not just young men, but women with nursing infants and small children! I still marvel at the stamina and skill of these people to traverse the difficult mountainous terrain.
The Kebgen-area believers reported that people were coming to them and asking, “Where are the people who used to help us? Where can we get medicine now?” In order for these people to get medical care, they must hike six hours to the lowlands on the west coast, and there they must pay large amounts of money to buy basic medicines. They know they are being taken advantage of, but what can they do? Often they can afford only a dose or two, or none at all, and people die or continue to suffer. What is needed is a small mountain clinic where people from many areas can come for help. We need a missionary nurse to commit to developing this clinic and serving the people in this area.
The believers in the Kebgen area are being persecuted for their beliefs—death threats, fines for leaving the belief system of the ancestors, and rejection from spouses—yet these people are joyfully staying true to the God they’ve come to trust. They have much yet to learn, and they still show many trappings of their former beliefs. Before, even with a smile on their faces, their eyes spoke fear and darkness; but now their eyes reveal their love of Jesus and trust in God. They are no longer controlled by fear of the supernatural, and they are willing to suffer derision and loss to hold onto their faith. It is a beautiful thing.
We have been praying that someone would commit to living among the Taw’t Deram. We thought that perhaps our mission center there would be Kebgen, but it is turning out to not be a consistently populated place. My dream is to see a dedicated couple move into Kemiri, a more central and flatter area, and use it as a base to open surrounding areas that are waiting to hear about the Lord. I envision more missionaries planted in key places in these west-coastal mountains. Many are already asking for help. I wish I were younger and could go spearhead this work personally, but I believe God is calling someone more youthful to this challenging work.
Sitting on my front porch in Kemantian, I marveled that I was speaking with real, live Taw’t Deram believers, mostly uneducated but with sincere, simple faith, singing praises to God and intently listening to a story about their Creator God. Their faith is humbling and a shining example of what God wants to do in each life.
I appeal to you: Are you willing to suffer derision and loss for the sake of your trust in Jesus? Are you living at peace with God and man, or are you living in fear? Fear of the unknown, fear of loss, fear of rejection, fear of loneliness? Ask God to fill you with His perfect love, for “perfect love casts out fear.”
Please pray for someone to hear God calling them to come and work among the Taw’t Deram people, many of whom still live in deep darkness. Many are longing to see the Light and to hear God speak to their hearts, filling them with His love and casting out their fears and their darkness. Who will go? Will you?
