One early evening in 1996, the village of Drupas (not far from Ama) was settling down to dinners of sago pudding, boiled greens, roasted fish and baked jungle roots. I was sharing my meal with seven or eight other young men. We were chatting about the events of the day when suddenly all the bugs, tree frogs and birds of the jungle fell silent at the same time. This was so unusual that we all stopped talking and listened to the silence. Normally there is a constant hum of noise coming from all of the little jungle creatures. Then we heard a low rumble as if a train was approaching, and our stilted bush house began to shake violently up and down and side to side. We were having an earthquake! It was a little scary being bounced around six feet off the ground in a house tied together with jungle vines. Within about 20 seconds, the shaking stopped. The roar of the earthquake faded into the jungle, and the creatures began to make their cheerful noises again. Moments later the village broke into an uproar as people shouted and babies cried. Thankfully no damage was reported.

Can you imagine how frightening an earthquake can be to an animist who believes that evil spirits inhabit the ground? The Bible tells us in Luke 21:11 that there will be great earthquakes in various places as signs of Jesus’ soon coming. The Ama people need to know the true nature and meaning of all these earthquakes. Please help send us to tell the Ama about the loving Creator God!

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