The toddler grabs the edge of the sofa to steady himself and cautiously takes another step. Mom and Dad exchange quick, excited glances and then hold their breath. He’s really walking …
In the jungles of Brazil, missionaries are experiencing a similar joy and wonder. With newfound independence, Yanomami believers are stepping up to the challenge of “owning” their church.
Joel and Gwen Hartman have been nurturing this growing tribal church for the past 15 years. They have faithfully worked toward the ultimate goal in church planting – establishing a mature church body that can function on its own apart from missionaries.
And just as parents eagerly watch for their child’s first steps, the Hartmans have anticipated each new stride that the Yanomami church takes toward its own leadership, growth, and outreach.
Then one October evening in 2005, another step in the wonderful shift began.
The missionaries noticed a light on at the church well past 10 p.m. Since this is very late for tribal people, Joel was curious and asked about it at the men’s meeting the next morning. He learned that the two main church leaders, Brais and Ademar, and chief Abraao, also a believer, were meeting with Sousa, a leader from another village that is a five-hour walk away.
Joel was deeply impressed when Brais told him what had been discussed until 1 a.m. Sensing God’s leading, he invited him to share with the rest of the men. The church leader readily accepted.
“He spoke for 45 minutes,” Joel said, “barely taking time to breathe.”
“Sousa came and asked us to go over and teach them again the Word of God,” Brais began. “Over half of his small village was saved a number of years back, but without a residing teacher they cooled off for a few years. Sousa said he had been hearing from many of his people their desire to hear God’s Word again.”
Then Brais related his priceless response to Sousa: “We want to go teach if you guys mean business but we do not want to waste our time fooling around if you want to trade goods. If you really want to hear God’s Word we will teach you, but we want someone from your village to learn to be a pastor so he can continue to feed you when we are not there.”
“They are planning church strategy and evangelism without us,” Joel said. “This is great feedback to show us just what we have communicated.”
But Brais wasn’t through. He spoke of even more steps toward independence. “What about our cultural feasts, our singing, and the way we deal with our dead, the way we talk about women?” he asked. “We need to begin to really change in these areas that we have heard God’s Word speak to us about …. When [the missionaries] leave us in the future, we want them to leave happily, with them saying, ‘The church will be alright – they are living the different life God has given them.’”
“To a people so tangled by the lies of Satan for so long,” Joel said, “this kind of desire to please the Lord is so encouraging to us.”
So is the maturity it demonstrates. It is genuine evidence that the Yanomami church so lovingly and carefully planted in the jungles of Brazil is “growing up” and “walking” – with God.
And the missionaries stand back and quietly cheer.
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