For years the Amto people have asked for missionaries. In the last few years, some have come and heard the chronological teaching here in the Siawi language and have been saved. Recently those believers asked if the missionaries could come visit and teach in their village.
A small group of Siawi believers and I hiked about six hours, through the swamp and over a mountain, to reach the Amto people.
Our hope was that some of the Siawi believers who are fluent in the Amto language would be able to go to that village and teach through the chronological Bible lessons.
Cool reception
The response was much cooler than we had been led to believe. I was disappointed for the Amto people who had made the effort to come and hear the teaching in our village. For now, they will not be able to share the chronological teaching at home as they had hoped.
At first, the reasoning of the village leaders had a ring of truth to it. They said they desired to have somebody come who has been fully taught from Genesis through Revelation and who was doing what God’s Word says, not just listening to it.
However, as they continued to talk, their reasons for not wanting the Siawi bilingual believers to come there to teach became clear. It all boiled down to the fact that they want a western missionary and all the physical benefits that come with it.
Please pray that the Amto believers would stand strong in Christ.
Please pray that the other Amto people will see their need of a Savior. Many among them are seeking power and wealth and are bound up in a system of works.
Meeting with a brother in Christ
After this disappointing meeting with the Amto, I hiked a day farther away to visit the Siman Bible School. This school was started by a Papua New Guinea man named Manya Yeko just a few years ago with the purpose of strengthening the local churches in the area.
Most of those local churches belong to an evangelical Church that functions in the trade language of Melanesian Pidgin. All of the teaching at the Bible school is also done in Pidgin, so there are only a few Siawi and Amto people who can fully understand.
I was very pleased to find a brother in Christ whose desire is to see men taught that salvation is through Christ alone based firmly upon the solid foundation of God’s Word.
I did not expect to come away from this hike encouraged after the cool response I had received from the Amto people. However, knowing that we have a brother in Christ who is also working to build up the church in the area was very encouraging.
I also believe our visit will help to confront some divisions that were beginning to occur within the church in that area based on where individuals received teaching. As we work together to keep God’s Word as the final authority, hopefully, the believers will begin to stand on God’s Word alone and not the words of man.
Physically the trip went well.
I had plenty of energy for all of the hiking, and I was fed well. In Anu, the first village I visited, there was an abundance of coconuts, so we ate very well, enjoying shredded coconut rolled in sago pancakes and greens boiled in coconut milk There was even a bit of wild pork. It was some of the most tasty bush tucker (food) I have had in a long time. I didn’t carry much food so am thankful for generous folks along the way. Thanks for praying that I would be fed.
The return hike was very long and uneventful as we crossed rivers and mountains and swamps.
As a result of all the hiking, I had a severe case of tendonitis in my right leg which at this time is improving; however, I must have pulled or torn a tendon on the hike and I must be careful how I walk on it.
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