NTM

We have been privileged to be a part of seeing an indigenous church established among the Yanomami. Joel teaches the men who are potential church leaders once a week and also takes turns with some of these men teaching the Wednesday morning men’s Bible study. I, Gwen, teach the women on Wednesday mornings as well as the children on Friday afternoons. Sunday evening services are taught by the church leaders.

A former co-worker had done most of the translation of the Scriptures that accompany the Chronological Bible Lessons by Trevor McIllwain (which NTM uses for teaching tribal people around the world). In the past 5 years, both Joel and I have been going over all these lessons and Scriptures, getting them checked by the Yanomami helpers and our translation consultants and then having them printed. We are currently working on lessons and Scriptures from Romans and Ephesians and foresee ourselves at this task of translation for at least another 12 years.

With the believers growing and maturing in Christ, we are passing more of the responsibilities to the Yanomami men in the church. It is exciting to see the Yanomami believers take on the care of the flock. The time is approaching for us missionaries to move out of the village (June-August 2010) and help the Church from a distance, allowing them to function on their own.

The 2 main teachers in the village are Brais and Ademar. Brais has been saved about 12 years and Ademar about 6. Ademar was a witchdoctor for 12 years and became saved under Brais’ teaching. Both are zealous for the Lord, study God’s Word daily, and love to teach, convinced that God has called them to do so. They both are burdened for the lost village groups around them and actively share their faith with visitors at their village and at others’ villages. They are praying that the Lord would open the way for them to to teach the Bible at other villages, too.

Mario, Cantoario, and Simao teach at the Wednesday morning meeting. Mario has also been teaching in the big roundhouse, often challenging the back-slidden Christians to come back to the Lord and teaching the Gospel to the unsaved. The first believer from this group, Cantoario, is very effective in sharing his faith informally, which is a real testimony to the younger believers. Simao is also a teacher in the school, teaching children to read and write in Yanomami and basic math.