Go Beyond

I first learned the story of Don Richardson in 1978. Don and his wife Carol, Canadian missionaries, traveled to Irian Jaya in 1962 to serve among the cannibalistic Sawi people. A linguist, Richardson set about to learn the Sawi language, create an alphabet, and then translate the Scriptures into the Sawi language.

As cannibals, the Sawi regarded betrayal as a high virtue. Like other cannibalistic tribes, they looked for opportunities to befriend people of other villages with the intent of later betraying, killing, and eating their victim. So, when Richardson shared the story of Jesus, he was hindered by a seemingly insurmountable obstacle — Judas Iscariot.

To the Sawi, Judas became the hero of the gospel narrative because he exemplified what they valued most — treachery and betrayal. Richardson was stumped, not knowing how to proceed with the gospel story.

Later, a terrible and bloody war broke out between the tribes in the area. Richardson told the leaders of the Sawi that unless they found a way to end the war, he and Carol would leave the area. That led to the unexpected breakthrough that Richardson needed.

A meeting was called among the warring tribes. In order to call for an end to the war, a leader of one of the tribes took his only infant son and presented him to a leader of the enemy tribe to raise as his own. As long as the child lived there would be peace among the tribes.

Richardson used that deeply-rooted cultural tradition as a redemptive analogy to explain how God had sent His only Son to reconcile His enemies. Jesus, Richardson explained, was God’s peace child. Judas, previously the hero of the story, betrayed the peace child and was thus no longer regarded as the hero.

I have longed to visit Irian Jaya, today known as Papua, since first learning about the peace child story. Last year, in His own providential way, God connected me with Dr. Miguel Lopez, a dentist of Colombian descent, serving in Papua. Miguel and his wife Laura raised their family on this beautiful island inhabited by stone-age tribes like the Sawi.

The more I learned about Miguel’s compassionate service among several people groups on the island, the more I felt led to explore the possibility of a partnership. Last week, I made the long trek to Papua — two twelve hour flights, one five hour flight, and fifteen total hours of transit layovers one way — to visit Miguel and Laura.

As soon as I landed, Miguel picked me up at the airport and we were off on a road trip to minister at a remote fishing village. Miguel’s dental platform gives him opportunities to show God’s love in a practical way and to share the story of God’s love with his patients.

The next day, we boarded a Missionary Aviation Fellowship flight to a remote jungle village where I had the opportunity to see the work of a family that has spent twenty years doing what Richardson did — learning and putting a language into writing and then translating the Scriptures into that language.

Three days later I met with yet another young family doing the same thing in a remote jungle village — accessible either by a float plane or a multi-day journey by dugout canoe. Hearing their story of answering God’s call to take their young family to such a hard place touched me deeply.

While there I joined Miguel and Laura on a trek to an island to offer dental services to the people whose houses on stilts line the beaches. Once again, I saw the beauty of Miguel and Laura’s work and how their acts of kindness open hearts to the gospel.

As a result of what I learned, we will adopt a new people group from the island. More on that later. We will also challenge our VBS kids to raise funds to underwrite the purchase of a vehicle to make a mobile dental clinic to help Miguel serve many more people in need.

There is still much work to be done among the 400 language groups in Papua. So many people in remote areas are still waiting to hear the story of God’s peace child. As I write these words on my final flight home, I remain humbled by the commitment of those serving in Papua and their determination to show and to share the beauty of Jesus.