The question is “How does God work?” I came to the Amazon
5 years ago. The goal was to take the
Yaguas off the unreached people group list.
How could I know what that meant?
There are various definitions of who are reached and who are not
reached. There are different
understandings of what it means to reach a specific people group. Since I have been here in the Amazon I have
seen many short-term outreach groups come to do various things. They have come to visit communities and do
little presentations for the children, share their testimonies with the people,
bring humanitarian aid such as medical, clothing, and toys. Each group coming and doing some type of
activity and leaving some type of material “blessing.” The problem has been that each group came
with good intentions to leave a mark with the same people who the group before
visited. Between Leticia and Puerto
Narino, Amazonas, every community has been reached at least once but, none has
been discipled. This has created a
subculture here in the Amazon. The
belief system of the general indigenous population is that one needs to have a
“patron” (person from the outside) who can get material items for them if they
can convince them of their loyalty. This
works with tourist and missionaries. The message is rarely as important as the
objects that they can get (i.e. Saw, hammer, boat, motor, clothes, toys, food,
money, etc.). Everyone gains something
out of the deal and all depart happy and content that they have “blessed” or
were “blessed.”
I have come to the conclusion that the Yaguas in this
area have been reached many times over and over. To be discipled one must consent to the
training or teaching of the discipler.
The Yaguas have not been discipled and as long as the priority of the
Yaguas is to receive material things, the spiritual condition of the Yaguas
cannot change. There are a few believers
among the Yagua Nation but they are in great need of discipleship. The doors have closed for me in the
communities where I have been working.
They have realized that I am not a rich North American who can get them
things. The group where I worked before
have let the other group know this and have discouraged them from working with
me. My question is “How does God work?”
I have often noted in the Bible that God takes one person
out of their family situation and uses this separation as a time of training
and equipping them with physical and spiritual skills and abilities that will
enable them to be more effective in the geographical location where that person
will live. Often, like Abraham and
Sarah, they make their own plans to help God complete His word spoken to
them. For their lack of faith, they act
in their own power and knowledge and understanding of the situations in which
they find themselves. These actions
result in kings that desire to marry sisters that really are wives and an
Ismael that is not the promised child of God. (Genesis 20 and 21) The desire for building a
training school has to be realized in God's timing. I will wait on Him.
There is a silent pressure for “missionaries” to
“produce” and to show the world what they have done to advance the Kingdom of
God. (Putting myself in this category)
We send out news letters as often as possible with pictures, statistics, dates
and anything else that can convince the readers that we really are doing the
work of the ministry so that they can pray and send financial support. My
questions are: Which of these works are Ismaels and which of these works are
Isaacs? What really is the work of the ministry? And, which is the work of God? The king came to know and fear the God of
Abraham. Ismael also, became a
great nation. The verses that have been a consistent
companion to me over the last few years are Proverbs 3:5 and 6.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And
lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct your paths.”
The key is trust in God!
As a result of learning to trust God with all my heart, He has gifted me
a daughter. She is from the Yagua tribe
and is now 14 years old. She loves the
Word of God and is growing in her personal walk with God. Her family often visits and calls. We pray a lot for their spiritual growth and
look forward to the day when they too will all be saved. Neivy is my Isaac. I do not yet know what God is doing with
us. For right now, I am learning to be a
single parent of a teenage Yagua girl.
Right now I have legal custody of her and we are praying about
adoption. This year has brought many
changes in my life and ministry. Because
of the situation in her community, we cannot return and minister for her
safety. The people with whom I had been
working in the Yagua community have rejected the gospel for tourism. Please keep them in your prayers.
Last week we received a six month visa from the Embassy
of the USA to come to the states. It
will be her first visit. Because of all
the changes, I need to meet with the AFAMMS Board to put many things in order
for the state of Michigan. We will be in
the states from November 18 through the end of January during her school
break. In the meantime, I am teaching
Spanish, English, and music classes. I
am using them with the purpose of witnessing the Gospel and making money to pay
for our daily needs. I certainly feel
for those of you who have more than one teenager at a time. They eat a lot and always have another school
project. They are a blessing! We have started attending Mission Ministries
Church here in Leticia. They have a good
youth group and teach the Word. They are
very mission active and focused in discipleship training. October 10, 11 and 12, 2013 we will be
networking with other missionaries to have a three day evangelistic crusade in
the city amphitheater. I will be helping
with the music. Please be in prayer for
the souls that will be touched and the follow-up. What is God doing? He is allowing me and you to take part in His
plan for the Amazon region of the three frontiers. Keep Praying! Keep
Supporting! And, feel free to come and visit us :)! See some of you soon in the
US.
Adventuring with Christ,
Min. Orchidy T. Boyd
