Pray
When a credible threat of an imminent kidnapping of American missionaries was intercepted by the Colombian government authorities, Jack Foster was given four days to pack things up and be ready to leave his jungle home among the Nukaks. “We can’t promise you when you can ever go back,” he was told.
“I had a language helper who was also my best friend among the Nukaks by then,” Jack said. “He came and asked, ‘You’re leaving?’ I explained as best I could, but I wasn’t too far along with the language. I told him what had happened and that I needed to go. He seemed to take it well.”
But then the plane came in. The plan was to get in and out of the Nukak village as quickly as possible. With good-byes said, Jack began boarding the plane. A semi-circle of Nukaks spanning from the wingtip to the tail watched. And that’s when it happened. Jack’s best friend and language helper wasn’t taking it so well by then. He rushed from the group, ran up and grabbed Jack. “You can’t go,” he said.
“I bawled my eyes out,” Jack admitted. “Between the pilot and me we got him convinced that I had to go. We taxied down, and when we came back, they were all standing there, but I couldn’t see. My last vision of that place was through all sorts of tears.”
That wasn’t the hardest part. “In our absence,” Jack said, “he got meningitis and died.”
It’s been years since that day, but it’s still fresh in Jack’s mind. His love for the Nukak people is evident, but with nearly two decades passing since the initial language-learning process, the second time around is proving to be a challenge.
“At this point, I want to fit in the best I can to help the work go forward,” he said. “I would like to get far enough in the language that I can help with the discipleship part.”
Pray for Jack to continue progressing in the language-learning process, so that one day he can sit down with his good Nukak friends and disciple them in the things of the Lord.
