Finding a safe haven
Believers in one Hewa village in Papua New Guinea have found deliverance from their former beliefs and the death and destruction they brought, but "all is not peaceful and tranquil" in other Hewa villages.
"A man named Was … came running up to us with tears streaming down his face a few weeks back," wrote missionary Jonathan Kopf. "He begged and pleaded with us, saying, 'Take my daughter away now so she won't get chopped up with an axe! In the same way you saved Fainyam and Defo from brutal murder, save my daughter too!'"
The missionaries have been distressed over the situation that has taken the lives of several people in the last couple of years. Six people from Was' village had been killed as witches and now his teenage daughter, Tino, was doomed to suffer the same fate.
"Threats to kill her had already been pronounced, so it was only a matter of time before a raiding party of young men would be sent to her village to kill her with axes, machetes or arrows," wrote Jonathan.
The missionaries began the process of looking for a safe haven for Tino. They discussed the situation with the Hewa believers, sent out letters and spent much time in prayer.
"We really felt helpless as there were no immediate answers to this huge oppressive problem that has been handed to these people from their ancestors," Jonathan wrote.
"Now … a door has opened up to save the life of Tino. ... A family of believers [in another people group] has offered her safe haven in their tribe. They will adopt her as their own daughter. Susan and I and the believers … are so grateful and deeply relieved for this answer to prayer."
Please pray that the Hewa believers "will become stronger and stronger to the point that some day they themselves will be able to protect the many others in their tribe who are doomed to be killed," Jonathan wrote. "Pray that the power of the Gospel will spread all over these mountains so that it will have a radical and permanent effect on the way these people think."
"A man named Was … came running up to us with tears streaming down his face a few weeks back," wrote missionary Jonathan Kopf. "He begged and pleaded with us, saying, 'Take my daughter away now so she won't get chopped up with an axe! In the same way you saved Fainyam and Defo from brutal murder, save my daughter too!'"
The missionaries have been distressed over the situation that has taken the lives of several people in the last couple of years. Six people from Was' village had been killed as witches and now his teenage daughter, Tino, was doomed to suffer the same fate.
"Threats to kill her had already been pronounced, so it was only a matter of time before a raiding party of young men would be sent to her village to kill her with axes, machetes or arrows," wrote Jonathan.
The missionaries began the process of looking for a safe haven for Tino. They discussed the situation with the Hewa believers, sent out letters and spent much time in prayer.
"We really felt helpless as there were no immediate answers to this huge oppressive problem that has been handed to these people from their ancestors," Jonathan wrote.
"Now … a door has opened up to save the life of Tino. ... A family of believers [in another people group] has offered her safe haven in their tribe. They will adopt her as their own daughter. Susan and I and the believers … are so grateful and deeply relieved for this answer to prayer."
Please pray that the Hewa believers "will become stronger and stronger to the point that some day they themselves will be able to protect the many others in their tribe who are doomed to be killed," Jonathan wrote. "Pray that the power of the Gospel will spread all over these mountains so that it will have a radical and permanent effect on the way these people think."