Schrock Update December, 2017

December Survey Trip 

Notwithstanding the jiggers and mosquitos, we are still wondering why we left the delightfulness of the Amazon jungle for the chilly aridness of Colorado. After a week in the jungle, it felt like home.

To elaborate further, we’ve just returned from a second trip to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Since we met, our goal has been to work with unevangelized tribes. In pursuit of this goal, we visited two South American countries earlier this year getting a feel of the tribal conditions and needs. During a week-long stay in a frontier Brazilian town, we got to know members of a tribe living in the jungles of Brazil’s State of Amazonas, and were invited to visit them in their village. Hence, on December 9^th of this the year of our Lord, we embarked on a second journey to see what else would present itself in this affair of events that seem to have miraculously fallen into place. 

Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest.

7,500 air miles and two overnight layovers later, we arrived in Porto Velho, the closest city to the jungle with a significant commercial airport. The next morning, we boarded a six-passenger single prop plane for the one-hour flight into the interior. I’ve seen a few sights in my time, but few match the thrill of seeing the Amazon rainforest from the sky. Out in that vast, unconquered wilderness stretching out as far as your eyeballs can reach, you can’t help feeling just a little small.

The grass airstrip for our village came into view, and minutes later we were surrounded by laughing, grinning natives, dressed for the most part in all manner of modern garb. Some of them we had met before, and we quickly made friends with many others. One of the first things we noticed was the amount of children and youth. The tribe (we won’t share their name for security purposes) is not shrinking like many are, but is thriving. Government medicine and education have made their way into the village, along with monthly pensions for seniors.

Much mission work has already been done among the tribe. Their language has been written, and the New Testament has been translated (although it has faults). About half the tribe’s population of around 450 has been evangelized, though they still have much to learn of God’s eternal program contained in the whole narrative of the Bible.

Indian games.

During our week-long stay in the village, we interacted a lot with the people. The missionaries (who have been working with the tribe for years, and are our connection to them) were holding a kind of VBS for the people. Much of the tribe lives in different villages (some as far as six hours away by foot), but many of them came to spend the week, allowing us to meet them. It was a fun week of games and Bible teaching, aimed at the youth, but included everybody.

Language learning.

Courtney's new namesake on the left. 

By the end of our stay, we had become quite popular with the tribe. They got great pleasure showing us around their village and teaching us their language and culture. Courtney and Ashley (a friend who travelled with us) were adopted into families, which is no small 
gesture. One couple whom we had met before renamed their young girl after Courtney. We accumulated quite a collection of little gifts from different members of the tribe. Before we left, the general attitude of the tribe toward us was a request that we return to live and work with them, including one of the chiefs.

Adima and his family, especially good friends. 

In Brazil, the only way past government restrictions into the interior is to receive a formal, written invitation from a village chief. Otherwise, no outsider is allowed contact with any of the tribes living inside the restricted areas. We understood this from the beginning, and knew gaining access into the jungle would be the first big hurdle. It seems that this hurdle has been overcome. While we are still waiting to hear from the head chief for a for a formal invitation, we were told that the tribe’s general acceptance of us is practically a guarantee of that.

In summary, we now have an almost certain open door into the interior. The question remains, are we willing to commit ourselves to working in a tribe that is not technically unreached. While this does not match our original goal, we cannot deny that God has moved in miraculous ways to bring about this opportunity. We have prayed often for God to open the next door before us. If we don’t walk through this one, we are back to square one.

Weaving lessons.

The climate of foreign tribal missions has changed greatly over the past decades. The traditional template of white missionaries contacting isolated tribes is part of a closing era. These tribes now live in demarcated areas tightly restricted by governments. If they will be reached, they must be done so by the tribes on the outskirts, who have already been reached, as they have freedom to travel inside the interior. The white man’s main contribution needs to be to equip and motivate them by giving them the training and tools they need.

If we work with this tribe, it will be to do just that: to equip and train. We would start with Chronological Bible teaching: teaching them the foundations of the faith starting at the Bible’s beginning and teaching it as a connected narrative displaying God’s eternal program. In this way we would teach them of God’s plan to reach all the world with the message of salvation by means of the Church, of which they are a part. After that, we would help them become competent with tools and resources to evangelize others, beginning with the rest of their own tribe who is still untaught.

We invite you to join us in seeking God’s continued guidance as we decide whether we will indeed take this step. Should we go ahead, our next step will be to get medical training (likely in May), then make the final preparations and arrangements for the move to Brazil to begin learning the national language of Portuguese, after which we would move in with the tribe in their village.

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In the meantime, it's back to Lobelville, TN, where we will get back to work to save money for the next step. Emanuel will finish his Chronological Bible video series at The Door (God's Story). At the end of January, we are going to a conference (Florida Shindig) where Emanuel will be speaking. 

To those who pray for us, thank you. We know God hears, because we can see his hand in our lives. Sometimes we think we are the most blessed folks on earth. God is good!