For over a year now, our sights have been set on the Ahsatdah people. God has opened an amazing number of doors in the past year as we have begun zeroing in on the Ahsatdah project goal—a Bible translation and a representation of the body of Christ among these dear souls.
We began a series of trips in 2021 and narrowed our focus to the two known communities in this region. An additional visit to these two villages in August revealed that only one was a possibility: village S_.
In order to obtain the needed permissions, three of us made another trip in September. The Lord blessed us with verbal permission from the indigenous council and written permission from the S_ community. As a result, we were able to make a month-long trip in December, during which we held a small engines class for the wider zone, and began work building a "guesthouse" in S_.
Although the indigenous folks were very busy drinking chicha during December, the Lord provided some key people to help us learn how to cut lumber with a chainsaw, find the proper kinds of wood, etc. We left behind a skeleton structure, planning to return after the people covered it with a roof of carana (a small palm leaf).
In the jungle, things often don't go as planned. One Sunday in February, an Ahsatdah man showed up at our house in town with three young boys. They announced their intentions to stay for two weeks and delivered a letter asking us to bring tin to cover the building since they hadn't been able to find enough carana. After living on our front porch for over a week, they headed back to S_ and we assured them we would come soon with tin.
March 2 to 22 found the three of us building relationships and finishing up the guesthouse in S_. Lord willing, our family hopes to spend significant time this year living in S_ and learning the Ahsatdah language—a big task that calls for much prayer!
Pray with us for a clear path forward and for strength and ability to do what He's called us to: "make disciples of all peoples," the Ahsatdah included!
—MM in Colombia
Visit the Ahsatdah Project page
