Is the mission impossible? Will the uncontacted ever be reached? Are we crazy? 

These were just a few of the questions that raced through our minds as we heard the following news. A Peruvian man known to his friends as Chaco had apparently experienced an unexpected turn of events. He was actually somewhat of a legend in the jungle area of Madre de Dios, since he was the only one who had any sort of friendly interchanges with the savage and nomadic tribe known by most of the outside world as the Mash-co Piro. Known also as “The Invisible Tribe”, this tribe is difficult to describe since they have sought isolation and distanced themselves from any sort of civilization for generations. What we do know is that they speak a dialect similar to the Yine people, live by hunting and gathering, and do not know the one true God. Chaco was probably the world´s best source of accurate information about these wild people because of his repeated contacts. He had actually trekked deep into their prohibited territory, hunted, slept, and conversed with them. They came to him regularly to ask for machetes, pots, or trinkets, and he generously invited them to freely gather food from his farm. He was, in a very real sense, their only friend and greatest advocate in the world. No one knows exactly what went wrong, but in mid November there was apparently some sort of dispute between them. Perhaps he couldn´t give them what they were asking for, or perhaps they were upset about nearby settler´s actions and held him responsible, or perhaps it all came about because of an inter-family spat within the community. In any case, less than two months ago (written in 2012), on November 22nd the Mash-co Piros shot Chaco through with arrows in his own farm on an island of the upper Madre de Dios river. 

This is sobering, not just because I was in that very spot looking for the Mash-co Piros with Chaco just two months before, but also because I was scheduled to be there with him again the very week he was shot. My desire was to visit him every few months, establish a good relationship, bring gifts for the nomadic unreached, and eventually seek friendly and prolonged contact with the savage tribe.

Our prayer for many years has been that God would grant us the opportunity to evangelize a people group who has never had a chance to hear the gospel. These recent activities have caused us to question if our dreams will ever be realized in Peru. Chaco was the Mash-co Piros’ best friend, source of food, supplier of metal goods, and appeared to be their ticket out of the stone age. If he, after his repeated and thorough contacts, had been pierced by their points, how can we ever hope to reach them? 

We have had to re-examine what brought us here. Is the Apostle Paul´s stated ministry philosophy still valid? He said “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” (Rom 15:20). Does God still want missionaries to think as the apostle Paul did? The answer to this question is found in the very next verse: v21 ” But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.” Paul, of course, was not original with this idea; in fact, he was quoting from the book of Isaiah, which is chock full of this theme: The rebellious, isolated enemies of God are redeemed and made into His own children. This theme, in reality, runs all through the Bible; beginning with the promise to Abraham that all nations of the earth would be blessed in him, winding throughout the Psalms with their talk of praise from ´´all the earth´´, to the book of Revelation, which declares that there will be “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” worshiping the Lamb who was slain. 

The real question is: Why would we not ALL jump at the chance to take the news of the worthy and majestic Lamb who was slain to those who may choose to treat us the same way that the world treated the Lamb? There is no greater privilege or higher calling than extending the reign of the coming king. As we continue to seek to reach the unreached, we ask that you would seek to advance God’s Kingdom on your knees. It is only by the prayers of God’s people that the powers of darkness are rendered ineffectual. The spiritual battle is relentless. Are you involved? 

• Re-posted from 2012