Beginning at the writings of Moses
Evangelization of the Tugutil
by John Sharpe and Andrew A. Snelling
Pounding drums penetrate the stillness of the jungle. Crudely built shelters stand
beside the Lili River on the island of Halmahera, just one of many such tropical
islands that make up the nation of Indonesia (see map). Roaming the thick jungles
here are the Tugutil, a war-like tribe of hunters and gatherers.
Fear and despair
The Tugutil live in simply built shelters—four poles, a thatched roof, and
sometimes a slightly raised palm bark floor. These ‘homes’ have no walls—they
would allow the enemy to sneak up easily at night and wipe out the entire family.
In fact, the husband’s main responsibility is to protect the family from this
happening.
There appeared to be only a very simple political structure among this semi-nomadic
tribal group. They usually live in little groups of three or four families and move
from the coast inland into the jungle and back again. On the coast at the mouth
of the Lili River for possibly as long as two months the people reside in what is
like a small village, but when their ‘houses’ become so infested with
lice, bed bugs and cockroaches that they can no longer stand it, they simply move
inland back into the jungle.
While there are some tribal elders, the most influential men in the tribe are the
witchdoctors. They had imposed rigid taboos, such as forbidding contact with Christianity
or Christians. Transgression of such a taboo, even if unintentional, was believed
to bring dire consequences.
For example, one day Ula Ula, a loved and respected man, went hunting, and failed
to return. Two days later his body was found in the jungle. No cause of death was
readily apparent. Evidently, Ula Ula’s son had two months earlier attended
a timber (lumber) company worker’s birthday party some distance away, when
a small thanksgiving service was also held. Unintentionally he had transgressed
this anti-Christian taboo. This had resulted in the death of a close family member,
the witchdoctors insisted. Ula Ula’s death only served to reinforce this satanic
belief in their fearful hearts.
And how do they respond to death? A bereaved Tugutil man will take his machete and
go into a trance-like frenzy, chopping indiscriminately in the house of the deceased
until other mourning men restrain him. This is done to prevent injury to himself
or others, and after being restrained the man will sob loudly for up to half an
hour. The women wail continuously day and night, the utter hopelessness, frustration
and despair that death brings being made all too obvious. Yet many outside people
claimed these tribal people were happy the way they were in their jungle home and
that we should leave them alone. But the sad fact is that they lived in fear of
the spirits of people they formerly loved. In the case of Ula Ula, they now believed
that his spirit would return to take vengeance on anyone who had offended him, and
would bring sickness and death on his loved ones so that they would be with him.
Into this gloomy and threatening tribal situation came missionaries from the New
Tribes Mission—the Miles (USA) and Sharpe (Australia) families in late 1982
and the McCall (New Zealand) and Lahu (Indonesia) families in March 1983. The objective
was to bring the good news of Jesus Christ, our Creator-Redeemer, to these needy
people in pagan darkness. But how should they broach this message with these war-like,
semi-nomadic people?
At first they did not realize how dangerous it was for them as Christians to be
among these people, who could turn violent, particularly because of their fear and
taboo regarding Christians and the Christian church. Indeed, the Tugutil had a reputation
for murder and revenge.
The missionaries began building modest homes for themselves near the Tugutil’s
shelters beside the Lili River. Their presence soon attracted visits from the people,
all of whom were welcome. Almost everyone dropped in on their way to hunt pig and
deer, and to gather jungle foods.
To reach these people close relationships had to be built. This necessitated befriending
the children, who for the first few months often screamed in terror at the sight
of these long-nosed white people. Then came the task of winning adults’ confidence
and friendship. The missionaries were the best entertainment these people had ever
had, as they constantly tried to use the people’s language, often being met
with gales of laughter which suggested that there was some room for improvement.
Many hours were spent just sitting and talking with the people. Missionary John
Sharpe recalls how his family’s house became the local hairdresser’s—a
much better way to get a trim than by a friend using a knife or machete!
Language learning and medicines
The first five years were primarily spent trying to become fluent in the extremely
complex Tugutil language. Having their front rooms almost constantly filled with
people, many sleeping overnight, gave the missionaries abundant opportunities to
practise. A lot of language and culture was learned by just being with people in
their homes or at work, and eating together (even if sometimes the food didn’t
look all that appetizing).
During this time efforts were also made by the missionaries to improve the people’s
health. Soap was traded for bananas and sweet potatoes. A small clinic was setup
at Lili. More than 400 people were treated in a day during a serious measles epidemic.
Sometimes the people were too sick to come, so the missionaries had to go into the
jungle to them.
Meanwhile, linguist Keith Miles worked to put a script to the sounds and words used
by these tribal people. Only by mastering the language could the missionary team
tell the people God’s story. The missionaries found the language very difficult,
and Keith was quite surprised by its complexities. Five years were spent studying
the Tugutil culture and language, making up formal language lessons, and preparing
Bible lessons.
Working among tribal peoples across the world, the New Tribes Mission had learnt
that to tell animistic tribal peoples the message about Jesus Christ their Saviour
first required beginning with Moses. Jesus had done this with the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus. Those being reached need first to know who God is (the Creator),
what sin is, and therefore why they need a Saviour. Then they are ready to accept
Jesus Christ as their Saviour. So Bible lessons were taught in their chronological
order. This strategy became known as the chronological teaching method.
Confidence established
From the outset the Tugutil missionary team had said nothing about God and His story,
although the people had early realized that these strange but kind foreigners were
Christians. This would have been an immediate barrier because of their taboo against
the church and Christians. The people believed that if they had anything to do with
Christianity they would die, so they wouldn’t even marry a person who had
been inside a church, nor could they go inside a church themselves. If the missionaries
had Christian music on in their houses the people wouldn’t come inside, and
after visits to some of the people’s homes, an animistic ritual cleansing
of the houses had to be performed.
Because of this, plus the powerful hold over the people by their witchdoctors, one
wrong move in this time of preparation could easily have brought trouble for the
missionary team. However, God was at work in overcoming these barriers.
A Miracle
To the Tugutil, murder was a way of life. One day two young men were fighting over
a girl. One got in a big huff and went to walk away, so the other loaded up his
arrow-rifle and shot him in the back. The arrow went straight through and lodged
protruding about 25 centimetres (10 inches) out of his abdomen slightly above his
navel. Four days later news of the shooting arrived in Lili, along with a plea for
help. So two of the missionary men went into the jungle with medical supplies and
brought the badly injured victim back to Lili.
On the radio they talked to a doctor. The wound was nasty and the arrow, which still
had pig’s blood on it, had damaged the young man’s intestines. It wasn’t
long before peritonitis set in. The doctor was sure this man would die.
Nothing could be done without an operation, which was impossible in this jungle
setting. Yet it was less than two weeks to the commencement of teaching the people
God’s story, the objective they had been working towards for over five years.
So the missionaries prayed for a miracle. God saved this man’s life—he
was running around healthy again in a short time. News spread, so many came to see
him and the miracle that had occurred.
This miracle, and others, gave the missionaries opportunities to say to the people,
‘Look what God has done for these people. He has kept them alive so they can
hear His story too. That’s how important it is that you hear God’s story.’
Meanwhile, the missionaries worked feverishly to finalize the first lessons, making
sure they had the right Tugutil words to faithfully convey the opening chapters
of Genesis. As the big day approached a ‘teaching house’ was built—some
poles in the ground supporting a large roof. Almost daily, new houses went up around
Lili and new faces from far away were seen. The people seemed to be getting excited
about the coming story.
God’s story at last!
The big day arrived! That morning, more than 250 people gathered in the ‘teaching
house’. Some were still wary because of the taboo. They wanted to be reassured
that this wasn’t going to be a church meeting with praying and singing. They
were told there would be none of that, and if they preferred to listen to the story
under the trees or down on the beach then that would be acceptable. But since they
had built this shelter it made sense to use it.
So over the next six months the missionaries taught the people three mornings a
week from Genesis 1:1 through to the ascension of Christ. To ensure understanding,
each lesson commenced with a summary of the main points. These were then systematically
expounded before being summarized again. Drama, pictures and cassette tapes were
used to ensure that the message was clearly understood. After each session the people
were broken into small groups to check their comprehension of the lesson just taught.
There was always opportunity for revision and repetition at the next lesson if they
hadn’t understood.
The people’s hunger to hear God’s story was enormous. After each session,
they would return to their gardens and hunting, but at night would crowd into the
missionaries’ homes to listen to the recorded lessons over and over. Some
people were getting to hear each lesson up to 10 times. Meanwhile, the missionaries
would frantically work at keeping ahead with the preparation of subsequent lessons.
Convicted hearts
Beginning at Genesis chapter 1, the people were taught that this God is none other
than the Creator Himself, the One who made the earth, the sky, the trees and all
people. Then from Genesis chapter 3 they heard about Satan, the Fall and the entrance
of sin, death, struggle and bloodshed.
The following week an incredible thing happened. The missionaries had said no more
than what the Scriptures taught, yet the people took their spirit rocks, fetishes
and other things they had trusted for protection, crushed them and threw the powder
into the river. They had also believed that locks of hair from their ancestors had
tremendous power, so usually before they buried a person they would cut off some
hair and keep it. Now they threw those away too.
The people said, ‘We realize that the one who deceived Adam and Eve is the
one who has given us these things so that we wouldn’t trust in the real God!’
The missionaries had made a point of never saying that anything the people did was
wrong, including their worship of demons. Instead it was left to the Holy Spirit
to convict them in His time.
God’s Spirit was working mightily, using His Word presented in a way which
was meaningful and understandable to these people. Their hunger increased as the
lessons continued. On one occasion it had rained so heavily that the river was a
raging torrent, so the missionaries thought the people living on the other side
of the river wouldn’t be able to cross for the morning’s lesson. However,
they did, risking their lives rather than missing out on the next lesson. It was
suggested that in future, if there was flooding, the lesson would be postponed so
no one would risk their lives trying to get there. However, they unanimously insisted
that the lessons continue no matter what. What a thrill to see this deep hunger
for God’s Word!
Changed lives
Amazingly, as the lessons through the Old Testament progressed, incredible changes
occurred in the people’s lives. God’s Spirit was convicting these people
of their sin and it was simply astounding. They didn’t even know about Jesus,
yet they were being taught, just as Adam and Eve had been told, that there was a
promised One Who would come. So like the children of Israel they were looking forward
to knowing who this Messiah would be. They thought it might be Joseph, and then
later Moses. They were taught the Ten Commandments and recognized that before God
they were sinners. But the Coming One would deal with the sin problem we all have.
There was a temptation among the missionaries to jump ahead of the sequence, but
they continued to work step by step through the Scriptures, unfolding God’s
story. As they came to the New Testament and began to tell them about Jesus, the
people already knew about the prophecies that would be fulfilled by this Coming
One. As the story of Jesus unfolded they noted the prophecies being fulfilled.
A church is born
Some setbacks occurred, including violent opposition from a prominent witchdoctor
who used threats to draw away a large number of the people who had attended the
lessons. However, when presentation of the Gospel message had been completed and
understood, approximately 100 people put their faith in Christ and His finished
work on the cross. A new church came into being in this tribal group, which will
in a future day be represented in that great throng in Heaven before God’s
Throne.
What a different place Lili now is. Instead of despair, there is hope; instead of
fear, joy; instead of hatred, love … as God by His Spirit continues to do
a mighty work among these people, conforming them to the image of His dear Son.
Even now, the Tugutil believers continue to proclaim the Gospel to others who have
not heard. God is also raising up leaders from their midst to shepherd His Church.
Postscript
The Lord has so mightily used this chronological approach to the teaching of His
Word to animistic tribes that the lessons have been formalized in print. They have
also been adapted for use in the ‘pagan’ West—after all, most
children in Australian public schools, for example, have never read a Bible. The
New Tribes Mission book First Foundations: Creation to Christ, is now available.
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