Makuma Bible Dedication

This past Saturday Chad and I, along with three MAF plane loads of folks, flew to the mission "station" of Makuma to continue the celebration and dedication of the new Shuar Bible.   This day long dedication was run by the Shuar church association and we were invited guests.  We were also asked by long time GMU/Avant missionaries, Jim and Norma Hedlund to document the event via photos.   Jim and Norma have been working on the Shuar Bible Translation for more than 30 years.  That's a loooooong time.  It was a a joyful occasion to witness the culmination of a life's work of dedication to the Lord.   We were honored to be there and even more honored to have played a small part in helping bring God's word to the Shuar people.  It was also very encouraging for us to see the Shuar church continuing to grow in maturity, as they ran the entire service.   A lot of the dedication was to recognize the many Shuar men and women that helped to make the Bible translation a reality.   What better way to recharge your batteries than to plainly see God at work in bringing people from every nation to Himself.

Humberto - one of the only translators who worked on the Shuar Bible the entire 30 years.  If you were in a church where we spoke during our last furlough, you might remember that Chad talked about "carrying" Humberto.

Daniel Chu (Shuar Church Association President) holding the Shuar Bible for the first time.  When was the last time you were this excited to hold your Bible?

Frank Drown (former Avant missionary to the Shuar People) accepting his Bible.  Frank and his wife Marie served in Ecuador for 37 years.

Jim & Norma Hedlund accepting their Bibles.

Elsa (MAF secretary who happens to be from Makuma) was able to go with us and be a part of her "hometown" dedication.

You know it's hot when people put furniture on their heads for shade!!!!

Alex and her son Benjamin providing shade for some friends.  Alex and her husband Alfredo are missionaries with HCJB.  They are engineers that work on water projects.

Chad with a couple of the men that helped with the translation.

Here's the "commercial" kitchen!

This is where they provided lunch for us.

The passengers in our plane:  Us, David & Beth Montero (David is the Alas de Socorro administrator and Beth is Olivia's teacher) and Alex, Alfredo & Benjamin Leon (HCJB missionaries)