NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Da'an Team-April 2008

A Privilege to Work with the Da’an Tribe

The Da’an people have a history of being drunk, especially the men. They used to drink the strong rice wine together, then go home and beat their wives. This was their way of life. Were they happy? If you ask them today, they would say no! They lived under the control of the bottle. They also lived under the control of their animistic beliefs.
Before they did ANYTHING (even walk on a jungle path), certain rituals had to be done in order to appease the spirits.

After 20+ years of missionaries serving amongst the Da’an people, there is a small thriving church in two of the seven known Da’an villages. Words cannot describe the testament of God’s faithfulness that we see with these Da’an believers. Instead of being controlled by alcohol or by their animistic beliefs, they are living under God’s grace. They have true joy that comes from the fruit of the Spirit.

A year and a half ago, one of the Da’an believers came to one of the New Tribes Mission’s conference that was going on in our local town. At the end of the meetings, he stood up and asked the chairman of New Tribes Mission when they would be able to read God’s Word in their own language. Over the years, no Bible translation has been made into the Da’an language. The man who stood up was desperately wanting missionaries to come. He said they were ready and needed to have the Da’an Bible in order to reach out to neighboring Da’an villages.

Today, in God’s infinite timing, there is a team in the Da’an tribe learning the Da’an language. The goal is to translate the Bible. Nicky and I will be part of this translation team after our one year home assignment. We know it is a real privilege to be a small part of what God is doing amongst the Da’an people.

Our team is made up of a National family, a European family, and our family. It is a truly international team!

Incidentally…this is the same tribal group that my parents, Marvin and Mary Poarch, worked with for twenty years! Isn’t God good?

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