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1 Samuel 2:9 "He will guard the feet of his saints ..." On July 27, I began a dangerous six day mountain trek in which I visited a number of villages in the Nalja tribe in Irian Jaya with which we have worked since 1975. We had very good discussions with church and area leaders in the various villages, listening to some of their problems, sharing God's Word and encouraging them, and making plans to give some financial help for some of their needs. The jungle mountains in this area of Irian Jaya are beautiful, but rugged. My legs felt like rubber during parts of the 30 hours of trekking. Mountain climbs of thousands of feet, negotiating dangerous slippery cliffs, wading through mud and across gnarled tree roots, and crossing flimsy vine bridges far above the raging rivers below, took their toll. Seems like it was easier twenty years ago! :) As I got ready to cross one vine bridge, I stopped for a brief snack and a drink of water. My wife, Suzanne, had sent a few Oreo cookies with me, along with some other food she had packed. I remember thinking: "Well, this could be the last Oreo I ever eat!" Actually, that bridge turned out to be stronger than one we had crossed earlier. On the earlier one, I crossed by putting my arms over the several vines tied together and stretched across the river for handholds on each side, so I could distribute most of my weight on those two supports, rather than on the path for my feet, which consisted of small limbs placed along the length of the bridge, supported by strips of vine coming down in a V shape from the handhold vines on each side. (Some of these support strips were broken, and others looked ready to snap.) I then carefully took myself across inch by inch by reaching forward on one side and then the other and pulling until I reached the other side about seventy feet away. (Yes, of course I was scared! But it was the only way to get to some of the villages. And I did believe it was strong enough to hold me!) There are places where these mountain trails run along ridges within a foot of two of vertical drop offs of hundreds of feet into the valley below. In many places where we traveled, a misstep would have meant certain death. However, my carriers were very aware of that also and watched me carefully in the dangerous places. And we know that the Lord has promised to be with us as we carry His word to the ends of the earth. Some places where we crossed smaller crevices in the mountainsides on single logs, I had one fellow leading me by one hand while another came behind holding the other. In other places, I took a longer and less dangerous route to reach our destination. My philosophy is it's better to be a live coward than a dead hero - unless it's really necessary. There are enough places where it is impossible to avoid all danger. Please pray for these tribal people in the Nalja tribe, and for those in the other approximately 270 different tribes in Irian Jaya, Indonesia! Pray for those where the church is already established, as at Nalja where we have worked for twenty years. Pray for those where the church is very new. And pray for those tribes still without the Gospel or any church at all! We'd love to send you occasional info and stories by e-mail if you'd like, so you can also pray specifically and have a meaningful part in the wonderful things the Lord is doing to raise up people for himself from among many formerly Stone Age tribes throughout Irian Jaya! Thank you for your concern! Let us know if you'd like to join us in prayer. Yours in Christ, Roger Doriot <rogerdoriot@xc.org> http://www.jesus-connect.net/world/jesus/Doriot Quote worth repeating: "When I get to the end of my life I don't want to look back and see that I've played 'Trivial Pursuit'." (Dr. McQuilken of Columbia Bible College) Click HERE to return to the edited story Click HERE to create a banner that links to this story! Your e-mail address will be kept private!
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