REDEEMED LIVES | BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES | TRANSFORMED COMMUNITIES
Reaching
Front Page APRIL 2020
by Laurie Bremer
A R A O N A
T
he giant alligator head encompassed nearly half the pilot’s body. The skull of the monstrous
Below: SAMAIR pilots land the Angel airplane safely on a
Brazil Nut-tree shrouded strip that sits on the edge of the Manurimi River in northern Bolivia. From here, SAM’s team navigated the Manurimi to reach the Araona, a Bolivian people group of only 200.
beast dwarfed the pilot, a towering 6’4” former
fighter-pilot. The villagers had caught and eaten the alligator and all that remained was this massive trophy. The many rivers running throughout the Amazon jungle teem with all sorts of creatures and, on journeys such as this, the saying “eat or be eaten” is all too literal. Fortunately, on this expedition, this maxim would not be tested. But there were still many other perils. By far, the biggest question looming in everyone’s mind as the SAMAIR pilot, a Bolivian pastor, a local missionary and their guide traveled down the Manurimi river deep within the Amazon was, how would the isolated tribe they were seeking to contact receive them? >>>
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t all began with a dream. Several months earlier, in the sprawling city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, a Bolivian pastor, called Pastor Daniel, awoke with a start. He’d dreamed he was standing on the banks of a river surrounded by jungle, preaching to a people group living remotely. He dreamed the name “Araona.” In the city, where the pastor lives and works, there is a virtual labyrinth of intersecting roadways, but there are no jungle-banked rivers. In Bolivia, there are countless indigenous groups and many still live in remote and inaccessible locations within the jungle. Pastor Daniel had not heard of the Araona. But Pastor Daniel is nothing, if not tenacious. He was certain his dream meant something. He searched until he discovered that the Araona are a small tribe living in the northernmost section of Bolivia’s Amazon. The pastor did not know how to reach the Araona, but he knew someone who might. Pastor Daniel knew that South America Mission runs an international school (called Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center, SCCLC) that his children attend. Though a ministry to Bolivians, several missionaries send their children there as well. If SAM ran a ministry as essential and excellent as this school, he reasoned, perhaps other missionaries serving with SAM might see the importance of his call and be able to help. Particularly, through a SAM-sponsored English outreach offered to parents of SCCLC, Pastor Daniel had come to know SAMAIR pilot, John Bremer and his wife, Laurie. Pastor Daniel felt certain that mission aviation would be the key to his reaching the Araona. And so, he approached SAMAIR with the bold request of helping him make his dream a reality. Would SAMAIR help him find his way to the Araona, to share the good news of God’s redeeming love to them? He had no plan, as yet no financial backing, and no lead on contacting the Araona.
But he felt certain that he had a call. SAMAIR does many things in Bolivia, including transporting medical teams and missionaries, supporting small villages through spiritual and community development, and providing emergency medical transport. SAMAIR does all of this without charging Bolivians for flights, as Bolivian law permits SAMAIR to charge locals only for fuel. Many times, SAMAIR donates the entirety of the flight, including fuel costs. Pastor Daniel’s request sounded logistically challenging, if not impossible, but SAMAIR pilots Greg Dahl and John Bremer agreed that this request was in keeping with their vision to see the local Bolivian church share the gospel with people groups in remote areas and point them to Christ through discipleship; so they agreed to assist Pastor Daniel. Through their many connections within the missionary community, SAMAIR began >>>
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>< And so it was that a SAMAIR pilot, pastor Daniel and a Bolivian missionary found themselves on an expedition traveling within the Amazon jungle aboard a small boat to scout the potential landing strip and then attempting to make contact with the Araona.
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Though the Araona historically isolate to learn more about the Araona people and their whereabouts. Manuel Steudler, a Swiss themselves…the Chief had also made the missionary (then serving at a mission station several-day-long journey by boat, only in the in the northern part of Bolivia who now opposite direction. He had come to town to seek serves with SAMAIR) connected them with a Bolivian missionary living in a small jungle emergency medical care for his critically ill son. village, near to where the Araona were thought to be living. The pilots acknowledged that reaching the Araona might be possible through mission aviation, however several challenges remained. The Araona, who move seasonally, would first need to be located and a usable airstrip would have to be found, too. Incredibly enough, through their contacts, a potential landing strip was soon identified—a small tract of land on a Brazil nut plantation on the edge of the Manurimi river. And so it was that a SAMAIR pilot, pastor Daniel and a Bolivian missionary found themselves on an expedition traveling within the Amazon jungle aboard a small boat to scout the potential landing strip and then attempting to make contact with the Araona. The pilots first needed to ascertain if the brush-covered landing strip—a small clearing, bordered on one side by river and surrounded by jungle—was suitable for the Angel Airplane, a twin-engine aircraft built specifically for mission aviation. Though a detailed and difficult task, complicated by inclement weather and the onset of a tropical fever, the SAMAIR pilot was overjoyed to ultimately determine that the airstrip was usable and, moreover, was less than a day’s boat ride from where the Araona live. SAMAIR knew this meant there was the potential for follow-up visits to support the tribe… if they were welcomed, that was. The question hung over everyone as they continued their journey by river. How would the Araona receive them?
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nfortunately, several factors (including weather, mechanical issues, and timing) complicated the continuation of the expedition. Reluctantly, the party determined they could not continue. They had found a usable airstrip, but they had not reached the Araona village and now some of their group were increasingly feverish. The SAMAIR pilots and Pastor Daniel headed back toward the Swiss mission. Providentially, the Chief of the Araona was not in his village that week. Though the Araona historically isolate themselves, the very week that the team had set out to reach them, the Chief had also made the several-day-long journey by boat, only in the opposite direction. He had come to town to seek emergency medical care for his critically ill son. Though the missionaries could not reach the Araona, God had brought their Chief to the missionaries! The members of SAMAIR Bolivia, Pastor Daniel, the Bolivian missionary, Swiss missionaries and the Chief met for the first time on the patio of the Swiss mission station. 3 |
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Above: SAMAIR’s Angel Airplane. The Angel was designed by King’s Engineering Fellowship. Only 4 Angels were commissioned between 1984 and 2008.
Photo: The team’s first encounter with the Araona Chief at the Swiss Mission base in northern Bolivia.
Above: The traditional thatched-roof structure used by the Araona for shelter. The photo was taken in the Araona village in Bolivia during SAMAIR’s initial visit. Right: An Araona teen bitten by a venemous snake during a scheduled SAMAIR visit to the jungle. SAMAIR was able to transport the boy to a hospital for immediate medical attention, likely saving his life.
In that first meeting, Pastor Daniel unabashedly shared his dream with the Araona Chief. The Chief, in turn, explained that nearly 25 years earlier, missionaries from New Tribes Mission (now Ethnos360) and Wycliffe Bible Translators had been living among them. But the tribe had decided they were no longer welcomed and had forced the missionaries out. Though Araona traditional religion includes many different gods and customs, the Chief had been a young man when the missionaries lived with his people and he remembered some of what he had been taught. Because of this, the Chief would allow Pastor Daniel and the SAMAIR missionaries to come and visit his people. With access to the airstrip on the Manurimi river and, most importantly, approval from the Chief for the group to visit, the next trip was significantly less complicated. SAMAIR was able to fly directly to the jungle landing spot, and though from there it was a still perilous half-day boat ride to the village, the journey to reach the Araona was now a mere one-quarter of the duration of the first scouting expedition. This time, after launching a boat onto the Manurimi, the team finally succeeded in reaching the small village. For hours, while sailing down rivers and tributaries, they had wondered, prayed and talked about how they would be received by the Araona people. Though they had considered and discussed the many potential outcomes, nothing prepared them for what was to come. As he greeted their small wooden craft, the Chief of the approximately 200-person tribe did something entirely unexpected and unforeseeable to all those who had been praying so fervently for this moment. Upon meeting the group who had come, the Chief of Araona and his people began to weep. His son, who had recovered fully, was by his side. Since their initial meeting at the Swiss mission station, the Chief had been dreaming of this day.
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AMAIR has been able to help the Araona in other, very practical ways as well. Last Spring, a boy from the tribe was bitten by a venomous snake. Once again, providentially, this occurred during a scheduled visit to the jungle. Upon arrival, SAMAIR was immediately able to provide emergency transport for the boy to a hospital for medical care. The boy survived because he received immediate medical attention. Years earlier, the Chief ’s brother had died from a bite from the same snake, and so the Araona were profoundly grateful for SAMAIR’s help. This incident proved foundational in fostering trust. 4 |
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As a result, the next time SAMAIR flew to the airstrip, there was much celebrating. That trip, SAMAIR had the privilege of transporting the Chief ’s son, Oscar, and his wife, Yezzica, to the city of Santa Cruz. A mere six months after that initial meeting on the porch of the Swiss mission, the Chief of the Araona agreed to allow his son, the future leader of the tribe, to study the Bible for a year at the pastor’s church. To complete the biblical studies, SAM Bolivia’s team was again able to assist. Dana Wilson and others serving with PROCLAMA (a SAM-founded ministry that trains Bolivians to serve cross-culturally) helped to guide the chief ’s son as he prepares to minister to his own people and to his neighbors. SAMAIR, in conjunction with the pastor’s church, have also sponsored an initiative to establish a radio tower near to the Araona that will broadcast parts of the Bible that are translated into their language. (Though many of the Araona cannot read, thanks to the translation work of those first missionaries, they will still be able to hear parts of the Bible broadcast in their own language). The Chief ’s son, fluent in both Araona and Spanish, plans to assist in producing the radio content. Teaching and living out the gospel—modeling Christ’s love—comprise one part of what great commission ministries like SAMAIR Bolivia and Proclama do. We rejoice that the Araona have received this outreach so openly! We are grateful that so many could play a part in making Pastor Daniel’s Godgiven dream a reality. From the school (SCCLC) that serves to shine God’s light throughout Bolivia and the adult English program led by SAM’s SIEMBRA ministry, to the many volunteers within Proclama and the pilots of SAMAIR Bolivia, >>>
SCAN THE CODE BELOW to learn more about PROCLAMA, a SAM-founded
ministry that worked with SAMAIR to
reach the Araona. vimeo.com/202114827
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From the school (SCCLC) that serves to shine God’s light throughout Bolivia and the adult English program led by SAM’s SIEMBRA ministry, to the many volunteers within Proclama and the pilots of SAMAIR Bolivia, South America Mission and others helped to start a new era of gospel work among the Araona.
Above: Dana Wilson, Proclama’s founder and SAM Bolivia Field Director, teaches a class on engaging people with the gospel in a cross-cultural context.
South America Mission and others helped to start a new era of gospel work among the Araona. We know that this is the effort of the body of Christ working together in obedience to Him and we rejoice that SAM could be a part of this story. Though it has taken resources, many donated flight hours and some perilous journeys by boat, there is immense satisfaction and joy in seeing the great commission fulfilled in even the remotest parts of Bolivia. The SAMAIR pilots Above: SAMAIR pilots Greg, Manuel and John with Oscar, Yezzica and their son en route to Santa Cruz for a year of study at Daniel’s church. Below: The will tell you that the seemingly impossible task towering 6”4” SAMAIR pilot, John Bremer, shrinks in comparison to the giant presented in a pastor’s dream—to be an agent alligator skull that Araona villagers kept as a trophy from a recent kill. for spiritual redemption through Christ to an isolated tribe—was altogether possible through reliance on God and through the contribution and obedience of many missionaries both now and many years ago. As pilot John Bremer exuberantly relates, “This is why we go. Truly, through God all things are possible!” •
About the writer: Laurie Bremer, her pilot husband John, and children Faith, Joshua,
Benjamin, Hope and Charity joined SAM in 2015 and live in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Visit www.southamericamission.org/samair to support the vital ministry of SAMAIR.
@SAMSouthAmerica REDEEMED LIVES | BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES | TRANSFORMED COMMUNITIES
SCAN THE CODE BELOW to learn more about the Santa Cruz Christian Learning
Center, a catalyst in the realization of ministry to the Araona. vimeo.com/202232486
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