Wycliffe missionaries Gene and Marie Scott gave nearly 40 years of their lives translating the New Testament for a small tribe in the jungles of Peru. Was it worth it?
"The water kept coming—you could hear it rushing under the house."
This was the first and only time the Scotts pushed "the panic button"—a
switch on the back of the radio that alerted the team at Yarinacocha that
an emergency situation was at hand. The Scotts asked for prayer that the
water would stop rising. That long, sleepless night they rehearsed the promise
in Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over
you."
"At daybreak, the water was touching the bottom of our floor, but not one
of the children was wet. Soon they came in their canoes and took us out."
The village was destroyed by that flood. Gustavo had taken several families
and moved east to Gasta Bala and urged the Scotts to join them there. "We
went through a fire to move to one place and through a flood to get moved
to another place," says Marie.
Gasta Bala has been their tribal home ever since.
The Spirit broke through in 1984 shortly after the flood and subsequent
relocation to Gasta Bala. This was the first authentic evidence the Scotts
had seen that the Spirit was beginning to operate. Gustavo, who had asked
Jesus to be his Owner 20 years earlier, owned up to his wayward lifestyle
and repented. "Gustavo was translating the Books of Matthew and John with
me," says Scotty. "The Holy Spirit was driving the Word deeply into his
'innermost.' One Sunday, when most of the village had gathered for a meeting,
Gustavo stood before his people and said, 'I have been a poor example to
you as your chief. Not only have I been getting drunk myself, but I have
been bringing the liquor to you. Also I have been living in immorality.'
He prayed and asked the Lord to forgive him and said ...
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