Unchurched, Unreached, Uncontacted

Just as we were returning from Iquitos this week, the news broke about the discovery of a new tribe living on the border of Peru and Brazil. This tribe had never been seen before and had never been contacted before by outsiders from what we would define as modern civilization.

Photos which were published in Peru newspapers and which were broadcast on Peru TV news stations showed members of the tribe, probably a remnant of the Mashco Piros or Murunahuas, covered in red paint and aiming their bows and arrows at the airplane which was flying high above them.

It was a fascinating discovery, and it makes us think of our role as a church. We must always be striving to reach out to those who are unchurched, whether they live in a large, noisy, thriving metropolis like Lima, or whether they are a tribe that no one has ever seen before, living on the border of Peru and Brazil. As we build new small groups in Iquitos, and pray and dream of a full campus there someday, and continue to minister and partner with the Yagua tribe there, it fills us with excitement to think that perhaps someday FRC-Lima or FRC-Iquitos will be partnering with this lost tribe to help them reach their God-potential.