2 February 2011 video courtesy of United Bible Societies
It has been 42 years since missionaries Phil Masters and Stan Dale were martyred in the Seng valley of Papua, Indonesia, by members of the Yale tribe. Phil’s daughter Crissie Rask is today serving with MAF.
Phil and Stan's sacrifice helped sow the seeds of the Gospel in that remote area. Those seeds have matured, reproduced and are spreading the Good News from generation to generation, including Kimyal people.
Translator Rosa Kidd describes the day when several generations of Kimyal received the Word in their language, the newly completed New Testament.
"Everything and everyone had to come in by small plane.
"Korupun is a very isolated gravel strip that sits at about 5,800 feet up in the middle of some of the highest mountains in the Eastern Highlands of West Papua, Indonesia.
"One MAF pilot said that he alone had made 20 flights into Korupun for the Bible dedication. The celebrating was going on almost day and night. Singing and dancing could be heard throughout the valley late into the night.
The noise was very loud until after the plane [carrying the New Testaments] had landed and one of the Kimyals started bringing the first box of Bibles out of the plane.
"Then, if you could have heard a pin drop in gravel and mud, you would have heard a pin drop. Four of the local pastors went forward to receive the Bibles. Behind them followed a group of some of the oldest believers in our area."
From generation to generation
The first box was very solemnly given to the pilot, who placed it into the hands of the pastors. It was then passed on to the elder believers, who gave the box to a group of young people, challenging them to take the Word and apply it to their lives, thus symbolising how the Word of God is passed from generation to generation.
The young men then picked up all the other boxes and carried them the full length of the airstrip and back, over 900kg of New Testaments, all delivered by MAF plane.
This momentous day was long awaited by the Kimyal church. The terrain is so rough and isolated that virtually every Bible translator and all of their supplies had to be delivered by aircraft. Our planes also supported the work of the missionaries throughout this translation project.
MAF has seen that God is faithful throughout all generations, and has been part of bringing God's Word to this remote community for the very first time.