Connected at Last!

They were like Noah, waiting for something that was promised, despite ridicule from those around them.

For ten years, the believers of a small settlement of the Lauje people group in Indonesia clung to the hope – as a missionary had conjectured – that someday a helicopter would land on the knoll they had dedicated just for that purpose.

Cast out of their home village because of their Christian beliefs, they had purchased the remote piece of property in the mountain to live and worship God as they knew they should. The helipad was set aside, jealously guarded from any nearby construction that would hinder the helicopter when it came. The people in their previous village referred to them as 'bela’ – uneducated, duped into believing in the Christian God, deceived into thinking that someone would care enough to land a helicopter in their village.

Like Noah, they clung to the sure hope of Christ. It had come to them in the most unlikely way: A respected majority religion witchdoctor in their former village had been visiting a distant place, holding classes in Pencak Silat martial arts, of which he was a master. His accommodations were in a room under the house of an Ethnos360 missionary. Through the floor, he overheard the message of Jesus in a language he understood. The witch doctor believed and brought the message back with him.

“Choosing to follow Christ came at a great cost,” recounts Nomad Nelman, Kodiak pilot and program manager of Ethnos360 Aviation in Indonesia. Those who believed the message were despised and essentially kicked out by their neighbors. “Surrounded by a 100% majority religion community, they moved high into the mountains to worship freely. They purchased land, built a simple church, and began the small Christian settlement.”

That was about ten years ago. Time went by with no one coming to that helipad, adding to the scorn by the neighbors. The believers were becoming weary of waiting.

“In early March,” wrote Nomad, “what once felt like a long season of waiting turned into a powerful testimony of hope for an isolated mountain church. [When the newly arrived R66 helicopter landed on their helipad], that moment changed [the former witchdoctor’s] and his family’s lives. Some stood in awe. Others were afraid. But for all of them, something shifted — what once seemed impossible became real.” For sure, the mocking neighbors who had once ridiculed them were astonished when they heard the approaching helicopter.

“For the Lauje people, the visible fulfillment of a promise plays a significant role in their faith — whether in Christian, the majority religion, or animistic belief systems,” wrote Nomad. No longer were they looked down on as 'bela’. They were noticed. Their value was so high that a helicopter would land right in their village! The hope they had clung to came to pass. Their beliefs in the one true God were validated in front of the watching neighbors.

Nomad and some friends had traveled to the settlement to be there when the new R66 helicopter landed. It wasn’t an easy trip – highlighting the reason this village was isolated for so many years. “The journey involved a rigorous motorcycle ride, with skilled young drivers guiding us safely up and down,” he wrote. As the believers gathered, Nomad heard the above remarkable story, retold with tears by the son of the witchdoctor.

What does this mean for the believers in the small Christian settlement? Connection – with over 30 church outreach fellowships (around 3,000 believers) in their people group. Access – knowing that the helicopter is available for emergency assistance. Openness – among the majority religion, including the tribal chief brother of the former witch doctor who now wants to move next to the church in that settlement and listen to the message!

God chose to use aviation – and the partnership of those who donate to Missionary Flight Sponsorship – to unfold this astounding story of His grace to the believers of this small Christian settlement and to the neighboring village. We can all stand in awe of His majestic work. As Nomad said, the whole event was “a powerful reminder of Romans 10:15: ‘How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news’ [paraphrase].”