In 1998, we provided ground support while John Meerstra and an aerial survey team flew over the mountainous jungle looking for villages which might belong to the Hewa people; marking coordinates for a visit by helicopter.
For many years, a man named Sefen had been coming to the missionaries working among the people of the Saniyo and Malaumanda languages, asking for a missionary. He had heard about the shiny thorn that heals (injections) and he wanted that medicine for his people, too.
Four missionary couples arrived in Papua New Guinea the next year and began planning to live among the Hewa people.
Jonathan Kopf tells the story of Sefen and the work among the Hewa people in his book, “Canopy of Darkness“.
In the years since then the Ethnos36o Aviation team has provided many hours of aviation support to assist the team with establishing a thriving church among the Hewa people.
Since then we have accumulated many stories of warfare, threats, conflicts, medical evacuations, emergency flights due to civil unrest, and many thousands of hours of moving people, supplies, building materials, equipment, and medical teams in and out of the remote locations where the Hewa people live.
In 2005, just before Bible teaching began at the first village, I was flying Jonathan out of the village for a short time of rest with his family nearer to civilization. Jonathan was diligently reviewing his flash cards which help him memorize vocabulary. I asked him some questions about the progress of the ministry. He set aside his flash cards and said to me, “My being here is like putting your finger in a bucket of water and pulling it out to look for the hole. Unless God does something miraculous, nothing will change.” The Hewa people were so very deeply entrenched in their murderous beliefs that the idea of change looked impossible.
The videos below will give you a tiny glimpse into what God has done among the Hewa people.