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New Testament proclaimed in an Amazon village

The people of Makita, a small village along the Amazon River, can now listen to the New Testament, thanks to Faith Comes By Hearing, reports MNN.

A short-term mission team brought an audio player called the "Proclaimer to the Brazilian tribe, one of only 20 out 258 tribes that have strong, indigenous church leadership. More than 90 of the other tribes are completely cut off from the outside world. Traveling to Makita by boat takes two days in ideal conditions.

Makita has a small church building, which it shares with bats and tarantulas. Largely isolated, most villagers including the pastor cannot read. Like many other villagers in the Amazon rainforests, they are oral learners, and the Proclaimer was designed precisely for people like them.

“The Proclaimer seemed to turn on a light bulb and empower this pastor in a way he had never known,” said Jeff Scott, leader of the short-term mission team. “I have never encountered people so hungry and begging for help in their walk with Christ as in this place.”

Scott's team visited other Amazon villages as well, which also rely heavily on oral tradition for the communication of knowledge. Oral learners like these villagers make up two-thirds of the world’s population, and 380,000 of them live in the Amazon Basin.

Audio recordings play a crucial role in ministry to these cultures, and Faith Comes By Hearing recently trained new recording teams to reach them. It has Bible translations of 38 Brazilian languages ready to be recorded. Production begins in early July. 235 languages are spoken in Brazil.

The Proclaimer’s recording of the New Testament is embedded in a virtually indestructible microchip and can be powered by rechargeable batteries, solar panel, hand crank, or AC adaptor. The solar panel and a generator can recharge the battery, and the solar panel can play the recording even without the battery.

The battery in the Proclaimer can be recharged enough times to play the New Testament more than 1,000 times, and the sound is loud enough to reach 300 people at a time.

[05/15/2008]

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