Surrounded by Headhunters

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

In the Sunday school session, a fascinating story about Frank and Marie Drown, missionary pioneers, unfolded. Married in 1944, they set out to bring the gospel to the Hebero, later known as Shuar, Indians in Ecuador. Despite facing a culture of violence, superstition, and suspicion, the Drowns, along with a few others, bravely endured the challenges of introducing Christianity to a remote and hostile tribe. Their story illustrates the harsh realities and eventual breakthroughs in missionary work, showcasing the intense dedication required to spread a message of peace and love in dangerous situations. As their mission evolved, they also reached out to the Atswuara, a nearby, equally hostile tribe, experiencing divine protection during perilous times. Their journey inspired many as they opened schools, taught reading, and baptized new believers, leaving a legacy of conversion and transformation until they retired after 37 years of service in Ecuador.

Highlights

Frank and Marie Drown felt a divine calling to serve as missionaries after meeting in Bible college ✨.
They ventured into the Ecuadorian jungles to live among the deeply superstitious Hebero tribe 🌿.
Frank and Marie faced significant cultural barriers, including the tribe's belief in spirit worship and revenge killings 🗿.
Frank's diplomatic approach and faith led to miraculous survival during a tense encounter with the Atswuara tribe 🌱.
The Drowns' unwavering dedication over 37 years led to significant missionary achievements, including schooling and baptisms 📖.

Key Takeaways

Frank and Marie Drown became missionaries in Ecuador among the Hebero tribe, showcasing devotion and courage in spreading Christianity 🙌.
The Hebero, known as the Shuar, practiced revenge killing and idol worship, which posed significant dangers for missionaries ⛔️.
Despite the risks, Frank and Marie built relationships, taught in schools, and baptized the first native believers 🙏.
Frank's encounter with the hostile Atswuara tribe highlighted miraculous protection, encouraging continued outreach efforts 🌟.
The Drowns left a legacy of faith, inspiration, and transformation in a remote corner of the world, dedicating 37 years to their mission 🌎.

Overview

Upon meeting at Bible college, Frank and Marie Drown believed they were destined for missionary work. Married in 1944, they embarked on a life-changing journey to Ecuador, where they dedicated themselves to living among and evangelizing the Hebero Indians, also known as the Shuar. The Drowns bravely navigated the challenges of communicating with a tribe that lived in fear of evil spirits, seeking to replace destructive beliefs with a message of hope and love.

Throughout their time with the Hebero, Frank and Marie experienced the complexities of tribal life, particularly the deeply ingrained customs of revenge killings and ancestral idol worship. Despite these hurdles, they managed to cultivate trust and introduce the tribe to Christian teachings. Their mission expanded as they tried to make contact with the equally aloof Atswuara tribe. During one memorable incident, Frank and his partner narrowly escaped death, an experience that fortified their resolve.

The legacy of Frank and Marie Drown in Ecuador is noteworthy not only for their courage but also for the enduring impact of their work. They succeeded in educating the local children, contextualizing the Christian gospel, and witnessing the powerful transformation of new converts. Over 37 years, they laid the groundwork for a lasting Christian community, no easy feat in such a remote and resistant area. Their story is a testament to perseverance, faith, and the transformative power of missionary work.

Chapters

00:00 - 00:30: Introduction of Frank and Marie Drown The chapter introduces Frank and Marie Drown, who met at a Bible college. Marie was from Michigan, and Frank was from Iowa. Both shared a calling to become missionaries, and they married in 1944. This sets the stage for their journey and work as missionaries.
00:30 - 03:00: Beginning of Mission in Ecuador The chapter titled 'Beginning of Mission in Ecuador' discusses the genealogical background of a group of missionaries who embarked on a mission to work with the Hebreo Indians. The narrative prompts readers to recall the country in South America where the Hebreo Indians are located.
03:00 - 06:00: Cultural Challenges and School Establishment In the chapter titled 'Cultural Challenges and School Establishment,' the focus is on Frank and Marie Drown who are in Ecuador. The visual aids include pictures of the Drowns and a group referred to as the Hevero, also known as the Shuar Indians. The narrative begins by recounting the experiences and knowledge Frank and Marie gained about the Shuar Indians before their arrival. The chapter sets the stage for exploring the cultural challenges faced by the Drowns in their interactions with the Shuar Indians and their efforts towards the establishment of a school in the community.
06:00 - 12:00: Chevia's Dilemma and Hivaro's Traditions The chapter 'Chevia's Dilemma and Hivaro's Traditions' explores the cultural and religious beliefs of a group of indigenous people referred to as "Indians". It discusses the challenges faced by missionaries attempting to convey the concept of a 'one true God' to this community, which lacks an equivalent word or concept for 'God' within their language and belief system.
12:00 - 18:00: Venture to Oshwa Territory The chapter 'Venture to Oshwa Territory' explores the religious beliefs and practices of the people in Oshwa Territory. They worshipped evil spirits, praying to them for healing, as they were unaware of the concept of a singular true God. Their greatest fear centered around death, due to their belief in an eternal place of punishment after death. This belief system lacked the notions of heaven, God, and forgiveness for sins. Their society was deeply influenced by these spiritual and religious beliefs.
18:00 - 24:00: Frank and Keith's Attempt to Meet Oshawas The chapter describes the violent and vengeful culture of a group of people who believe in revenge killings. They think that any death, whether from sickness or accident, is the result of a curse and requires retaliation by killing someone else. Therefore, continuous killings and wars are a part of their life. In the midst of this, Frank and Marie make a journey to Ecuador.
24:00 - 33:00: First Encounter with the Oshwaras This chapter describes the initial encounter with the Hebro people at a place called Makuma, where the visitors stayed at a mission station. There was a village nearby where the Hebros lived. The Hebros resided in large communal houses with pointed tops, constructed using bamboo, jungle leaves, and vines, accommodating multiple families within one structure.
33:00 - 42:00: Ongoing Efforts and Challenges The chapter, 'Ongoing Efforts and Challenges,' outlines the experiences of missionaries living among the Hebero Indians. Frank and Marie, along with another couple, Ernest and Gene Johnson, are depicted as the sole missionaries within thousands of miles. Frank undertakes the construction of a house for himself and Marie, utilizing bamboo poles for the structure. The chapter illustrates the isolation and dedication of these missionaries in their remote environment.
42:00 - 51:00: Oshwaran Chief's Interest in Christianity The chapter titled "Oshwaran Chief's Interest in Christianity" revolves around a scene where Frank and Marie are living in a village. Despite the house not being Marie's ideal first house, they adapt to their surroundings. During their time in the village, they often notice they are being watched by the locals, particularly the Hebero Indians. Marie feels uneasy about this constant observation, but Frank reassures her by explaining that the local people are merely curious about what they are doing. This chapter highlights the cultural tensions and curiosity that arise as Frank and Marie become part of the village community, suggesting a possible interest from the natives in the new influences, possibly including Christianity, that Frank and Marie represent.
51:00 - 60:00: Witnessing Change Among the Oshawas This chapter titled 'Witnessing Change Among the Oshawas' describes how the Oshawas were observed by others, both day and night. People would look through windows or find cracks in the walls to watch them, which implies a constant sense of being watched. However, this situation evolves as they, over time, begin to understand and get to know the Hebrew Indians better, suggesting a shift from observation to understanding and possibly a change in relationships.
60:00 - 72:00: Conversion of Paquish and Influence on Heberos The chapter explores the initial impressions of Paquish by outsiders, particularly Marie and Frank, and delves into the complexities of their culture. At first, the Paquish people appear friendly and childlike. However, as Marie and Frank grow closer to them, they uncover darker aspects of Paquish society, such as alcoholism, domestic abuse, and even murder. Despite these harsh realities, it becomes apparent that the Hebrew community's lack of knowledge about Paquish customs, including their different hygiene standards, also played a role in the cultural misunderstandings.
72:00 - 80:00: Frank and Marie's Legacy and Continued Influence Frank and Marie were focused on their mission to share their religious beliefs and were not deterred by the lack of hygiene of the people they were preaching to. The locals did not use soap unless they had a skin disease, resulting in strong odors such as sweat, smoke, or rotten food. Instead of washing their clothes, they would dye them darker to disguise stains. Despite these challenges, Frank and Marie were dedicated to their cause.

Surrounded by Headhunters Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 all right well this morning in the sunday school time we started a story and we were talking about frank and marie drown frank and marie drown met at bible college she was from michigan and he was from does anybody remember what state he was from yes iowa that's right and they both knew that god called them to be missionaries they were married in 1944 so he said that was kind of like
00:30 - 01:00 the great grandparents of these kids that the age that they would be and then after they had prepared to be missionaries they found out about a group of people called the hebero indians do you remember what country in south america the hebrew indians lived in does anybody remember what country that is
01:00 - 01:30 yes that's right in ecuador and this is frank and marie drown can you see their picture up there and then this is a picture of the hevero and a hebrew indian and their other name is shuar indians now we talked about some things that frank and marie learned about those indians before they went do you remember anything about them what's something that
01:30 - 02:00 was about those indians what were they like or what did they believe do you remember yes what's that in idols they didn't worship the one true god did they what did you have they didn't have the word god in their language so if you're a missionary and you're going to go teach them about the one true god how would you tell them about god if they didn't have that in their language yes
02:00 - 02:30 they worshipped evil spirits and they would pray to them they would ask them for healing but they did not know the one true god and their greatest fear was to die they believed that once you died you went to a terrible place of punishment forever and ever but they didn't know about heaven they didn't know about god and how they could be forgiven of their sins they also were a very
02:30 - 03:00 vicious people weren't they they would murder they believed that if anybody died whether it was from sickness or an accident that it was on purpose and they would revenge kill they would kill someone else every time somebody would die they would ask the evil spirits who had cursed the person and then they would go and kill them so there was always killing and always war well frank and marie finally went down to ecuador to
03:00 - 03:30 live with the hebero people and when they got there they lived on a mission station at a place called makuma but there was a village of the heberos nearby and they lived in these big kind of houses you can see there it has a pointed top and it is made with bamboo and jungle leaves and vines and they would build these houses and then a whole bunch of people would live in one house
03:30 - 04:00 well the missionaries lived in a little place just apart from the hebero indians frank and marie went down and they joined one other couple named ernest and gene johnson and those two couples were the only missionaries for thousands of miles living in the hebrew road test territory well when they were there frank built a house for he and marie and when he built it the bamboo poles
04:00 - 04:30 wouldn't always stick together really good and there were cracks in it and one day they were studying and marie whispered they're watching us again what do i do and frank said just smile and keep working they just they're curious they want to see what we're doing well while frank and marie lived in that house it wasn't quite the house that marie thought that she would like for her first house in the village whenever the hebero indians would come by
04:30 - 05:00 they would look in the window and they would watch them or if they couldn't see them real good they would go around and they'd look for a crack in the wall and then they'd peek at him and this happened day and night even at nighttime sometimes they'd see beady eyes peeking at him from outside that would be hard wouldn't it to always know somebody was watching you well as they got to know the hebrew indians they learned some different
05:00 - 05:30 things about them they seemed really nice in fact they seemed like children they seemed very friendly but as they got to know them they found out that they liked to drink and get drunk and the men would beat their wives and they were murderers and then they had habits that were kind of hard for marie and frank to get used to the hebrews didn't know any better but they didn't wash and so they always
05:30 - 06:00 smelled sweaty or smelled like smoke or smelled like rotten food and they thought that soap was only a medicine that you used if you had a skin disease so they wouldn't use soap and if their clothes got stained they would just dye them a real dark color to try to cover up the stains but they wouldn't wash their clothes but none of that bothered frank and marie because they were there to tell the people about the lord jesus and even if they were going to peek at him in their through the cracks at night
06:00 - 06:30 or during the day they were still going to show them god's love and help them to know the lord well one of the the things that the missionaries did was they built a school there on the center so that they could invite the hebrew boys especially to come and learn about jesus and so when they built this school now i don't know if this is the first school they had but this is what it looked like they would have the boys come and the fathers weren't quite excited about having their sons come to school but
06:30 - 07:00 finally they got 15 boys to come and they would teach them reading and writing but they'd also teach them about the lord well the boys were pretty smart and they learned quickly but then they would still go back to their old ways and most of all if it was a really nice day out the boys wanted to go hunting and fishing and they might skip school or just leave right in the middle of school to go and do the hunting and fishing the things that they wanted to
07:00 - 07:30 do maybe some of you have had that thought before when you were in school thought about that but as they were doing this part of their school learning was supposed to be that they would work on the runway after school to clear it of weeds so that airplanes could land they had a missionary plane that would come in it would bring supplies and medicine and mail and so they had to keep that runway clear and that was the school boy's job
07:30 - 08:00 but sometimes if it was a really nice day out they wouldn't show up for the work just frank and ernest would be the ones out there working hard to clear the airstrip well one day they were clearing it when frank said listen i hear something and ernest stopped his work and he listened to and he said sounds like somebody's coming and sure enough it was one of their school boys named chevia and cheviot came out of the jungle under
08:00 - 08:30 the airstrip and his school clothes which had been brand new given to him were all torn and muddy and frank said chivia what did you do your clothes are a mess and ernest was even kind of mad he said what did you do to your clothes and chivia looked down and he saw the mud on his clothes and he tried to brush it off they were his clothes were torn and finally he just stood there and he went and he smiled real big well he had a tooth missing because he had had a fight
08:30 - 09:00 that knocked it out and when he smiled like that even though he was a teenager he looked like a little boy and frank and ernest looked at him and they just started laughing and they both shrugged too and then they frank went over to chibi and he put his hand on his shoulder and the only place clean that he could find on his shirt and he said chivia what can we do for you we're already doing your work we're already clearing the runway when you're supposed to be here so what can we do for you today and chibi i look kind of
09:00 - 09:30 nervous and he said well it looks like a really nice day to go monkey hunting can i buy some gun powder from you and ernest decided to have a little bit of fun with chivia he said monkey hunting hey frank it's been a long time since we've had monkey meat wouldn't that be great if we let chivia go and get some monkey meat for us and then frank said you know chivia hasn't been helping very good on this airstrip maybe if he ate some monkey meat it would make him want to
09:30 - 10:00 work again and he'd be strong and so they were laughing and teasing him and finally ernest said yes let's give him some gun powder and so frank took him to the hut and they gave him the gun powder that he wanted and chivia left well chivia didn't come to school the next day and then he didn't come to school the next day or the next day and nobody knew where he was and while the teachers were sitting in there in the school with the kids with
10:00 - 10:30 the boys all of a sudden there was a terrible scream in the jungle and somebody was yelling and frank didn't know what that meant and he looked at gene johnson and he said what are they saying and she said they're saying men have killed and ernest got up and he ran outside to find out what had happened and that evening he came to frank and marie's house and he told them the story
10:30 - 11:00 chivia had not gone monkey hunting chevia had joined his uncle to kill someone you see his uncle had given his oldest daughter to marry a witch doctor and a witch doctor was someone who helped them to worship the evil spirits and when they got married after a few days the wife got sick and she died well according to their custom chivia's uncle thought that the witch
11:00 - 11:30 doctor had cursed her and killed her and so now they wanted to kill him to pay him back for that and so the uncle had asked chivia to join him in that and he had said if chivia did he would let him marry his youngest daughter and chevia took the gun powder and that's what they used it for so they went chivia didn't come back to the village and when marie heard this story she was brokenhearted she said chibi has been sitting in our classes he's been singing
11:30 - 12:00 all the songs about jesus and he has been acting like that he had believed in jesus but you know chivia had always already just been pretending that he believed in jesus he hadn't really done it and it was so discouraging marie said when is this going to stop maybe we need to do something maybe we need to call in the army but you know they couldn't call in anybody to arrest all of the hebrew people could they it was their customs it was the way that
12:00 - 12:30 they lived and marie said well where is chivia now and they said well he and his uncle are hiding because now guess what they have to be afraid of someone coming to kill them and so it just never ended in fact as they were talking about it they they knew that only god could change the hearts of those people only god could be the one who would help them to be able to forgive and to love one another
12:30 - 13:00 and so frank and marie and ernest and gene took time that night just to pray together for those people that god would rescue them from the way that they were living and that he would help them to understand the word of god and that their hearts would be changed well then as they were talking about that as they were praying about that one day when ernest and frank were out working on the airstrip again frank hit a piece of pottery in the
13:00 - 13:30 ground and he pulled it up and he held it out to earnest and he said what is this and they brushed it off and ernest said well this looks like some otswana pottery and one of the hebro indians came up and he said it is it is otswana pottery and frank didn't know anything about those people well come to find out years ago when the white men moved into the area they moved in and they made the hebero
13:30 - 14:00 leave and move off of their land well then the hebrew moved and they had to go and find a place to live so they came to where the botswana lived and they moved them off their land they had a fight and the atsuanas went down river and they moved into the jungle deeper in the jungle and so frank was asking about them and the hebrew boy said never would anybody go near them because they would kill whoever came near them near their village and frank said but jesus died for the
14:00 - 14:30 otswana people too they need to hear about him well when he said that the hebrew man took off running because he was afraid frank was going to ask him to join him and to lead him to botswana people and he didn't want to go near them at all and so as frank was talking to ernest he said is there a way we can go to the botswana people and ernest said i don't know if we can right away i don't know how we can get there
14:30 - 15:00 and frank said someday someday we've got to go tell those people about jesus too come back tomorrow night and let's find out if he gets to go to the otswana people does anybody remember the man's name and the woman's name the missionary couple remember the man's name yes that's right frank frank and his wife
15:00 - 15:30 marie very good frank and marie drown and they are missionaries to the hivarro indians who live in what country shouted out if you know remember the country that they go to that's right ecuador and frank and marie joined ernest and gene johnson ernest and gene were the first ones to go to the hivarro indians and frank and marie
15:30 - 16:00 were the second ones and together those four people were the only ones who worked with the hebrew indians for for a long time and they were the only ones within thousands of miles of anybody else so four people trying to reach those people this is a another picture of frank with a hevero indian and as they worked with those they would they had an airstrip remember
16:00 - 16:30 they were cleaning the airstrip trying to keep the weeds off of that so that the plant missionary plane could come in sometimes and bring supplies and medicine and bring mail and one day we started this part last night but one day when they were cleaning that airstrip they found something in the ground do you remember what that was that's right pottery they found a piece of pottery and earnest cleaned it off and they knew that it was from the otshara tribe
16:30 - 17:00 and the hebrews told them that many years ago when the white men came they chased the hebrew rose out of their land and so the hebrews came and fought the atshwaras and chased them out of their land and now the odd swallowers lived down the river many days away and they lived in the jungle living like wild animals they were very ferocious people too and no one had ever told them about the lord jesus
17:00 - 17:30 we ended yesterday with talking about how frank wanted to go to those people too because jesus died for them as well didn't he and frank said someday someday we need to go to up to the others well it was several years that frank prayed for those people and prayed that somehow he'd be able to go and in that time ernest and gene moved away they left the macoma and so it just left frank and marie and then a new couple
17:30 - 18:00 moved in to help them with the hebrew indians and that new couple were keith and doris austin and they came to work there and when they did frank told keith about the achara indians and how he wanted to go to see them when frank heard about them he got excited too and he said we've got to go so together they started praying and finally the day came when they were going to go try to find the otswara indians
18:00 - 18:30 now in that time they had convinced five hebrew men to go with them now the way that they were able to do that is the hebrew indians lived up in one area and then down the river little ways there was a place called no man's land and the hebrew rose would go to no man's land safely but also the otsuaras would go to no man's land safely and then below the no man's land there was the
18:30 - 19:00 otsura villages and so the five hebrew romans said they would only go to no man's land they would take frank and keith down that far well they packed up they packed clothes they packed food they packed bedding and they took gifts now their gifts were cloth and knives to give to the indians to try to build a friendship with them they put all the supplies on a big raft
19:00 - 19:30 and three of the hebero indians rode on that raft and then frank and keith and two hebrew indians rode behind them in a dugout canoe and they started down the makuma river and as they were going they were real smooth places that they could ride and then all of a sudden they would hit white water rapids and they'd have to hang on to everything and they would maneuver all of that and for days they traveled day after day
19:30 - 20:00 going down that river it was long long journeys that they had to take and they kept going they would stop along the river every night when they stopped they would build a campfire they ate beans and rice and the hebrew indians would gather up leaves that they could cover themselves with to sleep well can you imagine sleeping under leaves instead of a nice soft blanket and then sometimes when they sat around the campfire the heaven rose would tell them stories
20:00 - 20:30 about the acharas and this one night a man named nianta told a story that about a time when they went to the atsuarez village he said that many years ago he had a friend named named kanani who had four of his family members get killed by the ashwaras and kanani had gotten all of the men together in his village and he brought
20:30 - 21:00 them to the big hut and they went in and inside there was no one but four mounds of dirt and those were the graves of the four men who had been killed four he were rose killed by the atsuaras and nyanti shared that they got so upset when they saw those four mounds of dirt and they were mad and they were screaming and they ran around to all the other huts in the village and they gathered up 100
21:00 - 21:30 hebrew men to go to the achuaras and kill because of the four hebrews that had been killed now in that group of a hundred men three of the men were witch doctors you remember the witch doctors would help them to worship the evil spirits because they didn't worship the one true god and so they figured out what man it was that had killed those four men and they started down
21:30 - 22:00 the river to go find a man named chipi ara and they traveled and they kept looking for a hut they would travel through the day and they didn't know exactly where he lived and they traveled and finally early one morning they came to a hut and they surrounded it out in the jungle and they were real quiet and all of a sudden a rooster crowd and they all jumped and they were scared and then the dogs started barking and they heard inside of the hut
22:00 - 22:30 a man yelling saying our enemies have come they've come to kill me because see he knew he had killed someone else and he had to be afraid of for his own life well the hebrew rose who are surrounding him were scared now because if he knew they were there who would win the battle and so they quietly listened and waited and then they heard bullets be being put into a gun and then they were really frightened they waited and they waited till almost
22:30 - 23:00 the middle of the day and then this man came out of his hut and the heberos won they shot him and they killed him and that was the story that niante told the missionaries and he told a lot more things that they did when they were on that war path that frank and keith when they heard it when they heard how angry these men were and how unforgiving and how they would go and kill others frank and keith were really sad and they
23:00 - 23:30 thought will they never ever believe in jesus and their hearts be changed will they always be like this and that night as they laid down after hearing that story they just prayed that god would please soften the hearts of those people and change them that they wouldn't be like that well finally as after several days more going down the river they came to no man's land and in that area there was a trading post and there was a man there who ran the trading post
23:30 - 24:00 called tana isha and he was a friend to both the heberos and the ashwa ashwaras it's hard to say that word he was a friend to both of them because he wanted to sell them things so both of them trusted him they knew that they could come there and buy things and he wouldn't turn against them well frank and keith told him that they wanted to meet in otswara they wanted to tell him about the great
24:00 - 24:30 creator god who made us and they wanted to show him his book and tanayisha said oh you've come at a terrible time these people the swaras have been warring and fighting among themselves it would be very dangerous right now to go see them well frank and keith had come all this way after all those days of travel they didn't want to give up and so they just stayed there at the trading post for many days and during that time there were different heroes who would come in
24:30 - 25:00 and buy things and they would talk to them they were people who they'd never met before and they would tell them about jesus but finally one day there was a hebrew man who came in who had married an otshwara woman and frank and keith were really excited because that was a way for them to meet the acharas and so they talked to that man and they said would you take us to the achara village
25:00 - 25:30 and would you introduce us to an ashwara man and he said i will take you to my wife's brother well the five hebrew rose who had traveled down the river with them when they heard of that plan they were scared and they all left they ran back to up the river to their villages they were not going to the acharas at all well frank and keith went with that man they got in their dugout canoe and that
25:30 - 26:00 man led them in his and they went down the river it took six hours more down the river to get to the otsura territory and then all of a sudden he said put your canoe over there and they were wondering why they were pulling off why they were putting their canoe into the trees and then they saw a little path and so they knew that this must be the place to go to that man's hut
26:00 - 26:30 and then this guide got out and he quietly led them down the path so it was the guide and frank and keith and when they came near that hut they saw a hut there the guide said you stay here and he before he could even step away there was a yell and it said don't come any further no white men and no heveros can come here well frank and keith were pretty nervous but then that guide just pointed to him
26:30 - 27:00 and said it'll be okay and he went quietly over to the hut and he went inside well frank and keith felt very uncomfortable out there because there could be indians hiding in the leaves in the trees they could get shot at any time and frank said you know i'd feel a lot more comfortable in that hut than outside the hut and keith said me too so they decided to go ahead and walk down and go into the
27:00 - 27:30 hut so they quietly walked down there and they went in and there were a bunch of women and children in there and one young athwara man and their guide and it was deathly quiet inside that hut no one was saying anything and when the guide saw them he just pointed for them to sit down and they sat down quietly and the guide told the people he said sin for timos that was the name of his brother-in-law sin for timos and tell him these men are his friends they have
27:30 - 28:00 gifts for him have him come and bring all of his friends so that they can hear about the great creator and see his book well one of the women left and she was gone quite a while and then she came back and she whispered in the ear of that otshwara young man and then he said timos says you must go or he will kill you and frank and keith were about ready to get up and leave because they didn't want to be in danger and the guides
28:00 - 28:30 pointed for them to sit back down and he said no you go tell him they want to be our friends they are good they are safe it's okay and finally she went out again and she took the message to timas and then she came back and the message was if you don't leave now i'm coming in and killing all of you well a bunch of people ran out of that hut real fast into the jungle because they didn't want to be there when timos got mad
28:30 - 29:00 and frank and keith stood up and they thought we need to leave and so they quietly went out with their guide and as they were walking away from the hut they knew that they shouldn't run and they knew they shouldn't look back they needed to act like they were friends and not like they were afraid so they just walked very calmly down the path and went to their canoe when they got to their canoes safely they were so relieved and they said i
29:00 - 29:30 was really scared that we weren't going to make it well one year later frank heard what else was happening that day you see teemos was hiding in those trees and timos told this to someone who then told frank and when he was hiding in those trees and he saw them leave his hut he had decided to kill the last man in the line and he said that first keith walked past him
29:30 - 30:00 and then the guide walked past him and who did that leave frank frank was the third in line and timos had his gun pulled up and aimed at frank's head and he was getting ready to pull the trigger when all of a sudden his arm just went weak and his finger wouldn't work and he couldn't do anything who protected frank god did god protected him when frank
30:00 - 30:30 heard that story he said i know god wants us to go to the others he protected me because he wants those people to hear about him we've got to go we've got to find a way to go back and to reach those people and come back tomorrow night and we'll find out how they did that we have been talking about frank and marie drown serving in the country of ecuador reaching the heaven row indians
30:30 - 31:00 and i wanted to show you a picture of how the missionaries would talk to each other that from their different missions you see that big black box over on the right hand side and then you see the microphone coming down that would be a radio and they would use the radio to contact the other missionaries even 50 60 100 miles away they would talk to them they didn't have phones they had no way to call anyone the only
31:00 - 31:30 way they could do it was by talking by radio well it had been several years since frank had heard any more about the otsuwa swara indians remember timos had chased him off and had said that they couldn't come back he wanted them away or he was going to kill them well they waited and waited for the right time and one day they got a radio message that said frank
31:30 - 32:00 drowned we need you to come talk on the radio and so somebody came and they got frank and he went to the radio and they said we have someone very important here who needs to talk to you and frank said well who is it who is it and they said we'll let him tell you himself. and so frank listened and on the radio there was a voice that said pancho and panchoo was frank's indian name that's what they called him instead of frank they'd call him poncho
32:00 - 32:30 and he didn't recognize the voice and it didn't sound like a hebrew voice and then the man said again pancho i am chief santiago i am the chief of the at suarez and i want you to come visit us and you can stay at my house we have heard about you wow wasn't that an answer to frank's prayers he had been wanting to get with
32:30 - 33:00 the otsuoar people for a long time and now they've just contacted him out of the blue they didn't even he didn't even expect that well there was a man named roger euderian who had worked with frank and marie with the hebrew indians for a year and then he had moved deeper into the jungle with his wife and he had met this chief and so he told the chief if you want frank to come you need to go and meet him and walk him
33:00 - 33:30 in the jungle to your place so that the other otswara indians won't try to kill him and so they made a plan and frank and some other missionaries got everything together and they went to meet this chief and when they met him he was quite a sight he was a tall man he didn't have a shirt on but he had what they called an etp that was a a skirt went from his waist down to his
33:30 - 34:00 ankles he had that on and he had black bangs and he had a ponytail down the back and then he had ponytails kind of on the side here with his with his hair and he had two canned bird feathers stuck in his hair well he smiled really nice and he looked friendly and frank was so excited to meet him and then they followed this chief to his house and they had to go for hours
34:00 - 34:30 through the village i mean through the jungle they walked they had to crawl over fallen trees go through mud holes go through water and finally they came to a place where there was a hut and it was the biggest indian house that frank had ever seen it was 40 feet by 90 feet i think about the size of our gym made out of bamboo and leaves wouldn't that be huge they
34:30 - 35:00 had a whole bunch of people who lived in those huts and when they got there frank was so excited because there were lots of atswara people there and they wanted to hear about god so he sat down with them and i don't know if this is them or not but this is frank teaching some people so it would have looked like this he sat down with him and he started reading to them from god's book he taught them songs
35:00 - 35:30 and he taught them about god who created the heavens and the earth created all of the animals and then he told them about adam and eve and how that they had disobeyed god and because they did all of us have ever since even the otsura indians had sinned had done things against god then he told them about god's love and how that god sent jesus to take the punishment for their sins well the people started getting restless
35:30 - 36:00 when he talked about that but then when he mentioned heaven they all got very quiet do you remember that they believed that when you died you went to a place of punishment forever and they'd never had any hope of anything else but now they were hearing that they could live forever in a wonderful place and they listened and they loved hearing about heaven well frank taught every morning every noon
36:00 - 36:30 and every evening but after he would teach the chief would come up and he would say i have never heard such wonderful words tell him again and frank would say him again and as he was losing his voice he had to tell the same story over and over so much but the people loved hearing him talk about the word of god and the chief loved hearing those words well before it was time for frank and
36:30 - 37:00 his other missionaries to go back to their village the chief wanted to show them all of his land so he took them on a walk and when he was showing them this one place there was a clearing frank looked at that clearing and it was really long and it was wide and he thought this would be a perfect place to land an airplane and he started telling the chief about it he said if if we could get this all cleared then we could bring a missionary plan
37:00 - 37:30 and i could come visit you more often and share with you more about the words of god and the chief got excited and he said yes he would like to do that so they started measuring it and marking it off they took some sticks and frank put the sticks in to show the chief where they needed to make the runway and declare it and the plan was that the next time that frank came back he would come in an airplane and they would be able to land and he could visit the chief the chief was excited and frank left and
37:30 - 38:00 everything was going very well he was so excited to get home and tell marie about this trip and about the oshawa people listening to the word of god well after he got home he was making plans to go back when the hebrew rose and the otshwara people started having a war and so it wasn't safe for frank to go back and he had to wait and wait it just seemed like it was always hard for him to get
38:00 - 38:30 to be able to be with those people finally it seemed like the war was slowing down and he decided he was going to go back and he got an a missionary pilot who would fly him in and so they got the airplane and he had promised the chief that when he came back he'd bring a doctor who could check all of them and help them to be healthier so the doctor came with them and they flew into the jungle and they came to the
38:30 - 39:00 place where the chief lived and they flew down low over the airstrips so that they could check it out and see if it would be safe to land well when they did the airplane motor kind of gave a what they call a backfire like a gunshot sound boom came out of the airplane and then they just went up and they came back around and then saw that it was safe to land and they landed well when they landed frank opened the door to get out
39:00 - 39:30 and he noticed that it was really quiet and there was no one around to meet them and he wondered what had happened and so he told the pilot and all the men in there he said i'm going to walk to the chief's hut and i'm going to see if i can make contact with him but if anything seems wrong you take off and you get out of here so he started walking and when he started walking towards the hut there came out the chief
39:30 - 40:00 in the middle and then he had two soldiers beside him and he started yelling at frank and he said get out get away go away and i couldn't figure out why what had happened since he had been there and he had a hat on so he took his hat off thinking maybe they didn't recognize him he started walking closer and they started yelling no leave get out well frank had just had five missionary friends die trying to reach
40:00 - 40:30 another set of indians and frank thought if they could die for the lord reaching them i'm willing to die too and he just kept walking very brave he wanted those people to know about jesus and so he walked and he walked and he said we want to be your friends we brought a doctor and he said that the chief got a little bit kinder because he couldn't believe that they got a doctor but then the
40:30 - 41:00 chief said then why did you shoot at us from the sky what did they heard they'd heard that backfire that boom from the airplane motor and they thought that they were shooting at them from the airplane well frank was able to explain to them what that noise was and they came to be friends said do you want to see the airplane and he brought him over after they saw the doctor and everybody then they're friendly again
41:00 - 41:30 and the chief said after frank started teaching the bible again morning noon and evening and the chief said i will never ever be mean at you again everything will be fine after that frank and some others would fly in often and here's actually a picture i think of that chief with frank another time when they flew in the chief said i want to be one of god's people i'm going to act like that
41:30 - 42:00 we're not going to kill anymore because god's book says do not kill so the other day we went on a raid to kill someone but we didn't kill them we just captured all their women and brought them back and frank's wanted to laugh and cry at the same time because he thought well they didn't kill anyone and that's good but they weren't learning yet that all sin is bad that they shouldn't be that other part too so first the chief
42:00 - 42:30 wanted to listen to god's word and he liked listening to it now he's trying to act good but then another time when frank came the chief said there are many men going to come try to kill me and your god protects people so i want you to pray ask god for protection for me well frank wasn't sure about that you know because the chief hadn't believed in jesus yet but he thought i'm going to pray with him and i'm going to pray for protection
42:30 - 43:00 the next time frank came the chief said your god answered your prayers the men were coming to attack me and they came towards me and then they just stopped for no reason and turned around and went away well frank kept teaching him the word of god and then one night when frank was sleeping in that big hut with the chief and all the other people there as he was sleeping there or starting to
43:00 - 43:30 there was a touch on his arm and the chief came to him and the chief said i want to bow the knee i want to ask god forgive me for all of the evil things i've done i like that that he said he wanted to bow the knee that meant that he was willing to give his life jesus and so right there in that hut frank bowed with the chief and the chief prayed
43:30 - 44:00 and he asked the lord to forgive him of all the things he'd ever done he wanted to be belong to god now well while that chief was praying frank heard two other men praying too and then once they were done women were all excited they were all happy because their men had the knee to god their men had given their lives to god and they were so excited because they knew that would change their hearts
44:00 - 44:30 well after that the chief became a missionary he started telling all the otsuras about god about jesus and how they could have peace with god god had changed his life but up until this point no heber rose had believed in jesus yet none of them had listened to the word of god or given their hearts to the lord what would happen if the atsuaras and the hebrew hebrews had another war
44:30 - 45:00 would they attack each other or would they try to have peace and would any hebrews believe jesus will come back tomorrow and we'll find out all right we've been talking about a husband and wife who have been serving in a country in south america to reach the hebrew indians can you call out the name of the heaven just shout it out
45:00 - 45:30 frank very good and what's the name of the wife marie frank and marie and they are in what country they served in what country anybody remember somebody shouted it out last night uh-huh ecuador that is right they served in ecuador to reach the hebrew indians now frank loved sharing with the hebrews and with the otsura indians the word of god and i thought this was a neat
45:30 - 46:00 picture of him sharing with them what god's word says they called it god's book that he would share with them from the first day we talked about how they had a school for boys so that they could teach them how to read and write and then how that they could learn the bible and songs there and for several years they only had the boys coming to the school but then they decided to open the school up to girls now in all of this time
46:00 - 46:30 there has still not been one hebrew person who has believed in jesus as savior and they've been there many years wanting them to trust in jesus to be forgiven of their sins and it hasn't happened yet so they opened up the school to girls and there was a little girl named paquish who wanted to go to school really bad she was 12 years old and she talked to her mom and she said
46:30 - 47:00 please let me go to that school now her brothers had been going and she had heard them talk about the one true god and she had heard them say things about how that he was more powerful than evil spirits and she wanted to know more about that it sounded so wonderful to know a good and kind god well her mother said no you are soon to be married she's only 12 years old you're soon to be married and you need
47:00 - 47:30 to learn how to cook and raise food in the garden and how to take care of your husband it will make you lazy to go to school and you don't need to learn to read and write anyway well paquish went out to get more firewood and she was so discouraged she didn't want to get married why she saw her mom and her mom and dad weren't happy how could she be happy being married and she begged and begged that she might be able to go to school well frank and marie never knew why it
47:30 - 48:00 happened but she was allowed to go to school it might be because they gave the kids new clothes when they came to school or it might be that her parents didn't want to feed her all the time and the school would so she moved into the school they she would go live at the village where frank and marie were and then sometimes she would go home and she loved the school she learned to read and write and on one saturday she went home
48:00 - 48:30 and she told her mom about what she'd been learning at school she said we sing happy songs she said when the witch doctor sings and chants he's singing songs about the evil spirits and when the men sing they're singing about killing people and when the women cry when somebody's sad they're crying terrible songs she said at school we sing happy songs and mother you need to learn these happy songs and she would try to sing those to her mother and then her mother would say
48:30 - 49:00 see it's just made you lazy you're not even doing your work here and paquish just wanted her mom to know more about what she was learning at school well it wasn't long before paquish and four other teenagers at the school believed in jesus to save them from their sins they were the first he heberos who had believed in jesus can you imagine frank and marie being so excited that that had happened finally after all these years
49:00 - 49:30 and so after they believed they taught pachesh and the others how that they needed to be brave and stand strong for the lord they needed to obey him and to do things that pleased him and one thing they should do is be baptized now they had never heard of anything like that and so when they set the date for those five students to be baptized people came from all over to see this very strange thing of dumping people in
49:30 - 50:00 water and so they came and i actually found a picture there is a little girl being baptized by frank i think that might have been pakish and so they had that special ceremony and the people watched and the people were amazed they watched those five young people and they saw them being happy and they weren't afraid to die you remember the people were so afraid to die because they knew they'd be punished forever but these five poche and the others
50:00 - 50:30 weren't afraid to die they seemed happy about knowing god and people were watching them well frank and marie told them that you know even though you believe in jesus and walk with him things won't always be easy and right away things got really hard for paquish it was time for her to get married and she didn't want to get married down the road to her house came the witch doctor of another village
50:30 - 51:00 and a guy named t who was the one she was supposed to marry and he was being trained to be a witch doctor but paquish belonged to jesus now and she knew that she couldn't have any part in things that have to do with witch doctors she couldn't marry someone who worshipped evil spirits and when her father came or when they came they sat down with her father and the first part of the ceremony was that she had to make food and walk it out and hand it to tea to start the wedding
51:00 - 51:30 ceremony well she came out with the food and she was scared she didn't want to get married to him and when she got there ready to hand the food to him she handed it to her father and she said i can't do it i can't do it and her father said you will do it and he handed back the food and she said i can't and then her father started beating her in front of t and his father to try to get her to marry tea and so when he did that
51:30 - 52:00 paquish ran off into the jungle and for three days nobody could find her and then finally she came to frank and marie's house early one morning banging on the door saying please help me and they heard the story and they took her in and they fed her and took care of her and then her father came to try to find her he'd been looking for her and he came he started yelling send her out send my daughter out she's got to marry t and frank and marie said we will not we
52:00 - 52:30 want to protect her well later in the afternoon her mom came and was acting real nice and she asked to talk to paquish and so frank and marie let her and then they started walking down the path and out from the jungle jumped her father and he grabbed paquish and he started down the road with her took her in a canoe and then took her to mary tea and when they got near t's house she wiggled away from her dad again and she
52:30 - 53:00 took off running into the jungle and she was gone for three weeks in fact everybody thought that she probably had died died trying to do what was right and pleasing to god well one night frank and marie were with their children and they were sitting there and they were praying for paquish when they heard something funny outside of the hut and they stopped and then marie went and she kind of peeked open the door and there was paqui she was real skinny and she was weak
53:00 - 53:30 and frank ran out and he grabbed her before she fell and he brought her in the house and they fed her they wrapped her up in blankets to keep her warm and then they said paquish you don't have to worry anymore t was so frustrated with you running away from him two times that he decided he doesn't want to marry you at all and that was good news for paquish god had answered her prayers to protect her
53:30 - 54:00 from having to marry someone who didn't know the lord you know paquish was willing to do what was right even if it meant her life and the people saw that and they started watching her and because of paquish many heberos believed in the lord jesus in fact frank started teaching them they came to his to the school and to the buildings to learn more about the lord jesus and many more believed
54:00 - 54:30 in fact there so many believe that frank talked to them about building a house for god we what would we call that a church that's right and so they built a house and they called it god's house and the people thought it was real funny they would tell all their friends you need to come to god's house but nobody lives there and so the people would come to see what's at god's house and they would hear frank teaching the word of god
54:30 - 55:00 and so many more believed in him in jesus and trusted him as their savior well frank and marie were in ecuador for 37 years working with the heber rose and the ots juarez and you can see here i looked up they had five children but i couldn't find any pictures of their children except for that one little boy there living with them in the jungle and then here's some more heaver rose with frank it looks like they've been
55:00 - 55:30 working hard this is another time when they baptized when frank was older than later when they had colored pictures and they could show so there were more that were being baptized and then the heberos once they believed in the lord jesus they started being missionaries to others and sharing the good news so you can see there a hebrew man reading the bible to others and sharing it with them the good news and frank and marie after they lived in
55:30 - 56:00 ecuador for 37 years then they retired they came back to the united states and they lived in kansas city and did you know that there are a lot of people here in the church who know frank drowned or heard him speak he came to berean and he spoke many times sharing the stories about when he was in ecuador isn't that neat but then in 2018 frank went to be with
56:00 - 56:30 jesus at the age of 95 years old and last year marie died and she was 99 years old but they loved being able to reach those who had never been reached with the good news about jesus so what about you you guys are young and you might not know what god has for you someday but would you consider would you think about being someone who would go
56:30 - 57:00 and would share the good news with people who have never heard it before just like frank and marie did they wanted to go where no one else had gone maybe god will call you to do that will you be willing to do that i hope so you can talk to your mom and dad about that if you have that desire well thank you for listening so carefully and you can go back to your parents