fore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The crowd thinned as he con tinued until only the leader'remained. To him, Yen again explained simply the way of salvation. This was only the beginning. A few months later, Dwana was to baptize the first Yami convert. He was the very leader who had threatened to kill him. Today, he is a faithful preacher to his own people in another part of the island. After three years of faithful preach ing, the army called Dwana Yen. It was upon his return to Taiwan that I first heard his story and something of the needs of the Yami tribe. I made it my constant prayer that God would bring this entire tribe to Christ and asked Him to give me the privilege of carrying the Gospel to that island. That prayer was answered in 1958. Orient Crusades missionaries, Wel don Culver and Hans Wilhelm, along with three of our national mssionar- ies, made up our evangelistic party. We traveled on a boat similar to that which Dwana had used, the only dif ference being that we had all the company we needed — and more. On the deck of the small boat were pigs and goats. Eleven people crowded into the four berths. Seventeen people lay across the front hold. Only the pigs and goats seemed unaffected by sea sickness. To get away from it all, Hans and I sat through the long night up in the crow’s nest. The strong wind and heavy seas tossed the boat like a cork and seemed to make the stars roll right out of orbit. The ocean breeze and empty stomachs saved us from succumbing to sickness that had laid everyone else low. As morning broke, we were delight ed to see the half-submerged dwellings of Redhead village directly in front of us. The homes are built in the ground with only the thatched roofs showing, since this is the only way they have of guarding against the fierce Pacific typhoons. Our welcome was quite different from that of Mr. Amen. Christians came out in a little boat to take us ashore. Happy children and many adults gathered around us, chattering in a language we could not under stand. The Chinese Government on Formosa had built schools, and we found that the Yami children could understand our Mandarin language. This made it simple to communicate with them. The adults often failed to understand us and would ask the chil dren what we had said. Continued on page 42
Their unpretentious little church stands as a constant reminder of their deliverance from sin through simple faith in Jesus Christ.
Like women everywhere , these aboriginals love to dress up in brightly colored clothes for special festivals.
APRIL, 1961
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