What a trip it has been! We returned from five weeks in Papua, traveling to eight strategic churches with our national pastor-evangelists. In most places where we went to teach, the Dani people were waiting for us with singing and dancing.

At Mulia, where we began our ministry in 1960, lines of pastors quite unsuccessfully tried to hold back the gathered masses who literally mobbed us to greet us. Old and young tossed green twigs, flowers, and leaves in our path, forcing us to walk on them up to the teaching area where a crowd of several thousand waited. At one location, they even sang and chanted, “Hosanna! Hosanna!”

“That word was reserved for Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem,” I said in rebuke when I stood up to speak. But one of the national pastors quickly clarified, “They are not exalting you. They are sincerely thanking the Lord for the blessings you brought to them in the gospel message some 50 years ago.”

How humbling.

In each location we taught, anywhere from 300 to 6,000 people listened with rapt attention. Even with the sun beating down as they sat on the ground, they gave solid attention during our two- to three-hour sessions, often three times daily. With awe, I looked out upon brothers and sisters drinking in the Word and responding with applause or shouts of “Amen!”

I was further blessed to hear their question at the end of our time.

“Cannot we continue such activity again, even without you?” they asked.

“Certainly, you must,” I replied. Many Danis now have seminary education, and leaders are arising with the gifts of evangelizing, preaching, teaching, and organizing. And I am delighted. That alone made my trip worthwhile.

The Dani people are determined to be the people and the leading culture of positive change among other tribes. It’s not just the value of a few leaders — it’s the value of their entire tribe. I walked away from each place deeply moved by the glow of the gospel. They are intent on standing firm for generations to come.

Thank you for your investment in these people. Heaven will be full of them, so you better start learning some Dani!

Read more from Dave’s trip in “Public Confession of Murder.”

Dave and his wife, Esther, served in Papua for 44 years among the Dani people and witnessed a mass movement of the tribe to Christ in 1961. They now live in the U.S. with occasional trips to visit and teach the Dani believers.