How do you reach a remote people group with the gospel when, unless you are a family relation, it is against the law to speak or meet with them?
This was the reality for an indigenous people group in Ecuador called the Tagaeri, who live deep in the Amazon rainforest. With no ties to the outside world, would reaching them for Christ indeed prove impossible?
Another tribe in Ecuador, with family ties to the Tagaeri, also seemed impossible to reach. But this people, the Waorani, made famous for killing Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and three other missionaries in 1956, amazingly came to faith in Christ despite the barriers.
In 1955, before the Waorani’s miraculous conversion, a woman named Dayuma escaped from that tribe and went to live with the Quechua, another ethnic group. It was there where she met Elliot and the other missionaries and taught them the secret language of her people. Despite the tragedy to follow, Dayuma eventually became the first Waorani Christian through her friendship with Nate Saint’s sister Rachel. She helped share the message of Christ among her people, even helping translate the New Testament into their complex language.
Now, years later, Dayuma’s great grandson, Carlos, with his wife Mercedes, pastor a small but vibrant church deep in the rainforest. They are of Quechua, Waorani, and Tagaeri descent, and therefore, a family relation! This means that Carlos and Mercedes are able to effectively cross the boundaries and are reaching even the Tagaeri people with the gospel!
This church is also a training center through a ministry called Multiplication Network, where indigenous leaders are being trained to bring the gospel to the surrounding isolated communities.
SonSet Solutions was able to partner with Multiplication Network by sending a Solar Ministry Toolkit, funded by Emmanuel Christian Reformed Church in Sauk Village, Illinois, for Pastor Carlos’ church. This system uses a solar panel and a 12-volt battery to provide power for LED lights, a cell phone charger, a PA system, and other gospel media tools that help to increase the church’s effectiveness in reaching the community for Christ.
Praise God that people in dark, seemingly impossible-to-reach places, are coming to salvation in Christ through sacrificial missionaries, ministry partnerships, technology, and a family legacy of faith!
By Bryan Jackson, May 2025