A Tribe Called The YembiYembi

January 29th 2011, I was sitting in the sanctuary of our church, HBC, and standing before me and the hundreds of other captivated audience was a young, married couple by the names of Brooks & Nina Buser. Brooks and Nina, with their young son Beau in tow, were missionaries on furlough from their field home in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

Furlough defined: In the mission world, usually when you serve overseas, you are granted a certain amount of time to have a rest from your assignment and reconnect with the churches and people that support you and its time to rejuvenate and see family & friends.
Their names and faces were not new to me because they are global partners of ours and as a church, we pray and support them on a regular basis. We are so close with them as a church support team, that we sent our Senior pastor Rob and his wife Becky to the jungles to stay 10 days with the Yembi tribe and be a support system to the Busers. I would still pay big $$ to catch a glimpse of what took place during those days and nights amid the jungles. I have a lot of pictures in my head of what might have taken place.
Brooks & Nina are part of a large mission organization called New Tribes Mission.
https://usa.ntm.org
 New Tribes Mission is steadfast in its goal of reaching people who have no access to the Gospel. That was the vision for our ministry when we were founded in 1942, and it is our vision today.
New Tribes Mission continues to trust God, and God continues to be glorified. Today more than 3,000 missionaries serve throughout the world, and training programs in more than a dozen countries prepare missionaries for service among the thousands of tribes who have yet to hear.
We thank God for the rich heritage passed on to us by a small group of people who decided, in Paul Fleming's words, "New Tribes Mission's efforts shall be directed ... where no witness of the Gospel has yet reached."

I was not sure what to expect when I was headed to church that night. My mind has a way of being black & white, so when I was younger and thought about Alaska, I thought that everyone there lived in igloos and were eskimos. so, in my mind, everyone that was coming from a jungle tribe was going to have their faces painted and be wearing some form of tribal dress. Was I right?.....No!

Here they were, not on the church screen anymore, but in the flesh, and they looked just like the rest of us. There were a few small differences like either of them not having a cell phone and they were not prepared for the semi blizzard we were currently experiencing but for the most part, they didn't look out of place.

To me, it was like meeting a celebrity. Someone famous in my world.

Brooks spoke about their mission and the great commission that we all have been commanded to do.

 Matthew 28:16-20English Standard Version (ESV)

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Biblegateway.com)
He talked about their journey beginning in their home of California and him being a finance manager of a large corporation. He listened intently to the call of God, they said yes in obedience, they sold their belongings, (large house, expensive cars), and said good-bye to their family & friends and moved to the jungles of Papua New Guinea. What a wild ride.
I had only ever seen the family photo of Brooks, Nina and Beau at that point and I remember thinking to myself ,wow, she looks like she has it pretty together for calling the rainy, hot, humid jungles home. Believe me when I tell you, she is that put together! I admire her so much and know that she lives everyday in God's amazing grace.
Brooks regaled us all with stories of tribal life and photos of what they had accomplished. I didn't want the stories to end. He also shared about their mission in the tribe. It has always been to bring the gospel to this tribe of people that have never even heard of God. How does that happen when they don't speak or understand English? Brooks & Nina patiently learned the tribal tongue and spent years working on translating the bible into something that the people would understand. He shared with us that they call it God Talk and its funny to think that something so simple of a name is right on in what it is!
That January weekend quickly flew by and the Buser family finished their furlough and returned to their home in Papua New Guinea.
2013-A celebration took place and the translation of the New Testament was complete. The Yembi Yembi have God's word (God Talk) in their native tongue and in their hearts & hands. They have been equipped to lead the church that Brooks and Nina have spent years building for them. What a time of rejoicing. They had a beautiful ceremony and thanks to technology, Doug and Garth(2 of our pastors that went to YembiYembi for the dedication). we got to see it. We will never meet some of our Yembi brothers and sisters in Christ here on this earth, but thanks to Brooks, Nina & Beau, we will meet them one day in heaven.
2014-The Buser family is currently in transition. They are back in the United States temporarily, but what a bonus for us. Last week I got to hug Nina again and listen to her latest stories of their tribal life and what has been happening in the last 3 1/2 years. She spoke very endearingly on how they transitioned out of the tribe so that the tribal church elders can continue to lead on their own now.  They are a blessing in my families life and they have changed the people of the tribe of YembiYembi in the jungles of Papua New Guinea forever!

YembiYembi: Unto the Nation

vimeo.com/88474022