Suddenly, a man emerged from the forest with a bone through his nose, feathers in his hair, and a spear in his hand. He walked straight up to the students, and with urgency in his voice, asked, “Will you come tell my people God’s book?”

When Betsy’s brother was 18, he went on a short-term mission trip to Papua New Guinea. This was what happened to him on that trip. He and his teammates had flown deep into the Highlands, where remote villages remain untouched by modern civilization.

The tribal man approached them shortly after their plane landed. It was a shocking experience for a group of young Americans who had just stepped out onto the unfamiliar soil, surrounded by towering trees! 

One by one, the man asked them which one would tell his people the gospel—and one by one, the students froze. They weren’t about to follow a stranger wielding a spear into the jungle (thankfully). With frustration in his voice, the man said, “I see the other villages, and they have God’s book. They are not afraid anymore. My people are dying in fear, and no one will come and tell us God’s book.”

When the students met up with the local missionary, they told him about what had happened. “Oh, that’s Abet,” the missionary said, immediately recognizing the man. “He comes every week.”

Shocked, the students asked, “Why isn’t anyone going to his village?”

The answer was sobering. “Because that’s a different people group, which means a different language. It would take 20 years for a missionary to move in, learn the language, create a written form of it, translate the Bible, teach them to read it, and disciple them. Right now, there’s no one willing to go.”

Betsy says, “That story changed my life. I was only 16 when my brother returned home and told me about Abet and his plea for the gospel. I couldn’t shake the reality that there are people in the world who are desperate to hear about Jesus, and no one is going to tell them.” 

Betsy went on to serve on the mission field for 18 years in Central Asia.

The need is real. The harvest is plentiful. But who will go?

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