When I was a teenager my family spent a little over a year serving with the Manjui tribe in the Paraguayan desert during the time we were missionaries in South America. The Hunts are an incredible family who have spent the last forty years living with the Manjui, knowing them, learning the language, creating a written language and dictionary, teaching them the scriptures, planting and nurturing a church, and translating the entire Bible so that the Manjui can read God’s word in their own language. It took forty years to reach that last milestone – it’s so incredible to see the photos, the videos, to witness this precious tribe receiving something that will be a powerful tool for them.

It blows my mind to see that kind of commitment; very few have taken the kind of time that the Hunts have to see such a task come to completion. I’m not sure of the numbers now, but when we lived there just over twenty years ago, there were only a few hundred Manjui total – it was a small, isolated tribe with a language unique to only them. Many would say they’re not worth the effort, that resources could be better used elsewhere for a larger return. They would be wrong – God wants ALL of His children!

It’s also moving to see the physical differences in the tribe today compared to what I experienced in the 90’s. And what I experienced was a tremendous improvement over what the missionaries had originally found with this tribe. There is a greater sense of health, well being. Even things as simple as clothing have improved dramatically. It’s exciting to see how the tribe has changed spiritually and practically over the decades. What an exciting thought to know that some day the Manjui voice and language will be represented in the chorus of voices singing praises in heaven to God!