Can you imagine waiting a lifetime to hold a Bible that you can read? Before getting the Bible, the only way you could trust and come to faith is through a teacher telling you and you listening to the story of Jesus and His disciples, His death and resurrection, and His coming again? Your answer is likely, “No.”  For Americans and many areas of the Western world, we take for granted the accessibility of the Bible in our own language. We have been able to have access to the Bible and read it on our own for so long, we don’t know what it would be like without it.

In Indonesia, missionaries have been sharing the Gospel and ministering to the tribes of Papua, Indonesia, for fifty years. In 2010, one of these tribes, the Kimyal tribe, finally received the New Testament after waiting a long time. Many had come to faith in Christ and had waited much of their life for this opportunity.

Bottom Line

In Rebecca Davis’ new book, Witness Men, she chronicles the missionary outreach to Papua, Indonesia. Davis not only focuses on the missionary work to more than one tribe, but she also shares the work and testimony of multiple missionaries. A common thread through all these stories is that the tribes’ people themselves are the true carriers of the Gospel. Ultimately it is the missionaries’ work with one or several people that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of people of Papua, Indonesia, to come to faith in Christ.

I have to admit, I have been keeping something from you. This book is really written for young readers age 8-13. I withheld this information because I was hoping you would read further and see how this is an exciting topic to learn more about regardless of age. However, what makes it so great is how exceptional Davis is as a storyteller. If you have children this age, you will like the relatively short chapters (15 in all) that have questions to prompt more discussion about the concepts in the chapter. Even as an adult, I was captured by her ability to tell the story and hold an “older reader’s” attention. The missionary work in Indonesia is remarkable. It seems to me that the stories that are real are the most intriguing. These stories are certainly among them.

I strongly recommend this book for young readers.  Consider it as a family, to a Sunday School class, homeschool or private school curriculum. You and your children will be glad that you did. I give Witness Men five stars of five.

Kimyal New Testament launch in Indonesia from United Bible Societies on Vimeo.

Book Desription

In 1938, in the remote highlands of a mountainous island, explorers discovered thousands upon thousands of tribal people. Missionaries began to come, to bring the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Little did they know that many of the people of the tribes were waiting . . . waiting . . . for someone to come and help them out of the darkness of their old way of life. Fifteen chapters recount the true missionary stories of the gospel spreading throughout the highlands of Papua, Indonesia, from 1955 to 2010, when one of the tribes received their first New Testaments. Third in the Hidden Heroes series of true missionary stories for children.

Features:

A “Thinking Further” section in the back of the book gives Scripture verses and discussion questions for each chapter.

Educator Resources are available at the author’s website, here.
The publisher, Christian Focus 4 Kids, has Coloring Pages available for each chapter to download here.

Here is a sample chapter from the Author’s website.

Publisher: CF4K (May 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1845509722
ISBN-13: 978-1845509729
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
Retail: $8.99

But it at Amazon!

About the Author

Even though Rebecca’s prime reading as a child and teen consisted of mysteries and romance, her mother continued to thrust biographies into her hands. For this she has been immensely grateful, because biographies of great Christians have helped shape her life. Rebecca also always loved to write, even though she left many stories unfinished. This fate nearly befell her first book, With Daring Faith: A Biography of Amy Carmichael. If it hadn’t been for a persistent friend and co-worker, With Daring Faith, which eventually won the C.S. Lewis gold medal for Outstanding Christian Juvenile Literature, might have sat unfinished in a drawer. Instead, it was the first of what Rebecca hopes will be many books that will bring glory to God through the lives of ordinary Christians who serve an Extraordinary God.

Her first three biographies (With Daring Faith: A Biography of Amy Carmichael; George Mueller: A Father to the Fatherless; and Fanny Crosby: Queen of Gospel Songs) were published by Journey Forth books. Now Rebecca is working with Christian Focus Publications in the development of the Hidden Heroes series of true missionary story books designed for family read-alouds. The first three in the series are With Two Hands: Stories of God at Work in Ethiopia; The Good News Must Go Out: Stories of God at Work in the Central African Republic; and Witness Men: True Stories of God at Work in Papua, Indonesia.

You can view all Rebecca’s books and blog at the website www.heresthejoy.com.

Rebecca is interviewed by Shaun Tabatt in this podcast!