How Long Has It Been Since You Left the Iteri Tribe? What is the State of the Church There Today?

How long has it been since you left the Iteri tribe? What is the state of the church there today?

Yeah, Beth and I left the Iteri Church in the final sense in 1999, June of 1999. And we went back and visited every year for a few years, and then every other year, and then it got further and further apart. And then last year, 2023, we went back. The Iteri Church had been on its own for 22 years.

And to fly in there and see the church—my wife was a hot mess the whole time we were there. Sat down first with the whole church, and we just had a time of teaching. And then sat down with the elders of the church, and I wanted to hear them walk me through: how does a man leave darkness and come to light? I wanted to hear them explain it to me. What is the gospel? To know that they're clear on the gospel.

We didn't have time to get into everything, but man, they're clear on the gospel. And to know that 23 years later, the gospel is alive in those mountains, in those valleys, and those river systems among the Iteri people—yeah, pretty deeply fulfilling. We didn't see all of New Guinea come to Christ, but man, in that little part of New Guinea, the gospel's there.