Mission to Papua

[vaneramos]

A scientific expedition to the jungle of Indonesia's Papua province has discovered dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and palms, and documented mammals extirpated elsewhere. The team flew by helicopter to a boggy lakebed surrounded by forests in the Foja Mountains.

The news sent me scrambling for an atlas, but the western half of New Guinea, also known as Irian Jaya, shows a mostly untracked space. Wikipedia didn't help much either. The Foja Mountains aren't marked on any maps.

I'd like to visit places like that, but must satisfy myself for now by reading the adventures of friends like ironbark, currently exploring the Mekong River.

This brought to mind Jim Elliot, an American missionary martyred in 1956 in Ecuador while attempting to preach to the Aucas. Years ago I read his biography, In the Shadow of the Almighty, by Elisabeth Elliot. Evangelical Christians believe Christ will return when the Gospel has reached every tribe on earth. Like the Amazon rainforest, Irian Jaya was considered a frontier for conversion, and Christians likely perished in the effort there.

Fifteen years ago I dreamed of doing mission work like that. Now I would rather go on a mission of discovery than persuasion.

Comments

End of the Spear

[bigmacbear]

The story behind In the Shadow of the Almighty reminds me of that film that's created so much controversy in Christian circles, End of the Spear. I noticed both Jim and Elisabeth Elliot's names listed as characters portrayed in the film.

However, Elisabeth did not get a writing credit for End of the Spear as would be expected if the screenwriters had used her book as the basis of the screenplay. Rather, it looks as though Jim Hanon, co-writer and director, based the dramatization upon the documentary he wrote and directed last year, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, in which Elisabeth Elliot Gren (her married name I presume) is credited as "Herself", which probably means she was interviewed for the documentary.

Re: End of the Spear

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Wow, it's strange that the story came to mind yesterday, after years of not thinking about it. I hadn't heard of the movie until I googled Jim Elliot last night, and then I didn't realize how recent it was. As far as I can tell from entries at Wikipedia, it is based largely on director Jim Hanon's interviews with Elisabeth Elliot. I might have to see this.

It's weird: last night the Wiki entry for Jim Elliot was just a stub. It said something like "American missionary and martyr." This morning there is an entire article.

Re: End of the Spear

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Looking at earlier revisions, I see the article previously existed but was vandalized.

[missprune.livejournal.com]

I read about this on the BBCnews online page, and they had a set of photos of some of the species they have found there. It's probably still available. It was touching to read about animals who are "happy to be picked up" and show no fear. And sad to think how soon that will change.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I found out about this from a friend who emailed me a news report, and it contained a series of photographs. I hadn't been able to find the same version anywhere online, but perhaps it came from BBC. I've just subscribed to the BBC science and nature feed.

It seems the tamest wild creatures are either domesticated or eaten. What a shame this leaves us with few opportunities for direct interaction with wildlife.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

I read a news report on those discoveries -- I hope they continue exploring the region -- very, very carefully.

I sometimes think I'd like to visit a completely uninhabited, undeveloped jungle like this -- for about an hour and a half and without having to hike dozens of miles to get there. :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I'm overly optimistic about my ability to cope with a wilderness conditions, but one of my dearest fantasies is to visit a place like this. The article mentioned the jungle was so diverse, the scientists didn't have to venture more than a mile from camp.

Then you'll like this

[oh-bother.livejournal.com]

A friend reccomended this to me and I loved it!
If you haven't already seen this it's a great movie.
http://www.docurama.com/productdetail.html?productid=NV-NVG-5583-NVG-9519

Re: Then you'll like this

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That does look fascinating. Thanks for the recommendation. And welcome.

[bohemianvegan.livejournal.com]

Irian Jaya seems interesting. I read about some people there called the Kew people. They were found about twenty years before they were documented. Some people said they existed, some said they didn't. Now people know that they do. They have had little contact with other people and they don't wear any clothes.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I did a Google search on the Kew people and came up with next to nothing. I guess there are still some things we can't learn from Wikipedia.

[bohemianvegan.livejournal.com]

I read about the Kew people in a book written about missionary work by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in there. It was called "Front Line Irian Jaya" and it was written by Fern Babcock. I don't read much about missionaries anymore, because many Christian books aren't very reliable for resources.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I generally don't read Christian material at all anymore. Jim Eliot's story interests me mostly because it made such an impression during an earlier chapter of my life.