Traveling to the Colombian Tribes
Doug Dennis Ministries
September 2021 Newsletter
Greetings! I want to say a big ‘thank you’ for your prayers and support which make the ministry possible. On my last trip to Colombia (I returned the last day of July) I had a great time preaching in Repelon, and also in the town of Riohacha; but more importantly I planned out some great things with Venancio, my main Indian leader. Technology is great, but some things need to be planned out face to face so I met up with Venancio in Colombia as he was traveling back from ministering to the mountain Indian tribes.
While speaking with Venancio we were able to plan out the perfect site for my new radio station. My original idea for the Machiques radio station (the station that is closest to the tribes) was for my Indian leaders to come down to the town to preach and then those preachings would be transmitted from Machiques 90.5 FM to the tribes. As Venancio and I talked we realized a better idea would be if the tribes could have their own station that would be broadcasted in their own language 24/7. I think that was a God idea. This is the only radio station that has ever broadcasted in the Yupka language! So we put the new radio station next to Venancio’s house at the Marewa tribe. Marewa is one of the few tribes with electricity and is relatively high in elevation so it’s the perfect place. The radio station is already up and running. Venancio, along with the other Indian leaders have been preaching – broadcasting daily in their own language. There are so many things we can do through the station. We can preach, have oral reading of the Bible in their dialect, give updates, give information of meetings at the tribes, give my Bible School dates, broadcast the Bible School classes live to those who can’t make it, give information of special all-night services (The Indian tribes like to have all night church services), plus much more.
So, I now have 4 radio stations! 91.9 Maracaibo, 90.5 Machiques, 98.9 La Concecpcion, and 94.9 In the Sierra Nevada Indian tribe region. In Marewa (Venancio’s tribe), we were also able to get internet so now I preach there every day also.
Another great thing is that I had Venancio record the New Testament in their Indian Language years ago. Many Indians can’t read so they can listen to the audio Bible in their Yukpa dialect. (We also translated the New Testament and I print and bind it to give to the Indians.) The audio Bible in the Indians language is perfect. Faith is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, so the audio version of the Bible is played a lot through the radio. The Indian leaders absolutely love preaching on the radio. During my August Bible School, along with me teaching, they also preached live! It is the greatest ministry tool so far. It’s 100% in their language except for the praise and worship and my preachings. So now I go live every day on my 4 radio stations.
I bought radios for the tribes so they can hear the broadcasts. It is solar, but you can crank it, or charge it. Most of the tribes don’t have electricity, therefore this is the perfect gift to the believers. These radios are the perfect tool for the tribes to hear the gospel. I bought 30 for 30 different tribes that don’t have electricity. It will be given to the pastor of the church but for use of all the believers. At a later date I will buy more.
This past month after my Bible school I made 5 teams of Indians to evangelize and disciple the different far away mountain tribes in Venezuela and Colombia. I feel it is necessary to always have a presence wherever there are tribes. I believe God is giving many people another chance. God is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish. Having the teachings and preachings via the radios will be another means to disciple and evangelize. I am paying Venancio to have a special radio session for the believers at all the tribes every evening.
I will be leaving for Colombia in a few weeks where I will preach at different places, and have leadership meetings.
I want to share a testimony about a believer in the far away tribe of Taremo. It takes about 16 hours to walk to this tribe. The believer’s name is Antonio Chomate. Antonio Chomate went out to work one day at his tribe, clearing the land that he was going to plant some crops on. While trying to cut down a tree, a big branch fell and hit Antonio’s head, knocking him out. Antonio said that he left his body and went up to heaven. Two angels were there before the gates of heaven. They said, “Antonio, you have come to this place, and here are the gates to enter heaven, but you won’t enter yet, as you are not yet dead. You have come to see and then to testify what you will see.” Antonio said, “The angel then showed me a vision. In the vision I saw many people inside the walls of heaven that sang and praised God. They had on white robes- all had white robes on, there was no other color. Then the angel said, ‘Now I will show you another place, which is hell’, and then another vision appeared before me. There were many people, all were being burned and tormented in the fire. The people there screamed because the fire burnt them but there was no place to escape. The angel who showed me the vision told me that I must testify about how the tree fell on me, how God saved me from dying, and how I saw both heaven and hell. The angel then said, ‘You will go back to your body now.’ When I went back to my body, all my clothes were totally wet with sweat. I then went back to my tribe, told my wife, and then testified before the believers.”
Well thank you so much for all your prayers and support. It makes all our work in Venezuela and Colombia possible. God bless you.
In His service,
Doug, Veronica, James & Ana