Jareb & Amy McClain
New Tribes - Indonesia
It has been almost ten years since Jareb & Amy McClain were consecrated by our church, for bringing the Gospel to those who have not yet heard. The road has been long, but they are still confident in God. He is building His Church, and nothing can stop Him.
I am Amy McClain, wife of Jareb McClain, and mom to 5 adorable, spunky kids: Kayla (age 9), Corin (8), Kimberly (5), Caden (3), and Caleb (11 months).
I am from Long Island, New York, raised in a nominal Christian home, and my husband is from Eugene, OR, raised in a non-religious home. We both heard about Jesus as kids, but started really walking with him while we were both in secular colleges in Massachusetts. We met and got married after we graduated college, when we were both individually looking towards careers in full-time missions. After teaching for a year to pay off college debts, we entered NTBI in fall 1999. We had two kids in Jackson, and then spent a year re-connecting with our home church, before continuing with the training at Jersey Shore in the fall of 2002. We attended Big Woods Bible Church during that year.
In 2005 we left the States for Indonesia, excited to be a part of tribal missions, specifically in Papua, where some of the least-reached groups of people seemed to be. We spent a total of two years studying the national language because during our time in Java, we had to go back home for 5 months because I got very sick with my 4th pregnancy.
In 2007 we finally arrived in Papua, a land of deep contrasts: people living in stone-age type houses but with access to cell phones; beliefs tied into the evil spirits of animism, while wearing a 'cloak' of Christianity. Life here was hard, with serious sicknesses to contend with, many of which visited our family during the first two years we were here (malaria, dengue fever, amoeba, giardia). With our sights still on tribal evangelism, we weighed our options and figured that helping out with one of the many struggling existing works here was where God was leading our family. So along with our partners, Scott and Natasha Flaugher (friends of ours since missions training), we joined the Elseng Team in October of 2007.
Since its beginning in 2004, the Elseng work has been ridden with roadblocks. At the time that we joined, Ortwin and Regina Oesterle and their four kids were the only members of the Elseng team, having already seen three other families come and go. A few weeks after we joined the team, the Oesterle's too, were taken permanently out of the work with the emergency evacuation of their 6-yr. old daughter Lili, who had gone into a coma due to (at that time unknown) an unoperable brain tumor. Another previous family of the Elseng team, Elisa and Juarni Bowa, were Indonesian nationals who went through the training program in Manado, Indonesia. Elisa, the husband, was a tribal man himself, brought to salvation in Jesus Christ by some NTM missionaries who ministered to his people in the 1970's. He sought to bring the good news to other tribal people like himself, cut off from access to the Gospel by language and cultural barriers. So he and his family did just that, moving cross-culturally first to Papua, and then to the Elseng tribe. It was a grueling task to learn a very difficult language, often with the people being too cold and hesitant to offer much language or cultural information. In August of 2006, though, the Lord saw fit to bring him home to heaven, having struggled with health problems for many months, and finally succommbed to cancer. Elisa is remembered for his motivation of following Christ above all else, and encouraging others to "Setia terus," ("Be faithful always.") It is partly in his memory that we are motivated to continue on with this very difficult tribal work.
It has been almost two years since we joined the team, and we and the Flaughers have spent the majority of that time living in the nearby town while our husbands trekked all over the huge land area where the Elseng live. Our intentions were to gather more information than was ever known before about where these people live and how best to reach them. We have decided to live in a different location than the first teams did, since the people in the village there (called Sawa) seem more receptive to our reasons for being there than the first village did. Still, this process of moving in hasn't been without its problems. We began building our homes in April 2009, and are almost ready to move in (this October 28th!). But recently the government has taken a new interest in "helping out" the Elseng people because of our presence there, are are making plans to build them 50 slabbed-lumber houses, a school, and a clinic, which may take the people over an hour away from our houses are. We are praying they choose to locate the new village right there in Sawa, which would make it easier for us to do language study, and for many people to be able to hear the Gospel teaching at one time.
So, in so many words, that is who we are, and how we got involved in this ministry! Thanks again for your interest in praying for us, we need the prayer support so badly, especially in these harrowing days of transition.
Gladly,
Amy for us 7 McClains
October 2009
Friends and Family,
Here we are one week away from moving to our home in Sawa! We are very excited, though nervous and exhausted through all the preparations. God has been faithful to help keep us somewhat healthy amidst the stress- allowing us to get needed rest in between full days of packing. Even today, we praise God for helping us do our supply-buying in only a half-day shopping trip! This was record time for our family of 7 to go grocery shopping-- and we've never shopped for 3 months worth of food and household goods before!
Please continue to pray for us as we complete this move-in process:
-for good attitudes that reflect the heart of Christ for people, not concern over "Stuff"
-for cohesiveness as a family
-for all the logistics of the move on October 28th to go smoothly, (the packing, transporting stuff, helicopter flights, etc.)
-for a good reunion with the Elseng people-- our new neighbors and friends!
Thank you for being such a huge part of this whole thing, with your prayers and support of our ministry to the Elseng!
In Jesus' arms,
Amy and Jareb, with Kayla, Corin, Kimberly, Caden, and Caleb McClain
August 2009
We returned from our month in Sawa and went directly into several ministry-related meetings that lasted almost 2 weeks, and then got settled into our Sentani home again, got caught up on several 'overdue' items regarding finances and our children's schooling, and are just now thinking about how to sum up the incredible experience we had together as a family last month!
We were really glad to be in the tribe together as a family for the month of July. Although there was so much to do in building the house and learning how to live simply there, we felt the pace was relaxing because there was routine! Everyday we awoke to the morning sounds of the roosters and pigs, and a hazy sunrise, had a hot oatmeal breakfast and then Jareb checked in with the town team on the SSB radio. After that the generators were started and from then on there was a literal 'buzz' of activity as the carpenters and sawyers, hammers, planers and drills all worked to get our house built! A lot of the initial work was reinforcing--even replacing the poor, cracked lumber that we had begun with--(due to the sawyers we had initially hired), and then getting the floor on the loft, and the outside walls on. They also installed some of the plumbing and a complete water-collection system, so we can be sure to have enough water even when rainfall is low. Jareb was able to connect the solar panels and batteries so we had some working lights. We had some fellow missionaries come help us at the end of July, and they finished off a small bathroom, built some counters and doors, and installed the kitchen sink. We also started marking off the area that will eventually become a jungle airstrip, so we can fly in by plane and will not have to be dependent on the expensive helicopter flights continually. The tribal people became excited about working together on this project, which gives them the hope of being able to get to town themselves someday soon. They are eager to meet up with relatives who are already living in town, or to buy supplies that they cannot get in the village.
The kids and I kept busy doing laundry by hand, fetching water, and cooking. We were also able to continue some of their homeschool lessons. One of the initial shocks of being there was having to entertain guests all day long! Many of the Elseng women and children would come and sit for hours in the house, watching every little thing we did. Sometimes they would have a need, like an infected sore to be cleaned, or a request for some rice or cooking oil. Or many times they would come to give US food, like when they had hunted a wild pig or deer. Often, though, they preferred just to sit and talk and teach me the words for different things in their language. Since we have not yet entered full-time language study, I had a hard time telling them why I wasn't remembering all the words, but we are so glad they are willing to teach!
With all of Jareb's experience with the Elseng over the past two years of survey, he is already used to many of the differences, but the kids and I still have a lot to learn! Our ears gradually became attuned to the usual village sounds: a dog fights, its master yells, and throws a stick at the animal. A pig grunts, a chicken squabbles, a child shouts. A bird calls far off in the jungle, a tree falls down somewhere. The men and women stay up late into the night chatting away, chewing beetlenut, and laughing! Are they telling Elseng jokes? :) We watched in awe as the women, some with children or newborn babies in hand, carried enormous loads of wood on their heads. We slipped and fell in the mud and cringed as we walked the slippery slope down to a tiny water hole that has been their source of water for drinking and bathing for ages. I learned that I have three new "enemies": flies in my cups, rats in my food, and leeches in my washtub--but that my God can give me the daily grace to face them all!
The days often wound down with a bucketful of cold water for bathing, a good meal, and a story to nestle the kids down into their sleeping bags for the night. We were often in bed before 7 pm, when there was no more daylight and the chorus of jungle insects was just warming up for their nightly concerto!
To sum it all up, we had a very GOOD introduction to life in an Elseng village, and are excited about our home and the life we will lead there.
Jareb is busy planning another work trip at the beginning of September, when some friends as well as some hired workers will go in to help finish putting up the walls and bathroom fixtures. After that, we feel like we will be able to move in as a family. But first, Jareb will be making a 10-day trip back to Oregon to officiate at his youngest brother's wedding! He will be gone from September 7th through the 18th. God recently surprised us with the necessary finances for him to go, and we pray that it will be a blessing to his family. Meanwhile, the kids and I will stay put in Sentani (in town) and then we hope to go back to Sawa permanently at the end of September.
