This January, Grace and I joined with ITEC and some Brinkman Adventures fans to enter the Ecuadorian jungle to meet the legendary Waodani tribe. This was our very first Brinkman Family Adventure! As a girl, I heard the story of Nate Saint and Jim Elliot and the others killed in 1964 in an attempt to share the Gospel with the Waodanis.

Ever since I was a child, these people have been my heroes.  

Each person in the story demonstrated powerful faith and love. The five men who gave their lives, the woman who forgave the killers and marched into the jungle to live with them, the Waodani who received the Gospel and were brave enough to change. Each were pioneers of forgiveness, peace, and faith in a highly violent society.
But what are they doing today?

We were heading to Ecuador to participate in a Wao Vision Trip. The purpose of the trip is to support the Waodani and learn from them as we grow in our understanding of missions. The goal is that our mission strategy would be transformed from one that could unintentionally hurt the recipients, to one that purely transmits the Gospel and empowers local believers to lead.

When we got to Ecuador, we met Jamie Saint who would lead us on the trip.  Jamie’s grandfather Nate Saint was one of the five men killed by the Waodani. When Jamie was a boy, his family moved into the jungle to live with the tribe. Mincaye, the man who killed his grandfather, became like a grandfather to Jaime. 

Jamie and Sue in the jungle. Jaime Saint’s family started ITEC, an organization that develops tools and training to equip the indigenous Christ-followers to meet the physical and spiritual needs of their own people.

Jamie helped us consolidate our bags and told us what to expect in the jungle. “It’s dangerous,” he said, “but the Waodoni will take care of us.” He had complete confidence in them.

As we landed on the bumpy grass-covered runway, we were greeted with hugs and face paint and jungle crowns. Mincaye was not there, but Felipe, his youngest son, helped us off the plane. Felipe, I learned, was in charge of our trip from that point on. Although he grew up in the jungle, he led everything from the spiritual aspects of our experience to the practical issues.

Mincaye is now old and has trouble walking. He wasn’t going to join us in the camp but Jamie asked so nicely he couldn’t refuse. They decided he would skip the long hike and arrive by canoe. 

I got a canoe ride, too, and was able to watch the weary hikers arrive. They were amazed, as I was, at the beautiful palm-frond sleeping huts, the neatly organized cooking and eating shelter, the beautiful surroundings, and the surprisingly nice toilets! We all marveled at our handmade hammocks and laughed as we tried to figure out how to use them. And then we settled in.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that free. I felt like a kid again! Running around in the jungle looking at flowers and bugs and trees, eating crazy things like turtle eggs, stingrays, and large funny-looking rodents, swinging from vines and planting jungle gardens.

Grace took the cake in Waodoni tree-climbing for her age bracket, and I nearly hit the target with my newly acquired blow-gun skills. The Waodoni taught us how to weave baskets and make spears. They took us hunting and spearfishing and showed us how to cook for 40 people over a fire. We ended everyday washing and playing together in the river. It felt like paradise! I felt so safe and cared for by the Waodoni. (Especially when they knew what to do with the snake in our hut!) 

As the Waodani showed us how to survive in the jungle, I began to see that learning from someone creates trust and friendship that doesn’t come any other way. Coming as learners creates an equality that results in everyone knowing they have something to offer.

Jaime told us that, as missionaries we can unintentionally give the impression that we think we know the best way to do things. This often creates a hierarchy that keeps us in the driver’s seat and causes the local people to feel that they don’t have anything to contribute. We may serve and share the Gospel, but are we not able to transfer the gift and responsibility of fulfilling the Great Commission to them?

Catfish for dinner!

At night, Felipe led us in a time of worship and storytelling. Mincaye’s sweet wife told us about the transformation of their tribe. We heard about the terror of constant killings. They lived in sorrow, loss, bitterness, anger and fear. I looked into the jungle, growing close around us, and realized that this beautiful place never used to feel safe. The wonder and safety was a radically new experience for this generation of Waodani! The Gospel has transformed their entire existence.

As the days went on, I saw how Jamie intentionally held back and let Felipe lead everything. This caused Felipe to take complete ownership of all aspects of life in the jungle, from the spiritual development of his tribe to the care and upkeep of the camp they created for us. These trips were Felipe’s idea and have brought in the finances to care for their elderly, enable medical flights and fund mission endeavors.

At night, around the fire, my eyes filled with tears as I listened to Felipe, Mincaye’s youngest son, tell of his plans.
“I want to go deeper into the jungle,” he said, “There are villages out there where people don’t wear clothes. They have never been reached with the Gospel. We are making plans to go.”

The slow cultivation of relationships and careful discipleship done by Jaime and his family has allowed people of the most marginalized group in Ecuador to stand up and forge ahead into the hard places for the Gospel. 

As I listened to Felipe, it hit me. This is the way to do it! We must empower local believers to enter into the beautiful work of bringing the Gospel to their people. It may take longer and look a little different, but this is God’s way. It is the fullness of discipleship. We are to make disciples that make disciples.

I thought about the people back home that I have been reaching out to. Have I been taking the time to listen and learn from them in a way that builds relationships and trust? Have I been giving off the impression that I know everything and don’t believe they have anything to offer? This has challenged me. I want to be vulnerable and learn from people as I share with them. I want to be bold and go to hard places in conversation to share the Gospel.

As Grace and I passed over the rippling water in the canoe ride out of the jungle, I felt a deep sense of gratitude. It was a profound honor to have met those heroes of the past. I felt excited for the journey that lay ahead for Felipe and the new Waodani leaders. 

I left excited for my own journey as well.
Let’s be leaders who listen and learn; leaders who intentionally empower others.
May we enable others to boldly take their place in the sacred mission of making His name known to the very ends of the earth. 

Hey! My name’s Grace and I play Gracie Brinkman in the Brinkman Adventures. This past August, my Dad and I took an amazing trip to Papua Indonesia. It took us six flights, and two boat rides to reach our final destination, which was Kri Island.  We went there to record two of our upcoming episodes (that will come out early December) about the Wild family who are missionaries working on translating the Bible there. This trip has been a huge blessing to me and one I won’t forget.

We arrived safely August 4th on a Sunday night. The next morning we took a fifteen-minute hike up to a helicopter hanger and started putting together our makeshift studio in a side room. The room we used had AC to prevent the helicopter parts from rusting, which was super nice. Then we went down again to bring up some mattresses. Okay, correction, the Wild brothers brought them up. 

We then officially named it Bee Happy Studio (see picture) and buckled down and started recording. That’s when my job came in, logging. I wrote down all the times and script changes while we recorded line by line. This would later help my brothers, who would piece it all together when we got home. The Wilds were really fun to work with, and they all did a great job. We had their lines finished by Friday. 

The next day God provided us with Jerome (our really good cook.)

He was able to play two of our pivotal characters. He did an extraordinary job! And we also recorded some extras, Pu and his mom Ira and Muston who were also awesome! That left us with the photoshoot which we wrapped up by Saturday morning.

Kri was …remarkable. I never knew the world was so beautiful, and I know now, how ungrateful I can be for taking this world for granted, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I have also learned how selfish I can be. There are people out there that haven’t even heard of God. They don’t know He made this fascinating world or that He loves them; they don’t know all that. And here I am worrying and complaining about math?

Being there really showed me what and Who to put my focus on.

And even though I’ll still hate math, I know now that there are more important things to do than to complain about it.

I hope you enjoy these episodes come December as much I enjoyed helping my family make them. Also, I encourage you to look up the Wild Brothers from Answers in Genesis. They have some really cool stories and videos and have inspired me in so many ways. 

                                                                                         -Grace Bultman  

The doorway they drug her through

It all came together last month as I walked up a cobblestone street, looked for the number 4, and knocked. It was a cold night seventy-two years ago when 8 Gestapo soldiers approached the very spot where I was standing. They were disgusted and angry. The couple inside were helping the “inferior” race they were trying to kill. They had killed so many already, but that night they were intent on destroying someone else. Someone standing in their way, my Opa.

I had heard the stories many times as a girl. I always reveled in the miracle that happened that night, and the brave front my Oma put on as she opened the door and was shoved aside. I had often tried to picture the room they rushed into, and all that had happened that night.

But today was different. Today I had a chance to see it, and feel it and to know. Together with my brother Ian, and his daughters Ashley and Michaela, I had crossed the ocean to find pieces of our history that were fading into the past.

It was a year ago that the Brinkman writing team decided to tell the story of Reng and Lynn VanKesteren. My grandparents who risked their lives to rescue Jews during WWII. Their story stands like bedrock in my soul, providing a deep conviction that faith and goodness can prevail in a time of evil and violence.

After a year of researching, interviewing and digging into the past, I found myself humbled, awed, and grateful beyond words to be able to travel there and see it for myself.

I stepped through the door frame my Oma had crossed as they dragged her off to prison.  Touched the rough stone that was cold as my Opa hid. I looked up into the big trees behind their house, the trees that saw so much heartache and bravery during those years. The trees my Oma loved.
That moment is forever burned into my mind. It was surreal and almost holy.

The rest of the trip was a whirlwind, like a dream. We found treasures of the past coming alive everywhere we went. We worked hard to cast and direct actors who played out the story with gusto and joy.

I can’t wait to hear this treasured story come to life and be able to share it with you this fall!

Sarah Bultman
Writer-The Brinkman Adventures

The park and the trees she loved