Have you ever heard of “Ee-Taow: The Mouk Story? The word “Ee-Taow” means “It’s true.” This was the phrase that the Mouk people cried out when they finally understood why Jesus came and what it meant for them to believe in him. My brother told me about this story and saw the video of it the first time a while back and it brought me to tears. It is one of my favorite videos of all time and it still challenges me today as to why we preach and teach the gospel of Jesus! Although the whole story is told in a reenactment narrative but the scene where the Mouk people rejoice and celebrate over their salvation and forgiveness of sin for about 2 hours is the real footage. These people were so innocent in their heart at the moment of salvation that the spontaneous joy that they expressed was nothing short of pure glory of God. Jesus said, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk.15:10). If heaven can break out in celebration of joy over one sinner who repents, could you imagine what it was like on the day when all these Mouk people believed? Truly, the heavens declared the glory of God on that day!

Recently, however, the New Tribes Mission has gone through a sex abuse scandal that has hurt many people. It is my guess that this is the reason why it changed the name from New Tribes Mission to Ethnos360 in 2017. It is unfortunate and sad that a scandal has crippled everyone involved. Without going into much details, this scandal has brought harm not only to the victims but also to other innocent missionary members, organization staff members who were blameless, and those who the ministry has touched. We can only pray that God would bring healing to those who were harmed, and that His mercy will cover their pains. We can only pray that God the Redeemer can redeem people involved and the mission organization by rooting out evil, confessing and forsaking sins, and reestablishing the group’s integrity to the Word and the Spirit of God. Is our God a God of redemption? Yes, I believe that He is. He can redeem every sinner who humbles himself before Him and every organization that surrenders to His discipline process.