A Jaguar in the Shadows

In the dense jungles of the Amazon live tribes that have not been reached with the life-giving water of Jesus. One of these people groups—the Long Arrow tribe—worshiped wooden idols that could not help them. Their chief, a man named Marcos, was a disabled man, broken by many accidents and injuries. He prayed to the wooden idol for help, yet it did not reply. It did not heal him.

A Visitor to the Long Arrow Tribe

One day a man named Naapi came to see the Long Arrow people. Naapi was a follower of Jesus and a church leader among the Waniwa people. So when Marcos tearfully cried out to him for aid, Naapi sat to talk with him. He asked if Marcos had consulted the wooden idol that represented the Long Arrow tribal god. Marcos told Naapi the truth. He had, but nothing had come of it. Naapi knew the power of the God he served, so he spoke again to Marcos. He told him that the Waniwa people would pray for him and that God would heal him. With those words, he left Marcos.

The Dream

That night as Marcos slept, he dreamed. A man appeared who lifted him from darkness into a place of light. Just beyond the light, a jaguar paced menacingly in the dark shadows. The man told the chief, “The jaguar wants to kill and devour you, but I won’t let him. You have been going down the wrong path in life. Now you must listen and obey Me.”

“Now I know the Waniwa’s God is true, and I am going to travel to their village to hear more about their God.”

When Marcos awoke, he was completely healed. Along with other Long Arrow leaders, Marcos traveled to a Waniwa village to tell his story to the people who had prayed for his healing. But before he left to visit the Waniwa, he stood and told his own tribesmen, “Now I know the Waniwa’s God is true, and I am going to travel to their village to hear more about their God.”Marcos has since become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and he is not alone in the Long Arrow tribe. He—along with others—has come forward to be recognized as a believer and be baptized in the name of the true God.

A God of Power and Protection

It is beautiful to see the Lord moving in the dreams of those who have not yet let Him into their lives. God still desires to love and protect them from the jaguar in the shadows. He uses his power to heal them of their wounds and free them from sin.Pray for the work in the Long Arrow tribe as the Waniwa continue to minister to them. There is still opposition from outside sources who vehemently oppose the gospel. They have influenced some Long Arrow leaders against the Waniwa. Ask God to make this spark burst into a mighty flame for many others to see.

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