Torches of Joy: A Stone Age Tribe's Encounter with the Gospel

by John Dekker, Lois Neely

In 1960 the twenty-five thousand Dani tribespeople hidden away in the remote Toli Valley of Irian Jaya used only stone tools and had no written language. Then, in one generation, they took the always dangerous, sometimes fatal, leap from the Stone Age into the twentieth century.

At this critical time John and Helen Dekker gave themselves to the Dani, helping them discover the gospel of Jesus Christ and their destiny as helpers of other tribes. Today the seventy-nine churches of the Toli Valley, with thirteen thousand baptized believers, have sent out sixty-five couples to other tribes needing the gospel.

A chapter from a present-day Book of Acts, Torches of Joy is a model for cross-cultural mission strategy and one of the twentieth century's most striking chronicles of God's grace and power.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Christian

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2013

Reviews

[Donna Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Papua island has a special place in my personal history. I was moved by stories of missionaries working there. In 1982 I spent a summer in college on the east side of the island in Papua New Guinea. Many memories came to mind reading this book. The story of the Danis response to hearing about Jesus for the first time was so encouraging.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this book for the second time. Such an amazing story. Highly recommended!

[Dawn Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and inspiring story of 21 year years spent in the primitive wilds of Irian Jaya, where the church was planted by missionaries and spread by local believers.

[Julia Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

seeing how God works in all people groups everywhere was a truly humbling and awe inspiring read.

[Ellen Keyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book I began to think about how to relate the Gospel to people completely unlike myself. It is clear that human beings all have one thing in common: we are made in the image of God. However, cultures from other countries can be opposite of what you know. Here is the story of a missionary who didn't stop praying for and thinking of ways to make the Gospel understandable to people who shared no common experiences.