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An Indigenous group in Colombia known as the Embera people is experiencing the gospel in unique ways thanks to one missionary couple.
Before moving to Medellín to work with the Embera, missionaries, Travis and Beth Burkhalter, worked in the Amazon jungle.
The Embera people group were driven from their homeland of Chocó and has been living in poverty and under the rule of drug cartels for a few decades.
Many Embera families have crowded into a place called Niquitauo, where many have set up shacks to fit up to 8 people with no running water, kitchen, and just enough room for mats to sleep on.
The Burkhalters visit these shacks often to connect with the Embera. They've also taken the time to learn their language, Embera Katío of Alto Andagueda, even though it's only a spoken language. There are one of the only 'outsiders' who can speak it.
"The one mom who asked us for prayer, the first one – her husband is actually a shaman, a witch doctor – so it's just ironic and cool that she recognized that maybe we have more power than her own husband that he uses," said Travis in an interview with CBN.
Travis and Beth created a space they call Casa Embera where the children can come before going to school. In this space they are fed a nutritious breakfast, watch TV, learn Spanish, as well as hear about the gospel of Jesus. This space was created to fill a need.
Many of the Embera mothers leave for most of the day, sometimes even through the night, to beg on the streets for enough money to feed their kids.
"Because of the stress, the moms have to get up early," said Beth. "They have to go out into the street where they beg all day. They come home late at night, and sometimes their husbands are drunk and will beat them. There's a lot of violence, family violence. Then the kids, I think, feel that pressure as well, feel the stress – it's difficult, even the kids who come to our ministry house because sometimes they come, and they just want to sleep in the morning. They don't want to do their schoolwork because they've been up all night begging on the streets with their parents."
Travis has been working with translators to find ways of sharing the gospel through stories, since the language doesn't have direct words for gratitude, faith, or salvation.
Purposeful Work
While Travis works on translating stories from the Bible, Beth found a way to help the women get off the street and away from danger.
"What if I help them come up with some cute designs, and if they could just sell one pair of earrings, they could make enough to pay for their daily rent, and their daily food. That was like my basic goal," said Beth.
Four years ago that idea sparked the Embera Bead Project. This means packaging handmade jewelry to sell worldwide, which in turn helps families fight poverty and restore hope one bead at a time.
"We know that God has given this space, all these things we're doing, so we can share the gospel. We hope more people come to faith in Christ. Our dream is to plant a church amongst our people group, to build believers and make disciples among them."