1952JUNGLE BLOOD HUNTERS

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] in the wildest parts of indochina not only the beast of the forest thirst for blood but man himself as well we call our primitive people jungle blood hunters for they continually offer the blood of animals to appease the demons some offer human blood while we were working here in cambodia in 1929 we found ourselves on the border of this vast tribal empire these many scores of primitive tribes had never had one ray of gospel light they had never heard the name of the lord jesus christ the redeemer of all mankind god opened the door for us in 1934 to follow a trail two hundred miles into the heart of this southern tribal area and we settled in a little strategic town called bon me tua here we were surrounded by many wild animals and hundreds of thousands of these semi-savage tribes people we learned two of these tribal dialects the panong and the rad aids we began immediately to translate portions of the word of god into these two languages despite great difficulties and severe restrictions the lord opened the door for us to enter the manom naraday and the jurai tribes in 1941 when the japanese invaded indochina and we had to leave there were many hundreds of these people who had turned to the lord jesus christ and the work was well established it was not until january 1947 that we were able to return to our jungles after the war we found the land torn by internal strife and political chaos only the cities were in the hands of the french the great country districts were still in the hands of the viet minh this meant that travel was very difficult and dangerous the commerce of the country moved in long military convoys and these were often attacked and sometimes destroyed with us we had some necessary tools a dodge car and a stinson plane in order to facilitate the advance of the gospel and to achieve quick results the missionary needs the proper means of transportation with our car we can travel thousands of miles of roads and trails and even drive up to the very long house steps of our people we found the plane indispensable in this time of war business trips to saigon the port city to lent to dalat our mission headquarters transporting of missionaries and native workers the opening of new tribal centers and the establishing of our new leprosarium kept this little plane busy almost every day when we arrived at saigon to begin our third term of service the unloading facilities were badly organized because there was a holiday so that we had to take charge of it ourselves we improvised slings with ropes and planks down in the heart stifling hole and held a breath as the car finally came up and up and swung over the side of the dock below next the 23-foot crate containing our plane was unloaded and under the supervision of some military officers it was set up at the saigon airport some time elapsed before we received the necessary papers to fly the plane for this was wartime and the plane was of american registry [Music] [Music] we drove our car through the dangerous part of the trip to bond meteorite as fast as the torn up roads would permit out of danger in dense jungle country we had to stop frequently to cut through trees blown down in a recent storm home at last we were happy to be back among our brown-skinned jungle folk again and the doors to missionary work were wide open [Music] authorization was finally received to fly the plane with no radio beams or adequate weather information available flying over indochina can be very dangerous find me to it lay below at last an hour and a half after leaving saigon [Music] [Music] around our jungle town are vast rubber tea and coffee plantations here they are picking tea in small plantations they roll the tea leaves on the floor with their bare feet which may account for some of the flavor but large plantations use machinery they know how to pluck just the tenderest leaves and new shoots [Music] and here is coffee [Music] the coffee beans are enclosed in these cherry-like pods and gleam like rubies in the setting of dark glossy green leaves thousands of square miles of this country are planted in rubber trees the white elastic latex oozes out when the bark is cut it is processed and smoked in large factories before being shipped to all parts of the world the tribe's people give us many pets who could resist a bundle of mist like jojo he is so afraid of this big elephant and is screeching tediously here the rowdy is dragging a baby civic cat pulling it by its ear he likes to ride on corki's back cowboy fashion and sometimes he sleeps there all night long here are butch jenny grandpa and jojo our boy stanley they crave our affection with them around there's never a dull moment skittlescattle loves his bottle of sweetened condensed milk he's smaller than my hand [Music] that's a mean trick leaving me alone with my bottle how do you expect the fella to get it [Music] there's nothing like a bit of salad to keep a fella in good health [Music] he is so light but when he sits on my hand as i type right i can hardly feel him there [Music] [Music] [Music] here's the prize of them all our baby given eight [Music] he is all arms he has no tail and he has very short legs he spends the greater part of his life hanging by his arms in the highest jungle trees here he is some months later with his soft beige colored fur he'll soon be turning jet black he's almost black now you can see that hopalong casserole isn't used to being on the ground he has to balance himself with his arms in the air but he surely loves us [Music] here's the rare blue eight called the spectacled langur it's only a month old here now it's five months later and her name is pansy she is very gentle these pets help to cheer us when sometimes the days are hard and bleak and they often give us much needed relaxation have you ever seen a deer as small as this even when fully grown it is like a dainty toy less than a foot high and its hoofs are smaller than your little fingernail but you can bound with surprising speed [Music] [Music] and here's our civet cat almost fully grown although he is cousin to the skunk this tree climbing variety has no musky smell leslie's wild boar provided us with the best meat in the jungle how would you like a slice with fresh tea or coffee right out of the garden [Music] this ham stanley holds was going to be smoked and cured while our dodge was being repaired in saigon we used this borrowed jeep to go preaching in the villages for several days [Music] stanley and leslie accompany us on this adventure after the camping equipment is tied on there is little room left for the passengers the bible woman sits beside mrs smith we go joyfully to sew the precious seed of the gospel and we are the first to take the message to these people [Music] wild peacocks ahead the rare green shouldered variety see it there on the stump and another there on the left they are as good eating as turkey any day and when they grow their long tails their plumage is gorgeous at the end of the road we mount elephants for the rest of the trip through this frontier land of marsh and jungle each elephant has its own driver called the mahout we pack pillows and blankets around and under us so that we won't feel too much the slats of the narrow cage that hit our backs at every step it's a long six-hour journey at two miles an hour to the rade village called bunyam drop jerking and lurching along on these giant specimens of an almost bygone age the how to sway and rise and fall like boats in the waves we would be cripples if we didn't learn how to relax on our colossal and temperamental vehicles we visit the radar in a field where the rice is to be sold here under the shade of the branches of a sacred tree stuck into the ground in the middle of the field they meet first to sacrifice to the demons this is their religion a little pig has been killed now they cut the throat of a chicken and take its blood in a bowl this is offered to the evil spirits to assure good crops and then sprinkled on the seed rice the drinking of rice alcohol from these glazed brown jars always accompanies their sacrifices through long reads they suck the strong fermented beer that is the curse of their race the sorcerer prays to appease the demons the woman owner of the field sits by her seed rights pretty ratty girls dressed in their best handwoven skirts and vests play on their flute-like instruments to please the spirits every big occasion like seeding harvesting marriages and funerals is made festive by feasting and drinking after the sacrifice [Music] all demons of the north south east and west demons big and little demons of the trees rocks and whirlpools come see the blood of this pig and chicken and give us good crops make the rains come don't let the monkeys the civet cats the deer the wild boar or the peacocks ravish our young sprouts [Music] the woman owner tosses some cucumber and pumpkin seeds on the top of the grain which with the axe head and other things are part of the ritual now the men march in rows up and down the fields digging holes to receive the seeds for weeks the owners have worked clearing the jungle and today the neighbors join in sowing seed the trees have been felled and burned the weeds partially removed and the surface has been scraped with little holes the women fill up these bamboo tubes with the grain and follow the men dropping the seeds into the holes with the end of their cubes they push the dirt in to cover the seeds look sometimes as if they are leaving plenty on the outside for the wild peacocks roosters and pigeons as they sow their rice seed we come to sow the precious gospel scene aren't these bright young girls and men worth saving there's promise in this soil ah here is the owner of the field she is more careful [Music] in the months to come they live in these field shacks to protect their growing grain from the wild animals harvest time has come to this field this little fella would make a nice pet but they wouldn't sell him for love or money he's part of the family they told me we could never part with him [Music] the neighbors helped to thresh out the grain with their feet and this is also god's harvest time for the tribe's people the precious grain must be gathered in now or never there must be no delay a harvest calls for immediate action the great opportunity is right now this generation's harvest is the responsibility of this generation the master's command is go ye he will show you just how you can go [Music] here as at seeding time a sacrifice is made sorcerer earnestly calls on the demons this is very real to him oh rice spirits don't let the wild elephants come and eat our stored up grain don't let the fire burn up our granary don't let the evil wind bring sickness or death come and eat this chicken and pig drink some of this rice wine give us good health with bodies as light as cotton give us well-being with feet as light as feathers give us good luck listen to my words seal what i say this is all i say o rice spirits this is their main sacrifice they have broken the buffalo's legs their religion calls for the heartblood to offer to the demons the more the animal cries out the longer it takes to die the better the demons like it usually takes half an hour this goes on every day in the villages our tribal area is under the protection of the french government and every few years the village chiefs renew their oath of allegiance the french administrator at van mitut called in the ready and manome chiefs representing hundreds of villages in this one region they are dressed in the picturesque hand-woven costumes of their tribes this is an historic occasion as for the first time his majesty bowday chief of state for vietnam shared with the french high commissioner the expression of loyalty of these tribes henceforth these mountaineers of indochina come under the direct supervision of his majesty bowday here he formally accepts from the french government the personal oversight of this high plateau land and he pledges his support of the tribes french planters are among the spectators the french high commissioner mr pinyon assures the tribesmen that they will be protected from their enemies and that their well-being will be guarded as they remain loyal to his majesty [Laughter] [Music] the traditional friendship gift of uncooked rice and an egg is offered to the high officials they in turn acknowledge this demonstration of allegiance by touching the pact making him first come the radar then the chiefs of the manong prath tribe the red-coated sorcerers prepare to chant prayers to evil spirits to assure the good health of the two officials bracelets making a pact with the demons are slipped on their wrists four buffaloes have just been sacrificed and their heads lie in front of the alcohol jars a ready chief assists at each jar accompanying the sacrifice the gongs clang out in rhythmic beats wild and strange [Music] nearly three hundred elephants have been brought into band metuhat from nearby villages to give their salute where else in the world could we find so many all at once [Music] they walk in dignified poise to march up to the tribune 10 abreast in front of the sacrificed buffaloes they kneel some wilder ones object noisily to me they trumpet in high-pitched chilling blasts our tribe's people saw off their top front teeth this hideous custom is one of the rites of passage into manhood and into womanhood it is a proof that they are courageous and ready to be counted as adult members of the tribe no boy could get a wife no girl could get a husband unless they submitted to this initiation ceremony they would be called cowards and be ridiculed for their long white teeth like dogs and pigs the stumps are frequently lacquered black this little 10 year old girl in a few minutes will undergo this cruel operation she has just had the last meal she will be able to eat for several days the man files his crude little saw to sharpen besides the saw the file and three harvesting knives are used she takes no narcotics no anesthetics and there are no antiseptic precautions a dirty piece of rolled up rag is now placed across the girl's open mouth for her to bite on the man begins at once to saw hard right up close to the guns and the blood flows freely the girl does not make a sound nor does she move the sweat stands out on her forehead and her heart thumps hard and faster [Music] there goes one tooth there's another one by one this upper front teeth are cut off at the guns it's all over now the operator rests burning sticks with hot black lacquer dripping from them are brought to her she rubs this into her bleeding gums to cauterize them and to help allay some of the pain in her six open jumping teeth nerves her face wells up and from now on her facial features will be quite changed this is heathenism it is not pleasant to hear about nor to look at the boys and girls in our tribes land all go through this horrible ordeal the gospel alone can do away with this devilish practice we must do something about it we are our brother's keepers let us not close our hearts to the sound and sight of our brother's blood it calleth unto us from the ground the horrors of heathenism must be revealed in all honesty will we sit by and do nothing we dare not jesus loves the little children they are in desperate means will you listen to the sob of these thousands of children will you think earnestly about them look at them until you are appalled until you are shaken until you cannot sleep until you cannot criticize here's the answer say to evangelists in within a few gospels preached by a radio all these people believed and they built their own little chapel here to meet him the very man that performed that awful operation is now one of the christian leaders of that group see him there on the left-hand side he worked as hard as any of the others to erect their meeting place we will never more cut off children's teeth since then this little chapel has been replaced by a larger one but there are now 90 christians there and many more are turning to the lord there is the evangelist and his wife how would you like to help us train men and women like this by supporting them in bible school and helping us to erect dormitories for them at christmas time the ban mitut chapel overflows what meetings we have had in this place times of great revival and blessing as these former blood hunters meet in christian fellowship we saw these people at this conference moved upon by the holy spirit as they stood by dozens broken and weeping over their sins and striving in prayer for the salvation of their loved ones one meeting started at 10 am and lasted without a break until 3 30 in the afternoon our colleagues reverend and mrs bob zemer of toledo ohio received gifts on christmas morning as part of their ministry they are head of our bible school and he hopes soon to have the whole bible translated into the ratty language with the aid of the native evangelist the chapel had to be enlarged and at the rear three classrooms were added for the bible school students study six months then go out into the work for six months we find our people capable of grasping the deepest doctrines in the word of god the chapel at plate coup the center of the great jurai banhara is now in charge of reverend and mrs grady mangum orlando florida they too have a flourishing bible school and are working hard on bible translation work hundreds of tribes people have accepted christ in their vast district and a number of outstations have been opened in charge of natives mr mrs tin vietnamese missionary we gather at bond metroid for one of the great baptismal services this is some of the fruit of god's heart every one of these 125 sitting there around the communion table in the open air is to be baptized [Music] they have given up their old animal sacrifices and have accepted the sacrifice of god son on the cross some of those are now our fine evangelists in 1934 when mrs smith and i first entered this tribal area not a soul had ever heard the gospel now there are missionaries and mission stations dozens of native churches and spores of native evangelists and the christians may be numbered by the thousands while we are privileged to reap in some of this great harvest there are vast fields waiting yet to be plowed and sown in this rushing jungle scream at munyam drop which we visited by elephant back the native worker leads the christians and singing as 75 prepare to be baptized a man has to hold me by the belt to keep him from being swept down the evangelist leads them in their favorite hymn there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from emmanuel things and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains [Music] therefore if any man be in christ he is a new creature old things have passed away and all things are become new 75 baptized off go the old sacrificial bracelets that were packed with the devil the lord jesus christ can break every fetter and set the prisoners free throw them into the river we're marching to zion they sing as they file back up the jungle trail to the village they are presenting their offerings to the lord evangelist jackie burris came from america to visit these people and brought great blessing to the world we give our hearts first of all to the lord they said as they gave joyfully out of their extreme poverty the top wages of these men for a hard day's labor is about 25 cents everyone brought something even the little children had flowers to give chickens eggs and rice were presented to us for the support of their own native worker some newly converted that very day gave us their sacrificial bracelets they are not afraid of the demons anymore jesus is victor truly the gospel is the power of god unto salvation to everyone the believers the man in the white shoes standing behind us is one of our native evangelists named gore [Music] better bring a bigger bin than that to put your offerings in the christians at you are giving their tithes of the rice harvest to the lord look at it all you'll never get it all into that tiny bamboo bin here they come there's a lot of rice there this is progress this is establishing the native church in this village they are self-supporting now the romance of the indigenous church in action see their native preacher in the red sweater see the preacher smiling now he's going to have enough rice for a whole year they're giving cheerfully of their own free will bring on the sacks this is only the beginning we pray to get many more villages like this and even bring a love offering of fruit and flowers and some hulled rice these christians from bunkeet a village near us visited our home leslie and stanley were with us at this time many of these ready people have found christ right there on that veranda eight from this one village are now our native workers [Music] here is one of them he [ __ ] mr purple he is a deep man of god here is emil whose story mrs smith has put into flannelgrass he has established several flourishing native churches mr mrs newng on the right are vietnamese missionaries to the tribes they have done a marvelous work for god and are our valiant co-workers the hum formerly a star pupil at the french government school is now pastor of the mother church at submit to it he and his little wife akron are on fire for god we want many more such native evangelists as these they win hundreds of converts if we can get 200 more native evangelists in our bandit area we believe that we can evangelize the minoan and the ready tribes in our time we want to blaze new trails far beyond our present frontiers we believe that we must extend his kingdom throughout this land we want you to to glow with enthusiasm for these poor tribes people all church of christ what wilt thou say when in the awful judgment day they charge thee with their doom may you cry out oh lord let me do something for them too until you beg the favor of sharing in this harvesting among the tribes [Music] [Music] you