STONE MOUNTAIN, GA – Renew World Outreach was conceived in 1998 on the banks of the Amazon River deep in the heart of the Peruvian jungle. David and Stephanie Palusky had come to realize that their short-term mission trips were insufficient to effectively engage the primitive Urarina tribe with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It’s not that they weren’t welcome. In fact, following an incident in which the tribal leader was miraculously healed after the missionaries prayed effectually and fervently, the people longed to hear the Word of God. The more they heard, the more they wanted to hear.

In fact, the chief specifically challenged David to bring him a Bible in the Urarina language.

The Paluskys met with a Wycliffe Bible Translator who was already in the process of translating the Bible into the Urarina language. The translator suggested that they obtain a copy of The Jesus Film translated into the native language.

Using what portable equipment was available at the time, they returned with The Jesus Film in the Urarina language. David described how the Holy Spirit began to move in an astonishing way.

“These people, who had never even seen a film before, suddenly developed an understanding for Biblical culture. They understood what donkeys were, that it was an angel who spoke to Mary, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees – they even understood the cruel treatment of the Son of God by His own people. Deeply moved, the normally stoic and reserved Urarina wept at the crucifixion of Jesus.”

The Urarina wanted to share the film with other villages, but the reel-to-reel projector and generators were nearly impossible to transport through treacherous terrain and in crude, dugout canoes.

It was then that David drew upon his background in electrical engineering. He developed a portable, solar-powered audio/visual system that could be used by individuals or large groups and operated without connection to electricity or the internet, neither of which were available in the depths of the jungle.

Still, there was more work to be done. The Urarina were more interested in learning and sharing the Gospel than they were in learning how to read and write. They eschewed Bible translations in favor of a better way to listen, learn, and share.

The answer developed by Renew World Outreach was the amazing Papyrus, a hand-held solar-powered audio Bible that is powerful enough to be heard by up to 200 people. Imagine a device as small as a cell phone that can play the Word of God for up to five hours at full volume or for about three times longer at mid-volume and needs only the sunlight to spread the Son’s light.

The device comes loaded with an audio Bible in the native language of the listeners but also has the capacity for adding custom recordings by national missionaries.

Now, Renew World Outreach works with partners around the globe who are committed to reaching the unreached in nations around the world.

The amazing success of the Papyrus can probably be measured best by the testimony of a Urarina man who has come to Christ and wants to share the Gospel with others.

“Jesus! And Love! I never heard about love! I never knew love. Forgiveness? I never knew anything about forgiveness.

“I learned about love and forgiveness and my neighbor (who) I used to fight with. We listen together in our listening group.

“Something has happened to me. God is changing my spirit. My heart aches for the others in my village that do not listen to God’s Word. I hurt for them. I want them to find the things that I have found. I want them to hear what I have heard.”

To read more news on world missions on Missions Box, go here.