Greetings!

I am losing count of the miracles that we have seen during this project! Over and over again, we have asked and we have waited and we have seen God do things that we thought would never happen, things that defied logic or our skill or reason. Today, we want to give our praise to God again for reaching across thousands of miles to join our hearts with our Yanomamö brothers and sisters in agreement to move forward.

I was in the process of writing more details to follow up on my urgent, but not very detailed e-mail of a few days ago. Then I received an e-mail from Mike telling me that God had answered our prayers. I guess God uses our prayers even if we don't know the details!

Just so we can tell you more about what God did, here's some info. An issue came to light this week when Mike Dawson wrote an e-mail to me indicating that Timoteo (pastor of the church in Cosh) and some of the other Yanomamö leaders had come to him very discouraged by the events of the past year. We have faced many hurdles in Venezuela, so many that we have moved the filming of the project to Belize. While we (outside of VZ) see this as God’s provision and blessing, the Yanomamö have seen their part becoming smaller. We have been working hard and praying hard to enable them to participate here in Belize and to make sure their story is told in the best, most powerful way possible. All along we have been trying to reassure them that our commitment to them is the same as it has been for the past four years - to tell their story (God’s story among them) and to give them a voice that has been denied them for so long. Right now, they feel that their direct role has become so small that they don’t feel that the project is worth doing. They don’t like the way indians have been portrayed, even in films like End of the Spear. The Yanomamö look at most dramatic films and say that the actors don’t look or act like indians. They are afraid that the Kekchi won’t be able to look and act like Yanomamö. So they are afraid the film will be criticized as inaccurate by anthropologists and other critics.

This was very hard for us to hear. Similar conversations have taken place in the past and they have trusted us and asked us to continue. They really don’t have any understanding of films, the whole process that has been going on, and how stories are told in the outside world. They can only really understand what they can see for themselves. I don’t mean for this to sound paternalistic, but it is difficult for people who are so disconnected from the outside world to fully understand it.

I spoke by phone to Mike this week and I wrote a letter to Timoteo and Bautista. In that letter I tried to let them know that I understand and want to listen to their feelings. I also reminded them of the ways God has opened doors, even while other doors where shut.

I have reminded them that the story we are telling is really God’s story of his power and grace displayed among the Yanomamö people. The minute details of Yanomamö life, how they walk, how they talk, how they do specific things, are not the story. The truth about what God has done in Bautista’s life and in the life of their communities is the most important thing. That truth can be told by the Kekchi as well. This is hard for them to understand, that what we are making is not a documentary teaching people about the life of the Yanomamö. It is a much bigger story, one that God chose to tell through the Yanomamö and now we believe wants to tell by bringing the Kekchi in as partners in the telling.

I also encouraged Timoteo to consider that, if we allow the Venezuelan government and the Enemy to stall or stop us, God’s story will be buried in the jungle. The world will not be able to hear this powerful testimony of what God has done and is doing. We will miss the chance to make God’s name great among the nations if they decide that we can’t let someone else tell the story. I believe that they need to let go of it and let it be told.

Timoteo and the others took some time to pray about it. They are faithful men and I tried hard to trust that God could communicate where I would fail. I am convinced that God is moving here in Belize. I am convinced that we cannot let this moment pass. I am convinced that the Yanomamö can teach the Kekchi and that they can come together as partners in telling this story, for God’s glory.

And, as I said, out of our weakness and doubt, God moved. Yesterday afternoon, Timoteo and the others told Mike that they are fully committed to the film, even if none of them are able to help. They trust that God will use others to tell their story if they are not able. This is truly a miracle, that these (still) fierce people will humbly give up control and trust God and us outsiders. It is hard to convey how much of a miracle this is.

So thank you for your part in praying for all of us. God is changing all of us for His glory.

Thank you for joining with us,

Tom Khazoyan –– Executive Producer, The Enemy God (Yai Wana Naba Laywa) film

[Note: If this is the first time you have received this update, you can read all of our past reports on our web site, www.TheEnemyGod.com under the "News" section.]