October 27 1997

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Part two of three parts; click here to read part one.

"The water kept coming—you could hear it rushing under the house."

This was the first and only time the Scotts pushed "the panic button"—a switch on the back of the radio that alerted the team at Yarinacocha that an emergency situation was at hand. The Scotts asked for prayer that the water would stop rising. That long, sleepless night they rehearsed the promise in Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you."

"At daybreak, the water was touching the bottom of our floor, but not one of the children was wet. Soon they came in their canoes and took us out."

The village was destroyed by that flood. Gustavo had taken several families and moved east to Gasta Bala and urged the Scotts to join them there. "We went through a fire to move to one place and through a flood to get moved to another place," says Marie.

Gasta Bala has been their tribal home ever since.

The Spirit broke through in 1984 shortly after the flood and subsequent relocation to Gasta Bala. This was the first authentic evidence the Scotts had seen that the Spirit was beginning to operate. Gustavo, who had asked Jesus to be his Owner 20 years earlier, owned up to his wayward lifestyle and repented. "Gustavo was translating the Books of Matthew and John with me," says Scotty. "The Holy Spirit was driving the Word deeply into his 'innermost.' One Sunday, when most of the village had gathered for a meeting, Gustavo stood before his people and said, 'I have been a poor example to you as your chief. Not only have I been getting drunk myself, but I have been bringing the liquor to you. Also I have been living in immorality.' He prayed and asked the Lord to forgive him and said ...