Comments | vaneramos: Mission to Papua

vaneramos

Mission to Papua

Feb 07, 2006 23:41

A scientific expedition to the jungle of Indonesia's Papua province has discovered dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and palms, and documented mammals extirpated elsewhere. The team flew by helicopter to a boggy lakebed surrounded by forests in the Foja Mountains ( Read more... )

nature, religion, christian fundamentalism

Comments 13

End of the Spear bigmacbear February 8 2006, 07:14:51 UTC

The story behind In the Shadow of the Almighty reminds me of that film that's created so much controversy in Christian circles, End of the Spear. I noticed both Jim and Elisabeth Elliot's names listed as characters portrayed in the film.

However, Elisabeth did not get a writing credit for End of the Spear as would be expected if the screenwriters had used her book as the basis of the screenplay. Rather, it looks as though Jim Hanon, co-writer and director, based the dramatization upon the documentary he wrote and directed last year, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, in which Elisabeth Elliot Gren (her married name I presume) is credited as "Herself", which probably means she was interviewed for the documentary.

Re: End of the Spear vaneramos February 8 2006, 14:12:03 UTC

Wow, it's strange that the story came to mind yesterday, after years of not thinking about it. I hadn't heard of the movie until I googled Jim Elliot last night, and then I didn't realize how recent it was. As far as I can tell from entries at Wikipedia, it is based largely on director Jim Hanon's interviews with Elisabeth Elliot. I might have to see this.

It's weird: last night the Wiki entry for Jim Elliot was just a stub. It said something like "American missionary and martyr." This morning there is an entire article.

Re: End of the Spear vaneramos February 8 2006, 14:15:49 UTC

Looking at earlier revisions, I see the article previously existed but was vandalized.

missprune February 8 2006, 15:07:10 UTC

I read about this on the BBCnews online page, and they had a set of photos of some of the species they have found there. It's probably still available. It was touching to read about animals who are "happy to be picked up" and show no fear. And sad to think how soon that will change.

vaneramos February 9 2006, 17:27:05 UTC

I found out about this from a friend who emailed me a news report, and it contained a series of photographs. I hadn't been able to find the same version anywhere online, but perhaps it came from BBC. I've just subscribed to the BBC science and nature feed.

It seems the tamest wild creatures are either domesticated or eaten. What a shame this leaves us with few opportunities for direct interaction with wildlife.

rsc February 8 2006, 17:43:24 UTC

I read a news report on those discoveries -- I hope they continue exploring the region -- very, very carefully.

I sometimes think I'd like to visit a completely uninhabited, undeveloped jungle like this -- for about an hour and a half and without having to hike dozens of miles to get there. :-)

vaneramos February 9 2006, 17:28:38 UTC

Perhaps I'm overly optimistic about my ability to cope with a wilderness conditions, but one of my dearest fantasies is to visit a place like this. The article mentioned the jungle was so diverse, the scientists didn't have to venture more than a mile from camp.

Then you'll like this oh_bother February 10 2006, 18:53:41 UTC

A friend reccomended this to me and I loved it!
If you haven't already seen this it's a great movie.
http://www.docurama.com/productdetail.html?productid=NV-NVG-5583-NVG-9519

Re: Then you'll like this vaneramos February 11 2006, 16:38:06 UTC

That does look fascinating. Thanks for the recommendation. And welcome.

bohemianvegan February 19 2006, 10:16:45 UTC

Irian Jaya seems interesting. I read about some people there called the Kew people. They were found about twenty years before they were documented. Some people said they existed, some said they didn't. Now people know that they do. They have had little contact with other people and they don't wear any clothes.

vaneramos February 19 2006, 14:40:58 UTC

I did a Google search on the Kew people and came up with next to nothing. I guess there are still some things we can't learn from Wikipedia.

bohemianvegan February 20 2006, 08:57:09 UTC

I read about the Kew people in a book written about missionary work by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in there. It was called "Front Line Irian Jaya" and it was written by Fern Babcock. I don't read much about missionaries anymore, because many Christian books aren't very reliable for resources.

vaneramos February 21 2006, 21:05:18 UTC

I generally don't read Christian material at all anymore. Jim Eliot's story interests me mostly because it made such an impression during an earlier chapter of my life.