And
the Word Came With Power
How God Met and Changed
A People Forever
—By Joanne Shetler and Patricia
Purvis
“And the Word Came With Power is really a love
story. From the beginning God loved the Balangao people,
proud headhunters who lived on the magnificent rice terraces
of the Philippines. And he loved me, a shy farm girl from
California who was inclined to trust God and dream big dreams.”
(And the Word Came with Power, pg. 7)
Joanne Shetler
sat in her seat, stunned by the missionary’s logic. She
reviewed his numbers in her mind. Only eight percent
of missionary workers are focused on the least reached
areas of the world. The numbers riveted her. They meant
that she
would have to go.
But where will
I go? How will I know what to do? How can I be a missionary?
When will I know that my work is done?
These were her questions. The book And the Word Came
with Power is the story of God’s answers to those questions.
Joanne sensed
God’s call to bring the Bible to people who did not know
Him. She followed this call by joining
Wycliffe
Bible Translators. God sent Joanne deep into the jungles
of the Philippines, a two-day hike across switch-back
trails and steep terraces.
She moved in among
the Balangao people. “Why did you come?” the people asked
her. She told them that she
came to bring
God’s Word. With that Word came power.
When Joanne arrived,
she found one woman waiting for her. Someone once told
Tekla about one true God
who
loved her.
He was stronger than the spirits. Tekla stopped
sacrificing to spirits in hope of finding this God. She
waited,
longing. People became angry with her and pressured
her to sacrifice.
Her strength grew weak. When Joanne found her,
Tekla was near giving into them.
Joanne found other
people in the jungle. She found an old man named Canao
who adopted her as his daughter.
She found
two spirit mediums serving the spirits at the
threat of their lives. She found women dying in childbirth,
and people
tormented
by their sin. Above all she found God to be powerful
and loving enough to extend His hand to them
all.
Before God’s Word
came to the people, the Balangao lived in constant fear.
When a child fell sick,
they wondered
how they offended the spirits. Maybe someone
stepped on a spirit
in the woods. Maybe they disturbed a spirit’s
house. They sacrificed to make amends. The
people had
no power.
As Joanne translated
the Bible into the Balangao language, one by one the Balangao
people came
to trust the one
true God. The entrance of God’s Word brought
light. The men
began preaching it on Sundays. Old women
learned to read and treasure
it. Young men brought it to neighboring villages.
The church sprang up around God’s Word.
And the Word Came
With Power is a story of God’s love and mercy. It is the
true story
of how God
led the
life of
Joanne Shetler and met the lives of the
Balangao people. His power
changed them forever.
