New Tribes obeys order to leave tribal lands

CARACAS, Venezuela — Complying with President Hugo Chavez’s order to leave Venezuela’s indigenous lands by Feb. 12, the last two New Tribes Mission (NTM) workers left the area the week of Feb. 6. They joined other NTM staff members at Puerto Ordaz, even as Venezuela’s courts considered New Tribes’ appeal of the expulsion order. Chavez’s edict, published in the Official Gazette Nov. 14, expelled NTM from indigenous lands — not from Venezuela. The tiny churches among Venezuela’s indigenous peoples will be immediately affected. “What we need to pray about is for these people who will take the leadership of their own people,” said Samuel Olson, head of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela.