Appa and Jonathan are two of the stories of resurrection life that we’ve experienced firsthand here in PNG. Last week Appa spoke to us in his broken English, sharing how God called him, kept him, and is sustaining him. He was born with clubbed hands, a near death sentence in this culture. The right hand has three fingers welded together and an almost normal thumb. The left hand has something like two pointer fingers welded together at the bottom and no other digits. He heard the Jesus story when he was young but it wasn’t until later in life that he called out to God. He married and had a son. The boy was “complete”, Appa said, meaning he had all his fingers and toes and he brought great joy to their lives. When the boy was quite young he became very sick and Appa had to carry him on his shoulders many miles to the doctor. Carrying the child through the mountains, Appa cried out to God for help, for strength, for the life of his son. The child was treated by the doctor and sent home. But by that time, it was nighttime and storming. There are no roads in his region and with the sleeping child on his shoulders, Appa walking the familiar path home, stepped off into nothingness where the path had washed out from the storm. He tumbled over sixty feet down the mountain into a river. Again he cried out for God. He begged God to help him, to let him find the child, to be able to bury the body. But it wasn’t until several days later that some children found the body in the river. Appa’s wife left him then, unable to accept the death of their son. I can’t account to you all the details of this story or I won’t have time to tell you about Jonathan. But Appa continued to trust in God and has given his life to God from those moments when he cried out for help on the way to the doctor. He has re-married and continues to live for Jesus. He has not been shaken. He is making a difference.
Tuesday night after supper in the darkness of another PNG power outage, Jonathan came to us to tell us his story. Gail, a white missionary friend of many years, came to translate his pigeon to English.
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| Appa's telling his story, Gail interpreting |
The missionaries came to Jonathan’s region some years ago. He accepted Jesus when he was ten years old. Because of their sacrifice, teaching and influence, he’s determined to take the Jesus message to the many people in the mountains who haven’t heard. He’s 35, married and has a son. About three years ago, he began to fast and pray about how to take Jesus to the many other people who haven’t heard. Now he and 15 other young men are doing it. They spend a week praying and fasting. Then they gather medicines from the hospital, salt, soap, clothing and food. All these things they load into big sacks which they carry on their backs over three different mountain ranges, about 400 miles. Because there are so many languages in Papua New Guinea and because the people they’re trying to reach are so remote, often they cannot communicate at all. Jonathan said, when a tribe sees them coming, 15 strong young men, they are afraid. But their fear soon turns to joy and tears when they realize the young men have brought them help. Tetanus and other diseases are rampant in PNG. There are vaccines, but because there are no roads to the remote places the people don’t have access. Jon said on every “walk about” his team cleanses infected wounds, boils, and injuries. They give the people soap and try to teach them how washing helps against infection and disease. They provide some clothing and other necessities and try to explain that it is because of Jesus love for them that they have come. He is resolute. His team is making a difference, they are spreading the love of Jesus. They are hands and feet, bringing hope and meeting desperate needs. We asked him, “Where do you sleep?” If there is no village to welcome them, they sleep sitting up against a tree. “What do you eat?” They have enough food for themselves for the first day, but again, if there is no village, they do not eat. As in Appa’s story, there are many details that I cannot share with you in this blog, but I can tell you there are many miracles. These men depend on God. When they come to a river they cannot cross, wide and fast, they count on God to provide a way across. He’s been faithful to them. When they have no other options, he is able to be trusted.
Like the men on the way to Emmaus, we were stirred. “Didn’t his words”, the words of God’s faithfulness “burn in our hearts?” Our faith was provoked and we were humbled as he thanked us over and over for sacrificing our time, money, leaving our family to come to his country to help the hospital, to help his people. Another dichotomy, our faith, our sacrifice – his faith, his sacrifice… truly iron sharpens iron.
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| Men gather to pray for Jonathan with one voice |
These are two of the stories of hope here in this strange and beautiful place. The One and Only God, Faithful and True, the Everlasting Father or “Papa” (as they call him here) of all lands, is here. He is at work pushing back the violence and ancient darkness with the lives of many men and women who love him and are answering his call.
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