NEW TRIBES MISSION  |  planting tribal churches

A GLOWING TESTIMONY

A GLOWING TESTIMONY

Tumun is trusting God while suffering from a mysterious illness.

September 8, 2008

by David Bell

The faith a Bena Bena woman is showing as she suffers with health complications has challenged missionary Dawn Foster.

When Dawn noticed Tumun's distended stomach a couple of months ago, she asked if Tumun was pregnant and learned that the woman was ill.

Dawn learned from NTM's doctor in Papua New Guinea that there could be several reasons for the stomach taking on fluids. When Tumun went to a local hospital she was told she had "sik bilong ples." To the people "sick belong place" meant she had been poisoned through sorcery.

Traditionally, the "cure" for this type of sickness was to find the right village witch doctor to combat the sorcery. Without knowing the exact cause of the sickness the search for the right witch doctor could take them in several directions.

Tumun was a faithful attendant when the missionary team taught evangelistic Bible lessons to the Bena Bena people this past year. She only missed three lessons during four months of teaching. She displayed an insatiable hunger for the truths being taught and after the Gospel was presented she placed her faith in Christ's work on the cross.

"A couple of weeks ago," wrote Dawn, "I was visiting with Tumun. She was expressing fear of the illness and the need to treat it the traditional way. … We talked a little about how God is her Father now and He will care for her. … The next time I saw her, she was glowing."

Tumun acknowledged how the Lord was giving her strength in her time of sickness.

"Look at me," she told her unbelieving husband, "I have this big sickness and I shouldn't be able to go to the garden or cook your food, but I ask God and He hears my prayer and gives me the strength."

But her strength has been waning for the past several days. Since she's been unable to attend meetings with the believers, Dawn and her husband, Rich, have visited her and taught her what she missed.

"Thank you for teaching me the lesson," she responded. "I was just sitting here hungry for God's Word and you brought it."

Please pray that God will bring relief to Tumun. Whether that relief comes through healing or through her being ushered into the arms of Christ, pray that Tumun's faith will stimulate others to desire her Savior.

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