Blessings and Prayers
Jeremy Gable
Hello everyone!
This one is just going to be short (at least I'm planning for it to be short). Shortly after I arrived here, a lady in Bingbilang (a Pelawan village in the lowlands that we pass through to get to the trailhead to Kemantian) came to us complaining about pain in her chest. We were not able to determine what it was for certain, so we sent her to the hospital in Brook's Point where they discovered that she had breast cancer. During the time between then and now, she received as much treatment as possible, but it was determined that the cancer was too far progressed for the treatments available here and so her condition continuously deteriorated. The Kemantian church and all the missionaries here have continued to pray for her throughout all this time. For a few months now, Krisilda has been too weak to speak or move around much. Some time ago, Pastor was visiting her and asked her if she was in any pain. Unable to speak, she simply turn her head slightly to each side in order to answer, "No." Here she was, dying of cancer and too weak to speak, yet feeling no pain. Before he left there that day, he asked her if she wanted to accept Jesus into her heart. With a raising of the eyebrows (the Pelawan equivalent to nodding our heads yes) she said she did! Sitting there next to her, he prayed with her for Jesus to come into her heart, voicing the words she was unable to speak verbally for herself.
This morning, I just found out that Krisilda died (I think last night). While we're all saddened at her passing, there are at LEAST two blessings to be had from this. First, the last couple days she's had lots of pain, so that pain is now ended, along with the pain of living in a sinful world. The second, is that because of the cancer, she knew that her end was near had time to ask Jesus into her heart. Although cancer is a very unpleasant experience to go through, what a priveledge and a blessing she had in knowing that her time was short, and having the opportunity to accept the salvation being freely offered! For Krisilda, sleep came upon her with the divine assurance that she will awake in the last day and look upon the face of her Redeemer. Never more will she struggle to have enough food to eat. Never more will she live in constant fear of the spirits (fallen angels) who hold these people in the grip of fear in every aspect of their lives. At that last day, when the Lord shall descend from Heaven, Krisilda will awake to the face of her Redeemer, a glorified body free from the corruption caused by a sinful world, and everlasting life!
There may be people reading this who are struggling with cancer, or who have family members so afflicted. To all such people, know that the prayers of the missionaries and the people here are with you, and that our hearts go out to you. I encourage you all to look forwards to the return of our loving Savior, and take courage and hope in the knowledge that His love is with you, and that even in this trying ordeal, He has a tremendous blessing for you if you're willing to take it, just as Krisilda did! For those of you who have already accepted Jesus into your hearts, God bless you! Hold fast that which you have! If it's God's will that you be healed of your disease, then you will have your true reward when you finally DO rest, or when you see Him coming in the clouds with glory. If it's not His will for your disease to be healed before His return, but you hold fast your faith, you will have your reward all the sooner! For those who have not yet made the decision to ask Christ into your hearts, I beseech you to wait no longer! You have been given a blessing and a priveledge that few people receive, to know what time is left, and to put your heart right with God while time remains. The Lord's return need not come upon you suddenly, that you are caught unaware. Through your illness, the Jesus is holding out his omnipotent hand in compassionate love, just waiting for you to take it and pull Him close to your heart! Won't you please take His hand?
Father God, thank You so much for the blessing you give us, for the obvious ones, and those that are more difficult to see! Help us to see the wonderful works of Your hand in all aspects of life, both the good times, AND the bad. Help us to take hold of Your loving hand that You may pull us close to You, and that we may pull You close to us. Father I pray now for all those reading this who have yet to ask Your Son into their lives, and also for such people who may be influenced by someone reading this. I ask that You would help them to see the love You're holding out to them, and encourage them to take hold of it.
For those who have not accepted Christ into their hearts yet, but who would like to do so now, Please pray this prayer with me:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You gave Yourself so that my sins can be forgiven, and so I would have the priviledge of everlasting life by Your side. I recognise that only You can fill the emptiness inside me. Only You can banish the darkness from my life. Only You can heal the wounds of my heart and give me peace an joy that will never die. Lord please come into my heart right now. I surrender myself to You fully, that I may know the infinate joy of life at Your side. Thank You Lord, for Your sacrifice. Thank You for hearing my prayer, and for answering it, for I pray all these things in Your holy and righteous name. Amen!
For those of you who prayed that prayer, welcome to a new life in Christ Jesus! You've just begun upon the most exciting adventure in the entire universe! I would be honored and blessed if you would email me and tell me of your decision for Christ, and will do everything I can to help you come to a fuller knowledge of Jesus and His love for you!
And now, I have a prayer request for everyone reading this. Just this past Sabbath, I heard about a woman in Neruhungen [Nuh-roo-hoong-uhn] (a village about 1.5 hours hike from here) who said that if God will take away her desire for cigarettes, then she will come to church and start studying and learning about God! Her name is Mirning [Meer-ning]. If any of you have read the article "Lali's Angel" by Wendy Guptil in Frontier's Magazine (I forget which issue but it's also availabe under Wendy's name on the AFM website: www.afmonline.org) this is the same lady who witnessed the angel during the birth of Lali's child. I would like all of you to have a special season of prayer for her this next Sabbath. I will be praying for her this coming Sabbath morning during prayer meeting at church, which begins at 8:00 am Philippine time. In the States that would be 7pm Central Time on Friday 21. Please join me in this season of prayer for Mirning that she will see God's love for her and give her heart to Him. Thank you so much!
May God bless all of you!
With love in Christ,
Jeremy