(I illustrated this story using photo shop)
A missionary is someone who sacrifices daily “comforts” for the sake of the gospel. Following the call of God, he makes great sacrifices, and he places much faith on the Lord. These great servants of God step out in faith and trust Him to provide for their daily needs and protection. Missionaries, their spouses and families, dedicate their entire lives to the work of God.
Here is a story sent by a missionary to the indigenous tribes of Mindanao, Philippines.
Alberto G. Mampalawod tells his story…..
When my family and I first arrived in this remote place in the jungles as missionaries, some people welcomed us, but others did not. Some liked the programs we wanted to implement in the village; others frowned on our ideas. The natives did not want change, especially to hear and know about a loving God in heaven who is very interested in their lives. Most of the people in this place worship the “spirits” of the trees, rivers, rocks and their ancestors. But we tried not to get discouraged. Instead, we gave God our daily problems and relied on His protection.
We had no clue that those who did not like us there had made plans to destroy us. Their first plot to stop our program was to assault my wife. But God intervened when a relative of the perpetrator stopped the incident.
The second plot was to burn our house. On Wednesday evening we went to church for midweek prayer meeting and then went back to our house. At 5:00 o’clock the following morning, a neighbor’s son shouted, “Sir, Sir, your kitchen is burning!” Upon hearing the boy’s screams, I acted quickly and put the fire out. I thanked God for saving our lives.
We realized that as long as we stayed here, our lives will be in danger and those who didn’t want us here, will not stop planning our demise. The enemy was at a rampage and did not want to get defeated. But we continued to cry to God for deliverance.
I heard that one of the angry men planned to shoot me when I was alone. Again, God intervened, and it did not happen.
One angry man did not like that their children were going to church and neglecting their work at home on Sabbath day.
One evening a man came to our house and said, “Sir, will you please stop giving Bible studies to our people or else…something will happen to you. You are the cause of trouble here!”
I said, “Okay….Yes…” but I said to myself, ‘Who will stop the work of God? Only death.’
The following evening the man came back to our house with his bolo (a long, heavy, single-edged machete). He was so enraged; he struck the fence with his bolo cutting part of the fence. He came inside the fence and started to run after me. But in a matter of seconds, I felt a push as if my angel pushed me up to climb the roof of my house. The fence blocked the mad man allowing me to escape while my angel helped me up to the rooftop.
I managed to stand firm and fight for the truth and face the many challenges of life in this place. I have faith in Jesus in this work that He has entrusted to me and I will continue to do this work for as long as I live.
And do you know what happened to those people who once hated me and tried to kill me? Today, all of them had been baptized and had apologized to me and to Jesus Christ. Instead of hate, they now have love in their hearts and many of them are now leaders of the church. God had changed their lives! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Anyone can be changed as long as the person is willing to be changed by God.
Psalms 34:7 “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.”