A Conduit
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” - Rev. 12:11
Nella (1968-2002)
Nella retained few illusions about ministry among Muslims. Despite multiple efforts to establish a beachhead for Christ among the various villages she befriended through the years, there remained one final act of surrenderedness.
Nella was newly 34 years old at the time of her death. As I think back to the moment my husband and I held her limp body while she extracted her last breath, God’s faithful ways come flooding to my mind. I recall how we met her in 1995 while we were still living in another region of Southeast Asia. At the same time as we were preparing to move to the SaSumBi area, the Lord had also placed the same Unreached People Group upon Nella’s heart.
In preparation for ministering to the SaSumBi, Nella and I began meeting weekly. Nella desired to learn the finer points of dialoguing with Muslims about Christ in a contextualized way. Resultantly, I began to take her out to engage Muslim women in order to help model this process. My husband and I continued to encourage her to join us in launching a Kingdom Movement (CPM/DMM) among a neighboring UPG in the SaSumBi area.
As we began our efforts in that new area, the Lord graciously provided a way for Nella to enter villages as a kindergarten teacher. She needed a legitimate reason to be in these places as they were, and still are, almost exclusively Muslim. Outsiders are typically frowned upon and suspicions run high toward those outsiders who attempt to share Christ with them.
After seven years and three foiled attempts to open a kindergarten, Nella continued to persevere. That is, until she died of pulmonary edema and other complications. Her lungs filled with fluid and she slowly suffocated to death before our eyes. The minimal medical help available was ineffective in treating her condition.
The Lord had used Nella in my own life. Through the many years of coming alongside, equipping, and loving her, I was the one impacted by her adoration of the Savior. Is not that often the case? Those whom we disciple, often times, in turn become conduits of God’s blessing in our own lives.
In reflecting upon her death, I was struck by how much the Lord desires us to learn to love through His power alone. Surrender of everything God has blessed us with can be a joy, but ultimately it is the choice to obey Him out of love that matters most.
Your pain has changed me
Your dream inspires
Your face a memory
Your hope, a fire
Your courage asks me, “What I’m afraid of?”
Your courage asks me, “What I am made of ?”
“And what I know of Love?”
“And what I know of God?”-Sara Groves
Reflections to Ponder
►Pray for workers among the SaSumBi and new house fellowships to increase in the deep abiding love for the worthiness of Jesus, no matter the cost.
Father, thank You that you have promised overcoming faith by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony for those focused upon the SaSumBi. Cause their hearts to move more and more into the lifestyle of loving their lives not unto death, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment