We met a man who had been in a horrible altercation, and
as a result had been left with life-threatening machete wounds to his
head and face. When he was taken to the hospital, he was so near death that
the medical staff chose not to repair his wounds and informed his wife
that he would surely die. As he lay dying, the man held his wife's hand
and told her that they needed to turn to God.
And now the good news! God was not ready for this man to leave this
world — He, obviously, had other plans for him! Three days later when
the man had not yet passed, the medical staff decided they would address
his wounds and mangled face. He survived with major deformities-- his nose and one ear
partly gone, front teeth missing, one eye drooping, and a large
triangular skin graft on his face. And when he was eventually released
from care, he and his wife showed up on the doorstep of the house
where our team was staying, asking to hear The Good
News! Incredibly, Jenky, our Filipino team mate, was especially able to
relate to this little family’s situation because when she was three
years old, her own father had suffered similar injuries from a machete
fight — he survived, but was never able to speak again, however her
family came to know the Lord because of that life-altering event. This
man wanted the same for his entire family (very pregnant wife and
2 young children.) The man shared that on at least two previous
occasions in his life, he had nearly met with death, but it took this
tragic near-death experience for God to finally get his attention. We were able to share the wonderful plan of salvation with him and his
wife, and he accepted Christ into his heart! God's love and mercy is infinite!
-Grace