UPDATE: Tortured by Fire

From Dr. T

Dr. T and his wife, an RN, are medical international workers who have served at our hospital for more than 30 years. The following excerpted adaptation of their recent newsletter includes an update about three local Christians burned by demon worshipping villagers in mid-September:

I am happy to report that the three Christian men who were tortured by fire recently in "B" village are still hospitalized but doing well.

When I left them 10 days, ago their skin grafts were slowly bonding to the raw undersides of their feet, although not completely. Continue to pray for complete healing. Two feet aren’t healing quickly-one of Pastor "M" and one of elder "J".

Pray for Strength, Justice

News from "B" and its neighboring village of "E"-where the Guevede mission station was located among the Mitsogo people-is not as good. So far there have been no arrests, and the Christians from both villages are living in fear.

Police have indicated that they will help Pastor "M" and the other two men file a convincing charge against those who burned their feet with kerosene and torches. Pray that those responsible will be brought to justice and that believers in these villages will stand strong.

Many who used to identify themselves as Christians no longer gather to worship Jesus; the majority of the population in the area has returned to worship a demon god.

Tension with a Purpose

At Lausanne III in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. John Piper eloquently stated the twofold tension we constantly struggle to uphold-what Jesus calls us to faithfully keep before us as we serve Him in this broken world:

“Our compassionate hearts must always go toward the poor, toward the disenfranchised, to where injustice is found. This is the heart of the gospel: to bind the broken, to bring healing; to bring light in order to ALLEVIATE A SUFFERING WORLD.

“Our compassionate hearts must always be toward the lost, to those who have never heard God’s redeeming story, toward the darkness-to move into the dark and hopeless neighborhoods in order to bring salvation, to bring hope, to bring light in order to ALLEVIATE ETERNAL SUFFERING.”