Hard To Reach
I traveled a great distance to visit a backslidden Christian by the name of Mila Magbanua. Upon entering her village I was directed to Mila’s house by a four-year-old girl who turned out to be her little daughter. As I looked around the house, I noticed that Mila’s mother was standing on a chair with a hammer and nails repairing a broken down portion of the wall—a real chore for an elderly woman. I offered to finish the repairs for her. As I worked, I learned that Mila was sick with fever. I decided to give all my remaining garlic capsules to her right then. A few days later when I returned with Edmar, we gave her a treatment for her lung problem together with an encouraging Bible study.
Then one day as we were away she vomited up about a liter of blood. She cried out to her mother and asked for the Bible to be handed to her. As she clenched the Bible she prayed, “Lord, please extend my life, for I have little children.” Amazingly, she felt stronger by the time the ambulance arrived an hour later. In the hospital the doctors could not find the cause of her vomiting. They discharged her after three days. Mila told me, “I thank God for sending you and brother Edmar and Joel to share God’s Word with me. I feel that I’ve won the sweepstakes when I came back to the Lord. Indeed! I have peace and joy in my heart. I now have new hope. My problems are gradually being solved.” As Mila testified of her new experience with God, I shared God’s promises with her. She wrote down the verses on a piece of paper. I shared with her also how God also saved my life and kept me from suicide before I had faith. I shared how, as I learned to trust Jesus, He turned my trials into blessings. Mila is now attending church. Praise God!
Presently I am working to reclaim her entire family. On one recent visit, I discovered that Mila was out of town but her 57 year old mother was there. With a weak countenance, she invited me in to share rice and soup with her and her grandchildren. That was all the food left in their house. Her experience became the theme of our Bible study that very afternoon. I began our study with my experience in time of hardship and trials and how through trials I learned to know my Savior. We then tackled the plan of salvation and how God desperately loves us. By God’s grace, the aged lady confessed to me that she would stop her work as an abortionist. I found out that she was also a backslidden Christian. I showed how God can not bless us if we are holding onto even one sin. When we devote our lives wholly, God will fulfill His covenant, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” A tear fell from her eyes. She decided to come to church that Sabbath with Mila and with her grandchildren. She was not financially able to meet the transportation expense. Presently our family is assisting them with the cost. After realizing that they had no food to eat, I decided to give her my last 50 pesos. I told her that God has a thousand ways to provide that we do not know. “Just have faith in God. Trust His love for you by obeying His word,” I said. Before leaving, I shared the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego standing for truth in face of hunger and even death. Even God’s own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, died for us that we may have eternal life and have His same spirit. As Christ rose from the grave to eternal life, so we will have the same glory when our Lord comes.
Brian Palange