Hands That Once Killed Now Proclaim The Gospel
The hands that had once been used to kill a man were now being used to remove decayed teeth and share the good news of salvation.
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:26-30
The newest members of the I-DENT team, Jon and Amy Spenn, recently returned from a dental training trip to Papua, Indonesia with mPower Approach, one of ITEC's ministry partners. They were joined by an oral surgeon from the St. Louis area, and they each took bags loaded with dental supplies and the ITEC portable dental chairs. The goal of the trip was to train 6 indigenous Christians in doing basic tooth extractions with the hope that this would give them new opportunities to minister to their communities.
After 5 flights and a 5-hour adventurous car ride over some challenging terrain and dilapidated bridges, they arrived to the remote training site in time to eat lunch with the trainees. They each took turns introducing themselves and telling the story of how God had brought them to the training.
One trainee named Daniel particularly stood out to the team. Daniel is no more than 5 feet tall. While he was already fairly short in stature, he is even smaller due to having Tuberculosis in his spine earlier in life. Daniel is about 30-years-old and grew up in a tribe that once built their homes in the trees to provide shelter from their enemies. As he shared his story, Daniel told of a time that he had been involved in the group killing of a man who had been accused of witchcraft.
Daniel went on to tell how he came to know Christ and how Jesus had radically changed his life over the past 10 years. Instead of living in fear and looking out only for himself and his family, he is now emboldened by the love of Christ to genuinely care for others. This is a demonstration of the transformation that Paul described in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15: "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."
After the trainees learned the classroom portion of the training, patients began to arrive. The local church had pre-registered 215 patients, but very few people from the church actually came. Thankfully, the Lord provided patients through the local Muslim community. Early in the week, one Muslim lady came to the clinic to have two of her top front teeth extracted. Much like the woman at the well in John chapter 4 who went on to tell her entire community about Jesus, this patient was so thrilled with the help she received that she went and told her friends and family to come to the clinic. In fact, she sent so many people that one afternoon was almost entirely dedicated to seeing only her friends and family.
The team was thrilled with the opportunity to serve the Muslim community and is praying that the Lord will harvest the seeds that may have been planted that week as each patient was exposed to the Gospel. The Jesus Film was playing in Indonesian in the "waiting room," and the trainees prayed evangelistic prayers with each patient.
Five of the six trainees graduated from the training and were each able to extract 35-40 teeth. This is well above average number of extractions for a week of training, giving them the experience and confidence they need to continue practicing on their own.
God provided, just like He always does. He does the unexpected and often uses unlikely sources. Daniel, an uneducated, small man, from the detested "lowlands" of Papua, he is the embodiment of 1 Corinthians 1:26-30. While many may see him as a weak and low person of the world, God has chosen him, a Zacchaeus of sorts, to be his ambassador to Papua, Indonesia.
In many ways, it is similar to the story of Mincaye in Ecuador. A few years ago, a video was made called "These Same Hands." Steve Saint tells the story of watching Mincaye take a tooth out on a woman and then pray for her. It was ironic that the same hands that had once speared his father, Nate Saint, were now being used to heal. The same could be said of Daniel. The hands that had once been used to kill a man accused of witchcraft were now being used to remove decayed teeth and share the good news of salvation. It is a story that only God Himself could write. This is the Gospel. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation . . ." (2 Corinthians 5:17).