Wendy is one of our students at Malinawon Mission School. She also is the daughter of our village chief and an active member in the church. During midweek prayer meetings she would stand and ask to pray for her backslidden father to come back to church.
One day Wendy became sick. She was so ill she could hardly get up. The nearest hospital was a long river trek and a day hike away. She might die on the trail. Her father, the chief, said, “Get me a white chicken so that I can start my ritual to please the spirit gods in the woods and heal my daughter.”
“No. Please, Father. No, no, no!” Wendy pleaded. “If my God in heaven will allow me to die, so be it. But please do not perform this ritual of a sacrificed chicken.”
She prayed earnestly in her heart for healing. We also prayed for her in our teachers’ cottage and in our church during the prayer meeting.
It is very offensive to offer a prayer when a chief is planning or doing a sacrificial ritual. No one could stop the father as he was obligated to save his daughter from death.
Wendy fell asleep. While she was asleep the father performed the ritual. When she woke up she saw the things her father had used in the ritual.
“Father,” she said, “no amount of ritual can snatch me away from my God. While I was asleep two men in bright white robes were standing by my bedside bringing a message. They said, ‘Wendy, don’t be afraid, and don’t be discouraged in your faith. You tell your father to come back to church because God is coming very soon.’”
Wendy was so ill that finally we convinced her father that we should take her to the hospital. It was worth the trip. She recovered.
When she returned home, imagine who welcomed her. It was her father. He hugged her close. The next Sabbath, Wendy was the first one in church. With her was her father and her whole family.