Life and Death

“This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.” Acts 2:23-24 NIV.

“Come quick, a man is drowning in the river,” a local man shouted to Southern Baptist volunteers in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Will*, a volunteer from Tennessee, was trained as a search and rescue EMT in the States. He jumped on a motorcycle and raced to the river.

About 30 Indonesians had gathered by the river to watch. Will scanned the river surface looking for bubbles to indicate where the man went down. He asked the people where they last saw the man. Many pointed, and Will jumped into the river.

Will soon learned why no one was willing to jump in after the man. Tricky cross-currents made swimming difficult. Under the surface debris from a collapsed bridge, homes and cars left over from the tsunami made swimming even more treacherous.

“At one point I’m sure I walked over the top of a car,” said Will. “Every time I’d move my hands through the water I’d cut my fingers on glass and junk. It was crazy.” Then Will spotted a fishing net. He grabbed it and pulled it up. The man was tangled in the net. Will hauled him to the river bank and started CPR.

He thought to himself, “Satan, I’m not going to let you get this one.” But it was too late. The man was already dead.

The next day the village leader and twenty village elders visited Will. . The village chief asked him, “Why would you risk your life to pull out one of our dead?”

Will shared how the love of Isa (the Arabic name for Jesus) caused him to come all the way from America because he wanted them all to know that Isa loves them too! In Muslim culture, the act of final rights over a body is very important. Because Will recovered the body, the family was able to perform the final rights and give the man a proper burial. Will’s act of recovering the body also spoke loudly about the sacrificial love of Jesus and may result in new life from another tragic death.

*Name changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

The sacrificial love of volunteers will lead many Indonesians to put their faith in Isa.

God will speak through whatever means necessary to the village leader and elders to confirm Will’s testimony about Isa.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.