Welsen with homemade crutches
Over the past few months, many of you have asked how the believers in Tobo are doing, which missionaries are in the tribe, and what is happening over there. Here is a story from the Mankins who are still working with the believers in Tobo:
“Our considerable time spent in chapters 12 and 13 of Romans alone has been very profitable for the believers here. We have seen a few instances where they have gone above and beyond the cultural norms of helping each other out in the context of family and clan relationships, and also helping those who will then owe them. This “payback” system, (good for good and bad for bad) is prevalent in our area as well as much of the country of PNG. So it was encouraging when Welsen and I went up to visit a lady in the village named Bula.
Bula is lame and her legs and feet are much too weak for her to get around without aid. This confines her to her house and porch, and she has to sit and shuffle back and forth on a rough plank bench leading to her outhouse. In spite of her circumstances, this very kind lady has an excellent sense of humor and an infectious laugh. When Welsen and I got to talking about her plight, we decided that maybe there was some way to help her. So we scrounged up some leftover plywood pieces, some nails were thrown in and her grown sons were all to glad to take it from there and build her a narrow plywood covering the once splintery and uneven plank bench pathway. They even had enough for a nice sitting platform just on her porch to allow her extra comfort when she scoots out from the smoke-filled house to sit and take in the fresh air from time to time.
But as we were discussing what to do, Welsen did not stop there. He suggested that we try to make some wooden crutches for Bula! I donated a couple of old tin cans for the feet, and he selected the wood and carved them himself. So on the Sunday after our church meeting when we first carried up the plywood, we also brought the hand-hewn crutches along with us. Welsen, Ambux, and Musanggi (Asa Selep, or “Grandpa Finger”) and I all pitched in to help, drawing more than a few curious stares from the villagers we passed. When we arrived with the wood, Bula could not contain her tears as she expressed her gratitude. I paused to see what my brothers would say in response and was rewarded with a display of gracious humility as they deflected her praise from ourselves and all to God.
And I too stood there and gave grateful praise to God for, you see, though generosity is very prevalent in Tobo culture, the type of help that we gave was not something that most Tobo people would ever dream about. The typical response would be, “Ah, it’s her sons’ responsibility. Let them take care of her,” or “She’s not in our clan,” (implying also the following: “There is nothing we will get in return, no prestige or big status will come to us from this. She is not a big man in the community either, so is it worth it?”). But of course you readers and I all know that the Spirit of God uses the Word of God in His children to cause them to do good works that transcend and exceed all expectations from the clan and the culture at large. It is one thing to discuss on a Sunday the fact that the Spirit will lead us to help people even if they are not closely related to us or prestigious community members, or to get a big name publically or curry extra favor with God and man. Yes, it is one thing to say these things, and entirely another thing altogether to put these words into action. What a great example of some young believers living out what they’ve been learning from Romans.
God is alive and well and continuing the good work which he began in the Tobo believers. Continue to pray for them. Pray that their love for God would grow deep within their souls and that His love and grace would abound into abundant fruit.
So all may Hear,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp
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