Word reached us that someone had gotten badly burned, and there was no one to carry him to the clinic. Our willing staff recruited some others to help, and off they went, trekking through the wet jungle foliage until they finally reached the house where Migin resided. Then began the most challenging work: trying to carry a man badly burned on his chest, groin and hands.

The following morning, I walked into Migin’s room. Although he was in extreme pain, his face lit up, happy to see a familiar face. As we chatted, the Holy Spirit increasingly impressed upon my mind that Migin was a very lonely man. Here he was with no one from his family willing to come and stay with him. All his care fell to the nurses to perform, from helping him with toileting needs to feeding him by hand since both his hands were burned.

Migin told me how this recent seizure was the third during which he had been alone and cooking his supper. Unfortunately, during the seizure, he fell into the fire, where he continued burning until he woke up. With no one to help him, he hobbled the best he could the long distance to the house of his father, who sent word for the missionaries to come and help his son.

When Migin started having seizures, his father-in-law prohibited his daughter, Migin’s wife, from staying with him anymore, and so Migin’s wife and children left him.
“If you were to receive treatment for your seizures so that you no longer had them, would your father-in-law allow your wife to return to you?” I asked.
“Probably not,” he responded.

I briefly shared with Migin how much God cared for him and that He would never leave him or forsake him. I explained about a future life where pain or death did not exist and where we could live with the God who loves. When I mentioned that those who follow Jesus would live with Him forever, Migin commented, “This didn’t happen to me because of my sin, did it?”

“We live in a world where the consequences of sin are all around us, but God is not punishing you with seizures and burns.” When I offered to pray for him, he was grateful and thanked me. I sensed he was open to a spiritual conversation.

Migin insisted he did not want to go to the government hospital but would stay at the clinic for treatment. After a couple of days, the skin on one hand started deteriorating to the point that the nurse suggested that Migin needed to be transported that night to get a higher level of care. Those who would carry him were rounded up, and at 10 p.m., they took off with winged feet to meet the public ambulance at the trailhead. We had done all we could.

Nurse Leticia accompanied Migin to the hospital because he had no one to watch him, a requirement for admission. As the medical personnel inspected Migin, they insisted he be transferred to the government hospital in Puerto Princesa, where there was an orthopedic surgeon.

Everyone had raced to save his hand from gangrene, only for him to wait a week to receive adequate care at the main government hospital. The doctor didn’t even visit him for several days. Leticia, finally complaining about the lack of treatment, was suddenly given a date for surgery. When the surgeon came to see Migin, he commented, “If only you had brought him sooner, we could have saved more of his hand.” Leticia held her tongue, knowing the doctor would not take any rebuttal to his misplaced criticism.

Migin now has a stump of an arm and wonders how he will work to sustain himself. Still, he is cheerful. When Leticia returned to Kemantian and told us about her experience, I remembered that we had already been given prosthetic hands, and here was our own Palawano in need.

Migin is at our project farm, where nurse Abigail cares for him until he can return to Kemantian. Our prayer is that God will bring physical and spiritual healing to His lonely child.

Author’s note:

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