“What is that sound of wailing coming from the clinic?” I asked David one Friday evening. I had never heard such a sound before and decided to walk to the clinic to find out what was going on. I saw a woman swaying from side to side and singing a very mournful song. I asked another woman who was standing nearby what was going on and why the lady was acting the way she was. I found out that her daughter was very sick, and she was simply crying out in her grief. I was deeply moved by what I had seen, and David and I prayed for the sick woman and her grieving mother. We asked God to bring comfort to the whole family who were gathering around the clinic.

During the night all was quiet at the clinic. But when morning came and we prepared to go to church, there was an eruption of crying and wailing even louder than before. I hurried to the clinic and was able to talk with the nurse. He told me that the daughter had just died of meningitis. They had given her medicine, but it was too late to save her life. Mourners were still arriving at the clinic, wailing loudly. Their crying began to fall into a rhythm like a song as everyone joined in. It is difficult to describe the haunting sadness and despair. The mother of the patient was swaying from side to side. She held an empty plastic bottle, with which she alternately hit her body and the clinic wall in time with the rhythm of the song of lamentation. Thump. Bang. Her face was a picture of total despair.

As I looked at the scene, I thought about how David and I had come to PNG to help people find hope in God. But we had not had a chance to get to know this family and share the gospel with them. I felt so helpless. I wanted so much to offer comforting words from the Bible about the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection.

Please keep us in your prayers as we strive to minister to these precious people who don’t yet know of the eternal life Jesus offers each one of us.

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