I was part of the ship tour’s second outreach in Papua New Guinea (PNG), in the Kikori District of the Gulf Province. I had the privilege of volunteering with the dental team on board the ship. My role was registering new patients and giving instructions to patients after their visit to the dentist.
One day we had a woman come on-board to see the dentist. When I met her during registration I couldn’t help but notice that she had some really bad scars on her neck. After she had her teeth cleaned we asked her about her scars. She told us through our translator that around 5 years ago she had an argument with her mother and tried to kill herself by pouring kerosene on herself and lighting herself on fire.
The translator told her that she should be dead but the Lord has a plan and purpose for her life. He also told her that she had a choice to make… life or death.
She told us that she use to go to church when she was a child but hadn’t for several years. She told us that day in our dental clinic that she wanted to choose life, so she prayed and recommitted her life to Christ!
We were also able to give her some cream for her burns because she said they were still quite painful. The burns stretched from the bottom of her chin to the top of her belly button. She had never been to see a doctor about her burns and didn’t have access to any kind of cream to put on it.
I can’t imagine how hopeless someone must be to light themselves on fire, but the day I met her I was able to witness her make the choice to LIVE, to not just walk away with clean teeth but a joyful heart!
1 comment:
This is so sad, but glad she made the right decision! Nana
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