Who Do You Listen To??

Wednesday afternoon there was a knock on the gate and a young man that is dear to our family, Jumbe Sakala, stood there. He said that he needed to  talk to Kendall about something. Jumbe regularly comes to our house to have one-on-one Bible study with Kendall. He has been absent recently because he has been working. During his time away he came across some stories and circumstances that he was not quite sure about and wanted Kendall to share with him what God's Word said on these matters.

Jumbe shared with Kendall that his cousin had AIDS and was taking ARVs to reduce the side effects of the virus. He attended a church that is not Baptist that had instructed him to stop taking his ARVs because faith heals and that he didn't need the medicine. They told him that if he had enough faith that he would not die. Immediatly he stopped taking the ARVs. Soon after he became very very ill and was taken from his home in the bush to the capital city of Lusaka for treatment.

Jumbe wanted to know what Kendall thought about that. Did Kendall think that faith could heal? Should he stop taking the medicines? Why was the church telling him to stop taking them? Did Kendall believe in the spiritual gift of healing? After about an hour long discussion, Kendall summed it up this way,"yes, I believe that faith can heal, but God has given doctors wisdom to help us and medicines to heal us too. But we should continue to pray for healing but not be foolish about the instructions that have been given to us."

Friday morning there was knock at the gate. Kendall answered the gate and came back in the house very soon after. He had a look on his face that I was not quite able to read. He looked me in the eye and said,"It's Jumbe. His cousin died. Remember the one that was told to stop his ARVs? He died. I am so sad." I was stunned. Jumbe was broken. Zeria and I were talking about this and she said, "A person with TB, AIDS, or cancer should never stop taking their medicine. Yes, Jesus heals and we trust Him but we must be wise." She was right. It is very very hard not to be frustrated with the tainted and twisted theologies that are taught in the churches here. If we were to go to this certain denomination they would say, "he died because he didnt have enough faith". Our response would probably be, "he trusted you and had faith enough to stop the medicine." It's times like this that Kendall and I both say how incredibly important doctrine is and how important it is for believers to know what God's Word says. Then you will hear the voice of the Lord and know that it is Him and not Satan speaking lies.

Pray for Kendall as he leads a Bible study each week with the leaders here in Nyimba. He is really focusing on the beliefs of the Baptist church and also teaching about what other religions believe and how we are different from them.
Pray for wisdom. Pray for the leaders and other believers to trust the Lord and look to Him and His Word for guidance in all things.

The last thing Kendall said to Jumbe was, "Jumbe, is there anything in life that you can't find an answer to in God's Word?" Jumbe replied, "No! But why do all of these people add to God's Word when in Revelation it says not to add to or take away from it." What a great reminder to us all!

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17