Stories from Borneo

Stories from Borneo (from Testimony shared by Pastor Au Yong at CDC Service 15/1/05

Expectantly, the four young missionaries approached the looming longhouse, the primary abode of the legendary proud and fierce Iban people. Famed in the past for deadly headhunting skills, the Iban were indeed a people to be reckoned with. For decades, they had been almost completely resistant to the gospel. They were the largest and most difficult to reach of all the tribal groups. However, these four valiant missionaries had refused to be unperturbed, and they continued to pray and preach, from longhouse to longhouse, never giving up, always depending on God. Now, they had begun to see the fruit of their labor. As God continue to pour out His Holy Spirit, Iban lives were being touched across the land, and the missionaries were glad and thankful to the Lord.

Thus, with little trepidation, the four missionaries walked boldly into the longhouse, speaking enthusiastically and passionately of the grace of God, and the salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Among the Iban folk listening attentively to the four men of God, a particularly tall and large man was paying the closest attention. He was a medicine man, a man who had chosen to spend his life in curing and healing the sick. Traveling far and wide across the island, medicine men searched high and low for powers, remedies, herbs and spells, anything at all that would help them in their chosen profession.

Finally, as the missionaries finished their lively testimony, the medicine man spoke. “If Your Jesus is so great, come back here tomorrow morning, and we will see how great He really is.” Surprised, and a little taken aback by this powerful challenge, the missionaries went back and prayed, not knowing what this test would be.

The next morning, the medicine man brought them to a huge tree. As they looked up, they saw a giant hornet’s nest, looming and threatening above them. The medicine man exclaimed “This hornet’s nest has been a great nuisance to our village, and we have tried everything to remove it, but the hornets never leave. If your Jesus is so great, let Him deal with this problem.” The village people had tried to smoke it, burn it, hit it, all to no avail, and they were at a complete loss how to deal with it.

The missionaries looked at each other, not quite sure what to do. Yet, they knew that this was not a struggle against flesh and blood, but the powers, the principalities of the world. Boldly and full of faith, they bound and cast out the hornets in the name of Jesus, knowing that where human endeavor failed, all things were still possible with God.  

First thing the next morning, the large medicine man went out to the field to look, and to his great surprise, the nest and the hornets had completely disappeared, no where to be seen. It was a miracle, and soon, the whole longhouse came to know the Lord, and the medicine man, with his aptitude to the spiritual world, quickly became strong in spiritual things. The missionaries praised God for this newest miracle, which had further strengthened the Spirit’s fire across the land.

Not long after, another crisis happened in the village. An Iban lady was about to deliver, but severe complications arose as the baby came out legs first! No one knew what to do, and the missionaries had left for any village. The poor mother continued screaming in agonizing pain, with the baby stuck and unable to come out. Finally, the father just told the ladies helping her, “Just pull out the baby!”. And so they did. However, the baby lay motionless, blue, no sign of life at all. A great sadness seemed to descend on the people.

Then the medicine man heard the Holy Spirit speak to him, and he gently carried the baby up, and asked the new believers to pray. And pray they did, travailing and crying out to God in great fervor and tears. They prayed and prayed, hour after hour, they did not give up, spurred on by miraculous spiritual energy.

Eight hours later, the baby begin to breathe again, and in a few moments, burst out crying, bringing overwhelming joy to the simple, new believers. They did not know much of the Bible, or theology, but they knew Jesus could heal and that was enough. The Lord had brought life back to the dead baby, and the Iban church knew they would never be the same again.