Prayer Letter - New Guinea News
(from PNG)

January 11, 2007

Let Me Die



Aaron with his tribal mother – before she was sick.

This is not only a New Guinea News to update you on what is going on, but this is an urgent prayer request. Please take the time to read it and pray.

In 2004, I (Aaron) was adopted into a clan of the Patpatar. This has been a special opportunity to interact with the Patpatar and be more involved with their lives. During the adoption ceremony one of the events was for a Patpatar woman to stand up to show everybody the pig she had bought for the ceremony. Then she had to come and place a shell necklace around my neck. By doing this she was claiming to be my tribal mother and adopted me into the clan.

Since that time I have developed a strong relationship with her and her family. Her name is Magar. This morning I took the truck down to the village to pick her up and take her to the aid post an hour away. For the last week she has been getting weaker and weaker. Her legs and stomach are bloated, she cannot walk, and she is having trouble breathing – all signs of heart failure. She will not eat or sleep. I have been urging her family to take her to the aid post – they always had an excuse. Finally, I went to try to force her to go. After begging and urging I was told that she would not go, she did not want help, and she wants us to let her die. The Patpatar believe it is not good for a person to be away from the village when they die. No amount of persuasion could talk them out of it.

Please pray for Magar. Pray for two things. Pray that her heart would not give out, not yet, and that her health would be restored. Pray also that we will have the chance to clearly explain the Gospel to her before she dies. She is not my physical mother, but she has adopted me into their family. I want nothing more than for her to be adopted into God’s family.

Because He died so we wouldn’t have to,

Aaron