The injury was severe and it would take an entire team to save his hand—and possibly to save his life.
Gabinus is a Bible and literacy teacher in his village. And he was just trying to cut open a dry coconut with his long machete. But when he raised the knife, it hit a post above his head and came down unexpectedly to injure his wrist significantly.
It had been 12 hours since the injury and things weren’t looking very good. Even the possible loss of Gabinus’ hand was discussed.
“Well, at least it is not the hand that he writes with,” Gabinus’ friends observed.
“This made us all smile, but a man without a hand in this culture is definitely limited, since these people survive by doing physical labour,” Kelly explains.
After several phone discussions with a mission doctor and much deliberation as well as several attempts to adequately treat the wound, the decision was made to call missionary pilot, Nate Schrag.
“Nate Schrag didn’t miss a beat as he headed out the door to pick up Gabinus,” Kelley says.
An hour and a half later found Gabinus at the airstrip, waiting for Nate’s arrival. “And then, up in the blue sky, there came Nate,” Kelley writes.
“Sorry for calling you on a Sunday—your only day with your family,” Kelley said to Nate.
And she says she loved his reply. “This is what I am here for,” Nate responded.
Kelley loves the way the Lord answered prayer for help, knowing that Gabinus’ injury needed more expertise than they could offer him. She loves how clearly this shows that ministry takes a whole team of people.
“As church planters, our families may be the ones in the tribe,” Kelley writes. “But it takes a host of others in support roles like aviation, medicine, administration and other fields to make the ministry picture complete.”
She continues, “I have heard that when you are a support missionary, it can be hard to describe how your work impacts the nations for Christ. Today it was not hard to see at all.”
Nate was able to get Gabinus to a hospital quickly for his severe injury to be treated. Gabinus was able to keep his hand.
Nate updates, “Gabinus is doing well and goes back to the hospital this week to check if he will be able to move all his fingers. But he is alive and did not die of shock, thanks to the teamwork of missionaries here. Praise the Lord!”
Kelley asks, “Please pray for the Papua New Guinea aviation program. We are hurting here in many ways and the aviation team is carrying a tremendous load. Please pray for more pilots and for the acquiring of the Kodiak airplane that will be able to serve the tribal churches of this area.”
You can pray about these needs. And while you’re praying, maybe you should ask God, too, if He wants you to join the team as a church planter or medical missionary or missionary pilot or in another role. Find out how to take that first step.
