Balancing spiritual and physical needs
Every day, Konrad and Betty Binder and their teammates, Nate and Megan Ingoldstad, see the spiritual needs of the Tagbanwa people they live among in the Philippines. And their goal is to help plant a church among them.
But they don’t ignore the physical needs. Quite the opposite.
"Being able to help them in a physical and tangible way has given us opportunities to gain their trust and make bridges into their culture," the Binders wrote. "One of the biggest areas where we are able to express this is through medical work."
Recently they were awakened in the middle of the night to tend to a first-time mother. The birth went without complications, but the placenta did not come out.
"This same exact situation happened almost exactly the same way just over two years ago but with two big differences," Konrad and Betty wrote. "At that time no one on our team was permanently living on the island and consequently we had no way to offer medical assistance. The family tried to save the young mother’s life, but she died on a hard 10 hour boat ride to the nearest hospital."
But in this case, Betty was able to administer medicine to help deliver the placenta, and Konrad and Betty prayed, and the problem was solved. And if saving a life wasn’t good enough, there were other benefits.
"There was a time when the family of the woman who was saved was very hostile towards our team," the Binders wrote, "but now their hearts have been softened toward us and hopefully the Gospel."
Pray for the Binders and their teammates as they build relationships and learn the Tagbanwa culture and language, in pursuit of establishing a body of believers among them.
But they don’t ignore the physical needs. Quite the opposite.
"Being able to help them in a physical and tangible way has given us opportunities to gain their trust and make bridges into their culture," the Binders wrote. "One of the biggest areas where we are able to express this is through medical work."
Recently they were awakened in the middle of the night to tend to a first-time mother. The birth went without complications, but the placenta did not come out.
"This same exact situation happened almost exactly the same way just over two years ago but with two big differences," Konrad and Betty wrote. "At that time no one on our team was permanently living on the island and consequently we had no way to offer medical assistance. The family tried to save the young mother’s life, but she died on a hard 10 hour boat ride to the nearest hospital."
But in this case, Betty was able to administer medicine to help deliver the placenta, and Konrad and Betty prayed, and the problem was solved. And if saving a life wasn’t good enough, there were other benefits.
"There was a time when the family of the woman who was saved was very hostile towards our team," the Binders wrote, "but now their hearts have been softened toward us and hopefully the Gospel."
Pray for the Binders and their teammates as they build relationships and learn the Tagbanwa culture and language, in pursuit of establishing a body of believers among them.