Rami goes to church
The prayers of churches and individuals in America were answered in a Taman village.
Last month missionary Lois Manda asked her prayer partners in the USA to pray for the Taman church and specifically for Gaing and his wife Rami. Shortly after that Rami returned to church after several months’ absence.
Gaing and Rami’s problems started many years ago. They both professed to be believers but Gaing did not leave the cultural practices that kept him from growing in Christ. Drinking alcohol is a very integral part of Taman culture.
“About 6 months ago we started going regularly to Gaing and Rami’s longhouse to work with Gaing’s sister-in-law on translating a set of children’s Bible stories into the Taman language. These two brothers and their families live in apartments that are side-by-side in the longhouse,” wrote Lois.
When Lois and her husband Steve would see Rami she was always glad to see them. But as she became more discouraged her attendance at church was more and more sporadic.
“Several months ago,” wrote Lois, “as we walked down the longhouse porch, Gaing came up to Steve and started talking to him belligerently. It was obvious he had been drinking. He went on and on about how he was going to go back to Satan. His wife, from behind him, indicated that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Another night when we were at Gaing’s brother’s, we could hear him in a drunken rage in the next apartment. Rami seemed to get more and more discouraged about Gaing’s drinking and finally quit coming to church altogether.”
Then Lois asked that the churches in the USA would pray for Gaing and Rami. A few days later Rami came to church.
Lois asked her why she had come to church that morning, when she hadn’t come in so long. Rami said when she got up that morning she hadn’t intended to come to church. But then all of a sudden the thought came to her that she would never turn her back on her mom or dad, and she shouldn’t turn her back on God—she should go to church. So she came. And she was so glad she did.
It was a direct answer to the prayers that came from across the ocean. Rami told Lois that she will never give up on God. Lois encouraged her to let the Holy Spirit speak to Gaing and use her life as a testimony to him.
“The believers would appreciate the prayers of others—they are a very small group, but their lives are shining brightly in the dark culture that they live in,” wrote Lois.