Tumun's strong faith speaks in death
Tumun's death has heralded a big change among the Bena Benas.
On January 1, her manner of going was different according to the unbelievers who witnessed her death.
"Many times, people who are dying cry out and come and go … and give those of us watching such heaviness to watch them leave," Tumun's husband said. "But Tumun went so quietly." When asked if he knew why she went so quietly, Tumun's husband replied, "She knew God."
"The Bena Benas … believe that all deaths are caused by sorcery. Even when they are labeled as having a "sickness," they usually attribute the sickness to having been caused by sorcery," missionary Dawn Foster wrote.
One of Tumun's Papas acknowledged her death as the result of an illness many people get around the world. He explained to the group of mourners that her death was not caused by sorcery.
"This is the first time, in all of our time here, that we have ever heard these words concerning someone's death. God is doing something big and we get to witness it," Dawn wrote.
Tumun's funeral also opened up an opportunity for Dawn's husband, Rich, to use Tumun as an example for why he came to the Bena Bena people. Rich told the mourners that when he first arrived in Papua New Guinea he attended a funeral where the people were wailing and asking "Where are you going? Where are you?"
"[Rich] told them that is why we came; so they would be able to know where they would go when they died," Dawn wrote. "He told them that Tumun had come and heard the truth about the one road that God has made to go to Heaven and that Rich knew without a doubt that she was with God."
Tumun's faith was strong while she lived and God chose to use her death as an example of His promise to His believers.
Please pray that unbelieving Bena Benas will be curious about Tumun's God and how He took care of her even when she was on her sickbed. Please pray that they too will want to seek God's Word and trust in Him.
On January 1, her manner of going was different according to the unbelievers who witnessed her death.
"Many times, people who are dying cry out and come and go … and give those of us watching such heaviness to watch them leave," Tumun's husband said. "But Tumun went so quietly." When asked if he knew why she went so quietly, Tumun's husband replied, "She knew God."
"The Bena Benas … believe that all deaths are caused by sorcery. Even when they are labeled as having a "sickness," they usually attribute the sickness to having been caused by sorcery," missionary Dawn Foster wrote.
One of Tumun's Papas acknowledged her death as the result of an illness many people get around the world. He explained to the group of mourners that her death was not caused by sorcery.
"This is the first time, in all of our time here, that we have ever heard these words concerning someone's death. God is doing something big and we get to witness it," Dawn wrote.
Tumun's funeral also opened up an opportunity for Dawn's husband, Rich, to use Tumun as an example for why he came to the Bena Bena people. Rich told the mourners that when he first arrived in Papua New Guinea he attended a funeral where the people were wailing and asking "Where are you going? Where are you?"
"[Rich] told them that is why we came; so they would be able to know where they would go when they died," Dawn wrote. "He told them that Tumun had come and heard the truth about the one road that God has made to go to Heaven and that Rich knew without a doubt that she was with God."
Tumun's faith was strong while she lived and God chose to use her death as an example of His promise to His believers.
Please pray that unbelieving Bena Benas will be curious about Tumun's God and how He took care of her even when she was on her sickbed. Please pray that they too will want to seek God's Word and trust in Him.