By Hilde Vlaminckx – Missionary Nurse
“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Hebrews 9: 27, 28
This is the story of Bernardine, a lady in her forties who has challenged the above verse by almost dying twice!
Bernardine
She lives in Beangezoka, a small village, 5 km as the crow flies northeast of Mandritsara, but 13 kilometres by “road” (cart track), with about 300 inhabitants.
Around ten years ago, she was brought to the hospital by her mother, after days of labour and not being able to deliver the baby. As she arrived at the hospital, she gave birth to a dead baby. She herself was also more dead than alive. She was unconscious and had a cutaneous eruption which had taken away most of her skin, more particularly on the upper part of her body. She was treated as a severely burnt patient for several months, during which time she stayed in Mandritsara.
She was able to hear the gospel almost every day, but didn’t show any real interest in it, as she was putting all her energy into trying to survive. She was looked after by her daughter, who didn’t go to school during the year of treatment in Mandritsara. I was able to visit her regularly and help her with nutritious food and other needs. She had a lot of skin grafts and eventually was able to go back to her village, with a healed skin but still very weak.
At that time, Beangezoka had a rather flourishing Christian community belonging to the Bible Baptist Church Association of Madagascar, which was the fruit of evangelism through the Good News Hospital project.
The baptism of Bernardine
Bernardine started to attend the local church. And so did her mother who was very grateful for the care her daughter had received in the hospital by which her life had been saved. Bernardine trusted in the Lord and was baptised a couple of years later.
Her mother though was under a lot of pressure from her family, because she possessed, or was rather possessed by, a tromba. A tromba (the ‘o’ is pronounced like the ‘oo’ in stood) is the spirit of a deceased ancestor. One can summon the spirit through trance and ask him advice about the future or about decisions to make. To have a tromba generates money for the person and his or her family. So, when Bernardine’s mother wanted to stop using the tromba, her family wasn’t happy about it. She gave in to the pressure and stopped going to church.
A year or so later, I heard that Bernardine wasn’t well. She was coughing all the time and had become very thin and weak. I sent an urgent message and asked the church leader to bring her to the hospital. She came in and was hospitalised again in a very bad condition. The doctors feared for her life. But, thank God, He had other plans for Bernardine. Again, she survived and got better little by little after being given the right diagnosis and treatment. One of the reasons she hadn’t come earlier to the hospital, was that the family did not want her to go to a Christian hospital.
The village of Beangezoka
After she was able to go back to her village, she continued to go to church faithfully. Her mother, again very grateful for the life of her daughter (she had meanwhile lost another daughter) decided to stop using the tromba and came back to church.
Her mother continues to be a very enthusiastic member of the church, although she has not yet been baptised. But, I am sure this will happen in the coming months, when things get more stable again in the little church that has gone through a hard time.
Prayer Points:
Please, thank the Lord for:
- Bernardine, that she stayed faithful until today, despite rough times
- Her mother: that she had the courage to break with the tromba and is faithful to the Lord until today
- Thank the Lord that so many people who have been treated at the hospital, have heard about salvation through Jesus and accepted Him into their own life
Please, pray for:
- Bernardine’s mother, that she might understand the meaning of baptism and might be baptised soon
- For the little church in Beangezoka: they are going through a hard time. 2 of the 4 members decided not to go to the Bible Baptist Church anymore and are meeting every Sunday in another place in the same village.
- Pray that Bernardine, her mother and Thérèse, another member and the widow of the late pastor of the church, will stand firm in the midst of trouble.
- Pray for the 300 inhabitants of Beangezoka: that the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts and minds, that the devil won’t get hold of this community any more, and that they might be freed from fear of the evil spirits and trust in Jesus.
Save the Date
Friends of Mandritsara Hybrid Prayer Day - 25th October, Cambridge
Join us from 1:00pm for lunch with the prayer meeting starting at 2:00pm. There will be the option to join online, and further details will be sent out closer to the time via the stories mailing list. Click Here for more info.