The Missionaries 8

The Boy Raised From the Dead

A neighbor looked at the lifeless form in the water below and for a brief moment stood
stunned. A Li’s frantic screaming stirred her to action. Jumping into the water she picked
up Jimi and carried him to land. He was not breathing. Immediately she began
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him, but  to no avail. Jimi was dead. Pastor A Bak arrived
and was praying over Jimi.  A Li knelt and cried out to God, asking Him to bring her son
back to life. Jimi’s father was there, attempting to draw water  out of his son’s lungs by
sucking on his mouth. But Jimi was dead. One of the ice factory workers picked up the
boy upside-down and, in vain tried to shake the water out of him.  Strangely, there
was no sign of water in him. They all prayed over Jimi again. But he was dead. Finally,
Pastor A Bak thought it best to take the boy to the local clinic. Along with Jimi’s father
A Bak rushed him on  a motor scooter to the government clinic where the sole doctor in
Ampar was on call. The doctor looked at the little boy as they carried him in and knew the
worst had happened. He shook his head sadly with finality. “He’s gone.” But A Li had learned
as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ: nothing is impossible for God. She knew from Pastor
A Bak’s Bible teaching that God can raise the dead. Ask, and keep asking, the Bible taught.
"Jesus, save my son! He’s the blessing you gave to me. Jesus! Please forgive me of my
sins. Give my son back to me!” she pleaded. The doctor, no stranger to the sudden death of
young children and wails of bereaved parents in Batu Ampar, could not help but shake his
head in sympathy. He had been dead for nearly an hour by now. To spare A Li from false
hope and even more grief, he had to make her understand that it was all over. The
doctor took an instrument and inserted it in Jimmy’s nose.  He called A Li to come near to
look.
“See, there’s no breath in your son. I’m so sorry, but there is no hope, no hope at all for your
son.”

By this time all the servants of the Lord in Batu Ampar had gathered in the clinic around Jimi’s
body to call upon the name of their Lord. A Li put her hand on her son. Pastor A Bak stood at
her side, holding her hand. All of them knelt to pray to God, the God of all mercy and
comfort, the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth. They knelt to call on the
name of the One in whom Abraham believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls
things that are not as if they were. After a while Jimi’s father leaned over his son and put his
mouth over Jimi’s nose. He sucked. Jimi breathed once, just barely. “I heard him breathe!”
shouted A Li over the din of the loud prayers being lifted up to the throne of grace. They all
quieted suddenly. “Jimi breathed!” said A Li. Everyone looked at the still lifeless form. He
wasn’t breathing now. But God had heard their prayers. He had begun to restore breath to
Jimi. As if on cue all the believers in the room let loose a second barrage of prayer into the
heavenlies. Ask, and keep asking, and you shall receive.  Breath began to enter Jimi’s
lungs and he whimpered weakly.  Just once. A Li sensed victory and laid her hands
on her son. With the authority that was hers in Christ she commanded, “In the name of Jesus,
Jimi, come back to life!” Jimi stirred and came back to life.  By this time, a small crowd of
friends and relatives had assembled in the clinic room, including unbelievers. Among them
were local witch doctors and practitioners of secret arts who had heard the news of the
drowning. For a long time they had heard reports of miracles happening among the
Christians in their community. Drawn to the scene by curiosity as well as concern, they
observed the Christians as they knelt before their God and asked for mercy in the name of
the One they called Jesus Christ. It would be unheard of for the boy to come back to life,
they thought among themselves. He had been dead for hours already. Certainly the spirits
they served had no such power. Their skepticism mounted as the minutes ticked away and
the boy remained motionless. But when Jimi began to cry out, though nearly imperceptibly,
their eyebrows arched with astonishment and disbelief. When in the name of Jesus the boy
finally surged back to life, they for a moment at least became believers, clapping their hands
at the dramatic miracle they had seen. “Praise the Lord! your son is saved!” After twenty-four
hours Jimi had recovered from his encounter with death. He was strong enough to talk to his
father.  “Daddy,” he shared, “I was playing on the dock. I fell into the water. I tried to grab hold
of the poles underneath, but the water swept me away. I screamed and shouted, but no one
heard me.” Jimi paused to swallow a precious breath of air before continuing. "After I sank
into the water I couldn’t breathe. But I felt someone lifting me up out of the water. I floated up
with my nose out of the water and my arms stretched out, like Jesus on the cross. Daddy,
it was Jesus. Jesus was holding me up so that no water came into me. Jesus saved me,
Daddy.”

Yes, Jesus was with His disciples in Batu Ampar, Borneo, long after the missionaries who
had brought the gospel to them had gone back home to the United States. God is faithful to
and with His people, regardless of their race, nationality or language.

These stories are extracts taken from the following books which are given away free on the
internet.  Click on the links below to read the full stories.

https://app.box.com/shared/8g8vdvqt5m

http://books.google.co.uk/
Search Books: Joseph Townend Autobiography