Ralph and Christina teaching one evening in our rustic jungle living room…
The word that Americans were living on the Pucuro River among an isolated tribe located near the headwaters was big news to the people in a tiny Choco settlement about a day’s journey downriver by dugout. Ralph and Jay Gunsteens were eager to take some of our new believing Kuna’s on their first missionary trip down river into this community.
I remember the day they took off in the piragua and wondered how these remote people would receive the message God was bringing to them. It was rainy season and the mud was deep as they arrived on the riverbank. This secluded group of Indians had a few horses and cows and the ground was thoroughly contaminated. Ralph, who had his combat boots for just such an occasion, was wearing his flip-flops and sinking deep into the wet ground.
The Choco village a day downriver
Darkness was closing in and the boys were invited to eat and spend the night. The next day they were given an opportunity to open the Word and share God’s love, plan and provision. Ralph and Jay were well received and some of the townspeople even returned a visit to Pucuro in the weeks that followed.
About two weeks after returning to our village, Ralph began to suffer with excruciating abdominal pain. We committed him to our healing God. The limited medical resources available to us interior had been exhausted. Since we were soon due to renew our visas, we decided to take the three-day journey early and leave for Panama City to see if the doctors in the Canal Zone could help us.
The medical doctors realized Ralph had picked up something rare and unusual and unable to find the source after a battery of tests, they sent us to Gorgas Laboratory, the Center for Disease Control for the military in Central America. Ralph was becoming increasingly restless and powerless to cope with the intense pain. He would walk the floor, day and night and had not slept for days. His only few moments of relief came when he would drink a bottle of Coca-Cola!
I knew I had been called to this ministry and I knew God was allowing this exercise for our good, it had divine purpose and would benefit others; yet, this was touching one of God’s most faithful servants and I was stymied!
Have you ever wondered why it is so much more difficult
to watch the pain of someone else ??
The Lab was our last hope. We made an immediate appointment and to our surprise…they could take us in early the next morning! After all, Ralph’s case was intriguing…it came out of the remote jungle! The Lord had opened up a home on the military base for us to use the few days we planned to be in the city and we were grateful for His provision.
That night, Ralph stopped pacing and laid down sometime after midnight. I breathed a sigh of relief. About two hours later, we were jolted by someone breaking the glass on the back door! Literally… breaking into the house! The frantic and hostile man was reaching through the shattered glass and unlocking the latch!
Ralph was instantly on his feet yelling at the intruder! As he left our bedroom, he turned and said, “Safety is in the Lord, Jackie!” As he slammed the door shut, he told me to call the military police and stay with the girls. Panicked and processing, I did as I was told and listened to the scuffle in the hall! There were loud voices and then silence! My heart stopped!!
In a few seconds, Ralph had subdued the man and tapped on our door to tell us we were going to be alright. The intruder was a cocaine addict and knew someone that lived in this borrowed house. He needed money and was desperate to get in!
Have you ever had an intruder violently
invade your place of safety?
This is Part One of this saga…
And Ralph’s prognosis? You won’t believe it…
See you next week to find out…
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
