A New Approach: Catching Thieves for Christ

Excerpted from ABWE's missionary-at-large Sophie Jenista's newsletter

Jackie and Aida are Filipina missionaries reaching the Lubo, a headhunting tribe in the Philippines. The women live in a remote village three days' hike from Tabuk, the nearest town of any size, and have been attempting to expand their outreach to other headhunting tribes including the Tulgao. The tribes are hostile to outsiders, however, so the pair asked for prayer that they might gain an introduction to these resistant tribes.

Thelma, a deacon's wife in Tabuk, is a successful businesswoman who actively witnesses to businesspeople and gets them involved in the local church. She sells Amway products to help support Jackie and Aida's ministry, and transports the products in her husband's van. Her husband's van was burgled by a group of boys who were discovered to be displaced members of the Tulgao tribe.

When police notified Thelma that they had caught the thieves, she and a friend visited them in jail. They started Bible classes with the young men twice a week. Tearfully the three boys accepted Christ as their Savior. Thelma petitioned for the boys to be released-under guard-to attend church, which they did until their discharge from jail.

The boys' parents invited Jackie and Aida to hold evangelistic meetings in their settlement. The ringleader of the gang of thieves attended and also accepted Christ as Savior, as did several other members of the Tulgao tribe. In his testimony, the ringleader said, "I am glad God allowed our victims to be Christians. That way we heard the Gospel and were saved."

All of the Amway products were returned or reimbursed. The father of one of the boys is the provincial treasurer of the area where the Tulgao tribe is located. He will be able to introduce Jackie and Aida to the Tulgao tribe, who were still headhunting just last month.