I want to burn my bridges

Elderly Alimpu suddenly interrupted the smoky silence with a fit of deep-chested coughing. Fato, his oldest son, sat beside me on the woven bamboo floor and looked over at his father with deep concern.

Alimpu had been sick for many months. He had not responded to several rounds of antibiotics so we were beginning to fear that he was in the late stages of tuberculosis or lung cancer. His continual fits of wheezing and coughing had stolen his strength to the point that he now was almost completely bedridden. He coughed and coughed, struggling to catch each breath. Gasping for air, he sat up where he had been laying beside the fire, his bony hand holding tightly to the pole frame supporting the firewood rack.

The sight of his frail bony frame and protruding ribs filled me with a fresh wave of grief. From all appearances, my old friend was on his deathbed, with only days left to live.

After Alimpu finished coughing, he lay back on the bamboo floor next to the fire, and eventually his raspy breathing began to subside to a more regular pattern. Then he slowly began to speak.

"I know that I am about to die," he said. "I know that I’m going to die soon, but I’m not afraid anymore. Now that I have heard God’s story, I know that I don’t have to fear death because I am God’s child, and He is going to take me to live with Him at His ground forever."

"Before I heard God’s story, I was terrified by the thought that a spirit might eat me at any moment, causing my death. But now I realize that death comes from my ancestor Adam’s disobedience to God and not from evil spirits lurking in the jungle shadows."

The old man cleared his throat, spit into the fire and continued. "Before I heard God’s story, if I had died, I would have been condemned by God for all the wrong things that I have done, but now that I believe in Jesus’ payment for my wrongs, I understand that God will not condemn me to judgment, but will take me to live with Him at His ground."

"I know that I am God’s son now," Alimpu continued, "and I have heard that you are planning a baptism soon, but I can’t get baptized yet."

"Why don’t you think you can get baptized yet?" I asked.

With great effort, the old man slowly sat up and started speaking about some men who had burned their spiritual objects in a fire.

Fato, seeing my confusion, quickly explained. "He’s talking about those men you told us about when you were teaching the book of Acts who had publicly burned all their books about magic and sorcery to show that they were turning from their trust in the spirits to faith in God’s words."

"I can’t get baptized till I burn my dog spirit bag," Alimpu continued. "I want to burn my bag of spiritual objects in front of everyone in this village before I get baptized so that they will clearly know that I am turning my back on the customs of the ancestors to be fully devoted to Jesus."

"What you are saying is so great," I said, "but please understand that God accepts your simple act of faith in baptism not because you are perfect in every way, but rather because Jesus’ payment for your sins has made you acceptable in His sight. Your trust in Jesus is what makes you completely ready for baptism."

"Oh, I know that," Alimpu responded. "When Jesus died, His blood completely washed away the debt for my many sins, so I am clean in God’s eyes. But still, I want to do what the people in the Bible did, and publicly burn my ties with my past beliefs, so that everyone will know that I am not playing games with God, taking the death of Jesus as if it’s insignificant.

"I want to burn the stuff publicly but I can’t because I am too weak to walk up the trail to the village center," Alimpu said.

"Maybe we could ask the people of the village to come down here to your house so that they could witness you burning your spirit bag in your own yard," I ventured.

"No, no," Alimpu said emphatically. "I need to be able to burn my spirit things in the middle of the village, where everyone will see it plainly, but it’s impossible for me to do it now. There is no way I’m going to be strong enough to do it before the baptism."

I sat there without saying anything while Alimpu’s wife dropped a new chunk of firewood in the fire.

Then I felt the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit. "We know from the stories we have been reading in the Bible that God has the power to heal you. Let’s ask Him to help you recover your strength so that you can go to the village to burn your spirit bag, and then later the strength to walk to the creek to get baptized."

There in that dark and smoky house, we bowed our heads and made the simple request of our father. "God, one of your children wants to get baptized but he can’t because of his poor health. Will you please honor his wish to publicly burn his spirit things and to get baptized by giving him health and strength to walk the trails?"

A week and a half later some little boys came running up to me with an excited announcement. "Alimpu is walking up the trail right now with his spirit bag!"

Sure enough, there was my frail friend leaning heavily on a walking stick, slowly working his way up the hill! It was Saturday, one day before the baptism.

From the middle of village, Alimpu and two other village men pronounced their decision to permanently abandon the trail of the ancestors in order to walk on the new trail that Jesus had cleared.

In front of the entire village Alimpu dropped the bag full of bones and teeth and plants into the flames. The other men tossed in a few plants with purported magical powers, demonstrating that they were joining Alimpu in proclaiming their new faith. The next day these same three men and seven other villagers took a huge step of faith in public baptism.

Father, may you build such trust in the lives of these people out here in the jungle that they will be completely faithful to honor You, and that they will be incredibly bold to take your Word to the many tribal people scattered all over these mountain ranges.