This story contains graphic elements.
Indonesia (MNN) — Everything changes when fear of the spirit world turns to faith in Christ. Nathan Fagerlie is a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship. He shared a story about an Indonesian community where MAF was a lifeline for local missionaries.
“Often, without the airplane and without missionaries coming into a village, the infant mortality rate is about 80%, meaning four out of five kids do not make it past the age of two,” he says.
Papua, Indonesia (Courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship)
One couple in the village had lost five children. When their sixth child was born, a girl, the father said she would die too and rejected her.
But her mother believed that naming the child Madhu (meaning “worm”) and disfiguring her would keep evil spirits away.
“She took a knife and cut off both pinky fingers off this beautiful infant baby, and then took the knife and just made multiple cuts on her face and body,” Fagerlie says. “The whole point was to try and make this child as unappealing as possible, so maybe the spirits would leave her alone and that she wouldn’t die.
“The gospel comes in, though, and it changes. It changes people, changes the cultures. In this area now, instead of feeling like they’ve got to mutilate or harm their kids in order to keep them alive, they start using the names of the kids as a way to celebrate the attributes of God.”
Today, parents in the area might give their children names with meanings like “God hears us” or “Compassion.” And that little baby girl, Madhu? …
“This girl that her father rejected, that was mutilated, is now a strong, faithful believer, and she’s known in the village for producing some amazing songs that glorify her Father in heaven, who hasn’t rejected her,” Fagerlie says.
Praise God for his redemption in hard stories like these, and pray for missionaries that MAF supports in other spiritually dark communities!
“They’re in a constant battle in that sense, too, spiritually, as they’re trying to bring light into a place that resists it,” says Fagerlie.
Pray that these missionaries would be protected and see the gospel change people’s lives.
You can learn more about MAF here.
Header photo of Papua outdoor education, 2025, courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship.
