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A letter from Frank and Nancy Dimmock
in Malawi |
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November 18, 2005
Dear Friends,
In mid-2006 we will be in the United States for one year to do
our “interpretation assignment.” While on furlough,
it’s our joy and privilege to share the story of what God
has been doing in eastern and southern Africa through you and
the PC(USA) and in partnership with the church here. We will be
available on most weekends and for some mid-week meetings from
September 2006 to June 2007. We’ll schedule on a “first
come-first served” basis, but we won’t be responsible
for all our scheduling. The Mission Connections office at the
PC(USA) center in Louisville will keep us busy part of the time.
We will live at Mission Haven, in Decatur, Georgia, with easy
access to the Atlanta airport.
Inviting churches are responsible for our expenses, so please
check your budgets and your calendars and decide when or if you
want one or all of us (we’ll have only four children with
us, as the older three will be in college) to come to speak to
your congregation. We look forward to seeing and sharing with
you.
This has been another amazing year. Walking with the Lord is
nothing if not an adventure! The Crisis Nursery has rescued 115
infants to date, with an increasingly large number of babies in
care each month. We had an average of 30 babies during October.
News of the 100th baby is on the Ministry
of Hope Web site
The story of Jikson is the most dramatic. He was brought to the
nursery as a newborn in December 2004 after the death and burial
of his mother. Imagine our shock when we learned that his mother
had been seen alive in February and again in May. She disappeared
each time, so no one was certain. The baby himself was a puzzle
to the mothers at the nursery. During the day, he was fairly content,
but at night he was tearful, fearful, fretful and wide-eyed, making
jerky movements and screeching noises, as though trying to escape
something. |
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Ten-month-old baby Jikson, smiling and content. |
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A local pastor with a gift of discerning the
spirits was called in. He laid hands on the baby, and with the prayerful
support of all the mothers he broke whatever hold the devil and
his spirits had over baby Jikson in the powerful name of Jesus Christ.
God’s word is true. “Whatever you bind in Heaven will
be bound in earth. Whatever you loose in Heaven will be loosed in
earth.” |
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From that day on, Jikson has been
a different child—sweet, content, eating well, sleeping
peacefully. And he has the most gorgeous smile with double dimples,
which we had not seen previously. Praise the Lord for His power
and release.
Then, in October, Jikson’s mother returned to her village.
Her parents and siblings and the woman who washed her body for
burial all confirmed that this was the woman they had buried in
December. She was severely depressed, and she spoke little and
of strange things. Looking into her eyes, her soul seemed dead,
but her body was alive. How could this be? And if she was alive,
what was buried in her grave? We asked permission of the village
headman and the entire community to bring a group of pastors.
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On November 3, two pastors, one layman,
and two lay women went to the village. They confirmed that this
was the same woman who had been buried in December. The pastors
explained to the gathering at the chief’s house that only
God, not Satan, had the power of resurrection. Something else had
occurred here. The village took courage and decided to exhume the
grave and see for themselves. As they walked to the gravesite the
word got out! The crowd swelled to 400 people. The grave was set
off by itself on an anthill mound, and the casket turned out to
be 10 feet down instead of the normal six—all very strange
occurrences. Dark clouds gathered and a spitting of rain stopped
the digging for a while. When the casket was opened, there was no
body, but a life-sized, wooden caricature of a woman. |
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Jikson and his mother before the exhumation and preaching of the
word.
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The preaching that followed was all
about the power of God, able “to save to the uttermost, those
who are in Christ Jesus.” All 400 people present accepted
the message of a loving and powerful Christ. They went home rejoicing,
freed from the power of fear, and telling others what had happened.
But Jikson’s mother was the biggest miracle of all. She “came
back to life,” eyes sparkling and a smile on her face, freed
from whatever had held her captive. |
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Jikson's mother (right) after the exhumation. |
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God goes to amazing lengths to save His people.
He did it for Jikson’s mother and the people of her village,
and He has done it for each one of us. God became man to redeem
us from sin, from fear, and from the power of the Evil One. He is
indeed “able to save to the uttermost, those who are in Christ
Jesus.” |
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Consider what He has done for
you—because He loves you so much—and have a wonderful
Christmas celebration.
With love,
Frank, Nancy, Nathan, Moses, Jessie, Katie, Andrew, Alifa and
Isaac Dimmock
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
337 |
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