Meanest Man In Bomet, Kenya

Mike: Dr. David Killel is senior chaplain for one of the largest and oldest Christian missionary hospitals in all of Africa. Dr. Killel has seen a lot of suffering and a lot of evil in his many years at Tynweck Hospital in Bomet, Kenya. But he points to a man named Joseph as the meanest person he has ever met.

Dr. Killel: He came from my village, this person, and this person is one of the wickedest men I can think of in the whole world. He is so bad. When I mean it, I mean it. Sometimes he would chase his mother, wanted to kill his mother and everybody who would come around him. For a long time he has been a threat in the village. He used to beat his wife, and we believe even his first wife died because he beat her so hard on the head every now and then. And then also his children, he used to be very hard on his children, chasing them, and after the death of his wife, he's left alone in his own house. No one can go to his house, no one could approach him, no one even could talk to him. He was a very lonely person, a very lonely man in his house alone.

Mike: Dr. Killel says his life changed dramatically the day one of his children took ill and was taken to the mission hospital for treatment.

Dr. Killel: One of his daughters got sick, and the child was brought to the hospital. This was the first time that Joseph was exposed to the Gospel. Everyday he heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We took the Gospel to the wards, and then we bring the people collectively to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph had an opportunity to hear the Gospel. And then when he heard the Gospel, the Word of God penetrated to his life. And we know the Bible says if a man is in Christ, he is a new creature, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Mike: But what no one at the hospital realized was that Joseph had stolen several valuable surgical instruments from the operating room on his first visit to the hospital. He had stolen from the very people who were trying to save his daughter's life. After his conversion, Joseph struggled about what to do with the items he had taken.

Dr. Killel: While he was still in the hospital, he stole a pair of scissors and others things in the theatre. And at that time, he went home. While he was at his home, the Holy Spirit pointed out the scissors and other things he had stolen. And then Joseph said, "What should I do with these things?" He talked to his friends, and they told him to just keep quiet, but the Holy Spirit told him, "No." Deep conviction was brought to his life, and Joseph said, "Whether they put me in prison or not, I'll still take the scissors back to the hospital!", which he did. He brought the scissors to the hospital.

Mike: Not only did the hospital's director forgive Joseph for the theft, but he also gave Joseph a job. Dr. Killel said the incident's impact on Joseph's life was obvious and immediate.

Dr. Killel: The good news is that immediately when he returned those things to the hospital, everybody's life changed in his life. It was no longer the first Joseph, this was a new Joseph! And everybody appreciated Joseph, and even the hospital employed him, and he worked in the hospital for more than six years before he decided to go home. After he went home, his life had been transformed; he began planting trees, he began planting vegetables; his life was transformed from the house to the field to the village, and everybody noticed that something had happened in the life of Joseph. And to this very day, Joseph loves the Lord, he comes to church, he serves the Lord, he's a new creature. And I believe exactly what the Bible says, "If anybody is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature."

Mike: Dr. David Killel and the story of Joseph, the meanest man in Bomet, Kenya. A life touched by God.

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Raymond Sissom

Mike: Like any loving father, God, your heavenly Father will be there to help during life's darkest hour. Raymond Sissom is a man who can testify to this truth. Two decades ago, Ray was leading an outwardly successful life. He enjoyed the love of a good life, and the devotion of an exceptional son. Ray was also enjoying the fruits of a successful career. He was well respected by his friends, and served on the Board of Directors of several benevolent organizations. But there was a dark cloud hanging over Ray's otherwise bright future. Raymond Sissom was an alcoholic, and his drinking was getting out of control.

Ray: I went through a number of situations that involved my rehabilitation from drinking. One was when I was drinking and driving. I ran between a greyhound bus and a bridge. Didn't remember a thing about it, because I had a blackout period. But I would up in jail. And while in jail, you know I came out of my stupor in jail; I had no idea where I was or why I was there, but during that period, something happened to me spiritually, and I knew that my life and thinking would never be the same again. And from that time on, it was very little about religion, but a lot about spirituality. About a personal relationship with God. About walking with Jesus, and not about obeying rules.

Mike: Ray's new-found relationship with God would be put to the test again a decade later when he learned a hepatitis infection was slowly destroying his liver.

Ray: I had excessive bruising all over my body. I had been going to my regular internist, and he could really find nothing wrong. Then I started having massive nosebleeds. As these worsened, I decided that I needed to seek additional medical advice. I went to a new internist, and immediately told me that I had a serious problem. He told me what he thought it was, but he sent me to another specialist who told me almost immediately that I had massive liver failure, and that the prognosis was terminal. The reason being that it had progressed to the point that none of the traditional methods of treatment would work. My blood platelets were about 10% of normal, and that excluded traditional treatments. It had affected my spleen, but the most serious problem was the liver. And they told me there was no chance for a transplant. The cause of the damage was hepatitis B; they had no idea how long I'd had it or how I contacted it. But if they did a transplant, then the hepatitis would simply attack the new liver, and that was something that they certainly would not allow, and I didn't want to do either.

Mike: However, five years later, the creation of a new drug made it possible for Ray to be added to the organ donor transplant list, but would a donor be found in time? Ray's liver failure was becoming acute. Ray says that as he waited to learn his fate, he drew comfort from his relationship with God.

Ray: From the time I learned that this was, perhaps, going to become terminal, I had the mindset that, 'Well, OK, either way, I win.' My journey here on earth is just a minute piece of time compared to eternity, and if it's my time to die, that's OK. That's just a brief interruption. I didn't extend that thinking to my family. I knew my family would miss me, but I also knew that in the realm of the big picture that if I died, I won, and if I lived, I won. I wanted to live very badly. I wanted to be with my family, and I also wanted to continue to serve, but knowing God in a very personal way, not in a religious way, but in a spiritual way, is such a comfort. And what it does, it gives you a quality of life here on earth that just can't be expressed. Throughout my illness, I had joy! I had all these problems, but I had joy, because I knew that I wasn't in this thing alone.

Mike: With his health failing rapidly, Ray received the call saying that a liver donor had been found. The transplant surgery and recovery went remarkably well. Today, Ray is the picture of health, and he revels in this second chance at life.

Ray: I remember when I still had the respirator on, or connected, it kept coming in through my mind, "I have peace that passes understanding.' And it took me a long time to find that. In fact, it took a lot of the battles with alcohol and whatnot to get me to that point. Mow I don't suggest that anyone go through that sort of thing to try to find a relationship with God, but I think he worked in my life in a lot of different ways to mold me. And I think there's something he wants me to do. Something important. And I'm just trying to get out of the way and let Him show me what that is.

Mike: Of course, Ray never forgets that someone died so that he might have this new life.

Ray: I think that anyone that is on a donor list has to have a special kinship with the person that will eventually donate their organ. You know when you get that phone call that someone's life has ended, and that a family and extended friends' lives are also impacted greatly. You have such a gratitude, and yet, such a sorrow at the same time. You know that you had nothing to do with that death, but at the same time, you just feel an emptiness, because you have a chance to continue to live, and someone else doesn't. I feel grateful to that donor's family. I hope they know that they can contact me if they choose. That's the donor family's option. They can contact the recipient if the recipient agrees. And I did. So if they ever want to talk to me, they can. And I hope they feel comfort in knowing that a part of that loved one's life is going on. I gave a devotional at church one Sunday using the analogy that when my beeper went off for the transplant surgery, it would mean that someone died so that I might have a chance to live because of their organ donation. That was analogous to realizing that that would be the second time that someone had died for me. The first time 2000 years ago that I could also live from a spiritual standpoint. So, knowing that someone died for you long, long ago takes on a totally different implication when you realize that someone today has died for you. It makes that so much greater because when Christ died for me, he didn't have to. This person that gave me their liver didn't want to die; it wasn't their choice, but they died anyway, and I benefited from it. But the amazing thing is, as much as I enjoy the physical benefit of that, it doesn't compare to the fact that I can live forever enjoying the glory of God because his Son died.

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Lee Wallace, Totem Carver

Mike: Ketchikan is a favorite port of call for cruise ships plying the waters of the inside passage between Washington and the southeast Alaska panhandle. Each morning, two or three new ships tie up at the dock, and disembark thousands of passengers for the day. Most end up in the small native village of Saxman, just a few miles outside of Ketchikan. They come to learn more about the Haida, Klingit, and Tsimshian Indians. But many also hear an expected Gospel sermon from Lee Wallace.

Mr. Wallace: As the cruise industry developed in southeast Alaska in the last years, ships coming through this island everyday, and that includes Sundays. A lot of them are traveling on the ship for a week at a time, and one day blends into another, and they don’t even know it’s Sunday. And I say, "Guess what, guys? We’re going to do a little church right here." And I share my faith and the meaning of a lot of these stories.

Mike: The story that Lee refers to is a centuries-old native parable about a prideful young eagle that refuses to listen to the advice of his elders. The proverb is a favorite subject of totem carvers, but Lee adds his own special flare.

Mr. Wallace: In I Peter 5:5, ‘young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. Clothe yourself with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.’ In this culture, we are taught at an early age to respect our elders, people of authority, our grandparents, our parents, our aunts and uncles. Luke 18:14, ‘For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ Something you don’t do in our culture is lift yourself up.

Mike: The northwest native cultures very nearly lost the art of totem carving through the misguided efforts of Christian missionaries, who mistook the poles for idols. Most totems are actually a kind of family crest, and record clan history for a society without a written language.

Mr. Wallace: They actually influenced my grandfather. He actually stopped carving, and he took down poles – he cut them down. After gaining insight into the whole thing, he returned to his carvings and thought, ‘Yeah, I probably made a mistake.’ After you examine the real meaning of these pieces, then you know they are not being worshipped, and they are not idols.

Mike: Lee’s carving skill is such that he was recently asked by the state to restore a pole that his grandfather carved in the 1930’s. But he takes to heart the teachings of scripture and the traditions of his people, and remains humble about his talent.

Mr. Wallace: Well, I look at my great-grandfather’s work, and I look at other artists’ different fields, and to me, I just haven’t achieved that. And so just pushing yourself always to improve each time, and I just praise God for the talent that he has given me.

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