Why did little Maria die?

“It’s pretty cool learning how another culture thinks and acts,” Andrew Ferguson told me.

“Until it costs the life of a child.”

Maria, like many children in the Tepehuan village where the Fergusons lived, caught a bug that was going around. But unlike others, Maria did not get better.

Maria probably would have recovered if not for the fact that she was dehydrated. That can happen to children when they get a cold or the flu. It happened to our son once. And the remedy is simple: rehydration.

As soon as Andrew knew little Maria was not recovering, he checked on her. He started treating her, helping her drink a little water mixed with salts from a syringe. He even left the syringe and rehydration fluid with her parents and gave them instructions, so they could continue the process.

So why did little Maria die?

The beliefs of her people killed her.

She had access to the medical care she needed, but she died because her people’s shamans told her parents she was already dead. They even told her parents not to allow the body to revive, because Maria was gone and an evil spirit would take her place in the body. So they let her die.

Can you imagine letting someone die, when you have the cure in your hands?

You can’t?

Then what are you doing about it?

You and I have the answer to the plight of today’s little Marias around the world. We have access to the Truth of Jesus – we have abundant, eternal life.

How about using that for, as George Bush would say, some strategery?

You see, it’s a good thing to invest in the ministry of a front-line missionary. It’s strategic to invest in folks on our team in Florida, who are mobilizing missionaries from across the country, helping them find teammates to fund their work, and helping more people here get involved.

And our ministry is strategeristically strategic because it makes everyone on our team more effective. My role as strategist keeps us on track with our vision of a thriving church for every people, working together as a team.

Will you please take advantage of one, two or all three of the opportunities below to be strategeristically strategic?

Opportunities to:

Pray: We’ve been surprised that at the same time God is asking us to do more by driving hard toward the finish, we have significantly less income to do it with. But that didn’t surprise God. Pray that we will faithfully follow His leading to the people He wants to partner in this work, and that He will work in their hearts and lives to obey Him. If you’ve prayed, tell us so we can encourage others who pray!

Give: If God is leading you to partner with us, you don’t need to wait for us to contact you. You can make a single or recurring gift through the Ethnos360 website.

Learn: Want to read more about Maria’s story? Read it here.