After missionary pilot Ben Hart landed Wednesday, close to the small remote village in the Philippines, he heard a fascinating story about the couple he was transporting.

While Ben helped the woman and her youngest daughter into the plane he noticed that her husband did not look like a typical mountain person. He looked more like a person from the coastal area.

Asking the missionary about this, Ben was told how the couple met.

Her husband of many years is a former rebel from another area. During one of his raids on a village in years past, he spotted a girl and attacked her, smashing her mouth with the butt of his rifle and taking out several teeth. He dragged her off into the jungle and she became his prisoner.

The young woman, about 30 years of age, and her husband now have nine children.

As the plane taxied to the other end of the runway, Ben saw that the woman had her eyes covered with the barf bag. He didn’t see her eyes open again until the plane was safely on the ground at their destination.

During the flight he also noticed something that seemed unusual to him.

“Her husband was patting her in a comforting way the whole flight,” Ben wrote. “Well, comforting of some sort. He was thumping her chest with his hand. It seemed ironic to me that this man, in particular, would be showing a public display of comfort to his wife. I have flown out many sick tribal people and have never seen that before.”

This young mother is now scheduled for surgery and Ben believes he will soon be flying her back home to recover.

“Maybe this year she and her husband will be introduced to Jesus,” Ben wrote.

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Story by David Bell (04/09/2009)

New Tribes Website