“And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).
“Shut up. We don't want to hear your Jesus' talk,” my relatives said. How could I keep quiet about my Saviour. Instead, I opened my Navajo Bible again and pled with my loved ones.
My people and I grew up in China Springs, a few miles from Gallup, New Mexico. The Navajo tribe gave me cinder blocks to build my one-room home.
Mark, my brother, squatted in his mini-shack. He mumbled in poor Navajo. He understood my hand signals.
A few yards away lay tar-paper shacks where my relatives lived and drank strong drink. I told them of my Saviour. “He can take away the desire for liquor.”
When I came to their places, I played my accordion and sang. Then once an audience gathered, I spoke of her Saviour. Though Navajos do not shed tears, inward tears tore at my heartstrings.
My relatives stalked to the medicine man. “Put a curse on Alma,” they said. “She troubles us with her talk about Jesus.”
"My people hate me because I tell them about Jesus,” I said to Leon and Lynn, the missionaries. “The medicine man put a curse on me.” I held up my skirt. “See this feather! The medicine man cut this hole in my skirt. It shows I'm under a curse. I'm not afraid of his bad medicine. Jesus is greater than evil spirits.”
“God can take care of me. He says, ‘But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil’” (Proverbs 1:33).
“I am not sick. God helped me. I am still alive.”
We do not all face curses as Alma did, but we all face troubles. How do we react in the midst of our trials?
Prayer: Lord, help us whether we face curses as Alma, or other trials. Thou hast promised to deliver us.
This article is by Alma Murphy as told to Lynn Wallace, a missionary’s wife to the Navajo Indian. Alma showed great concern for her unsaved relatives. She taught herself to read the Navajo Bible and play the accordian.
Read more articles by Lynn Wallace or search for articles on the same topic or others.
