A reminder that God saved me for this purpose

By Deb Fox| Wycliffe Today March 2020|

Netty’s Story

The first response for many people with a life-threatening injury is not to praise God. But Netty says it was the beginning of God leading her to the place he wanted her: serving him as a translation facilitator with Kartidaya.

When Netty was 11 years old, she was hit by a truck while riding to school. She was rushed to hospital but her parents were told to prepare for the worst. The prognosis did not look good. Netty sustained severe head injuries. Doctors explained to her parents that she would most likely die or have severe mental problems if she survived, and told them to pray. She spent several weeks in Intensive Care and endured two major operations. Netty’s parents prayed that God would protect their daughter and use her for his glory. To their surprise, she awoke from her first operation and announced, ‘I want to be a pastor!’ 

While she was recovering, Netty had a lot of time to read. One of the books that her father bought her made a particular impression. It was a compilation of stories about a missionary working in Papua, Indonesia. Some years later she read about a group of Bible translators working with different language communities throughout Indonesia. Netty says that sparked questions in her mind. One of these was:

Don’t we already have the Bible in Bahasa Indonesian? Isn’t that enough? I was reminded of the story in Acts 2 about the Holy Spirit falling on the Apostles, allowing them to speak in other languages. It was then that I realised how important it is to hear God speak to us in a language we understand. That is why we need to translate God’s Word—how will others know about Jesus if they cannot understand the words that describe him?

Looking back Netty realised how much her life had been impacted by that accident. ‘It was a scary time but God saved my life and it gave me purpose. So I said I would give my life to him. I prayed to God in my heart, “Please send me!”’

After graduating from Bible College in 2006, God answered Netty’s prayer by putting her in contact with Kartidaya. She attended orientation and completed some linguistics training before travelling to Central Kalimantan to do literacy work. In 2010 she was asked to  facilitate a translation program. Netty is amazed that God used a painful situation in her life to initially call her into the work she loves and to draw her deeper into his Word:

God healed me but my right eye is still impaired. When I feel sad about that I am reminded of Psalm 8. I am no more than dust but God still chooses to use me! God chose to save me that day. He still uses my eye as a reminder of his love for me and his power in my life. He kept his call in my heart and led me to do his will. I know this journey is not about me—it is about him. When the New Testament is finished I believe God will rejoice with us.