For just as the Father gives life to those He raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone He wants.
John 5:21
Through this Nugget series I have outlined for you the debate over unanswered prayers, questioned whether God cares or not or whether He has the power or not to heal, protect and more. Well the moment has come for me to tell you the most amazing story of Dominggus Kenjam. This is not a story I have heard or seen on the Internet. It is not a story I have got third hand. I have met this young man three times and I have sat behind him as he told his story while I stared at the back of his neck on the stage where he and I shared the pulpit.
Warning: there are graphic photos I have which accompany Domi’s story. But for this public posting of Domi’s Testimony I choose to share it without photos. If you want to read the account with photos let me know and I will send you his testimony with photos. But you will have to request it.
Dominggus Kenjam’s Personal Testimony
As a young student at primary school, I received a New Testament from my sister, Yuli, who got it at her school in Soe, Timor. At that time it was the only Scriptures we had as a poor Catholic family. Through this copy of the Scriptures we learned the Word of God. As a young boy, I was afraid whenever we read in the Word of God about persecution. Years later what I read in that Gideon’s New Testament came to pass when I was studying in a Sekolah Tinggi Teologia (Bible School) in Jakarta.
My brothers and sisters in the LORD, I want to testify about my death and resurrection which I experienced on the 15th of December, 1999. The event was also a tragedy for the Doulos Foundation, Jakarta, which owns STT Doulos where I was a dormitory student. Before the attack and the burning of the Doulos Foundation on the 15th of December, I had several dreams as follows:
1. On Sunday, the 12th of December, 1999, I met with Jesus Christ and an angel. I was surprised, then prayed. After praying I slept again.
2. On Monday, the 13th of December, 1999, I dreamed again the same dream.
3. On Tuesday, the 14th December, 1999, in a dream I met with a pastor during a Spiritual Awakening Worship (KKR), in which the sermon was about the End Times, torture, persecution and massacre which matched my dreams.
4. On Wednesday, the 15th of December, 1999 at about 08.00 in the morning, I noticed a letter “M” mark in blood under the skin on my right palm. I was confused and filled with questions in my heart — would I die? I asked my friends and their opinion was that we would be entering the new millennium. It was their opinion that the mark was symbolic of the Millenium. But I was still restless, because in my mind the letter “M” was for “mati” or death. i.e. that I would experience death. I could only pray and open the Bible.
Around 3.00 pm I was reading God’s word from Jeremiah which says:
“Call out to me, I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not”.
Jeremiah 33:3
At about 18.00 the “M” mark on my right palm had disappeared.
The Doulos Campus and Students were attacked
Later that night on the 15th of December, 1999, activities continued as usual in the dormitory of STT Doulos Campus. Some of the students were studying, others entered the kitchen and some prayed. I was lying on my bed in my room. About 9.00 pm, I was awakened by a friend shouting: “Domi, wake up, we are being attacked…..!” I woke up in panic. I ran directly to the campus yard and saw part of the campus was on fire. At that moment I said to God: “Lord God, where do I run? Lord, if I ran through the front gate I will surely be hacked”.
At the same time, I remembered the letter “M” given to my hand, and my mind was confused. I thought, “Lord God, am I going to die?”
I looked back; there were several of my friends who were trying to save themselves. At the back of the campus we were surrounded by barbed wire two metres high. I could not jump outside by lifting the wire. But I tried desperately to get through. I sustained some wounds on my hands, but eventually I got out. My friends and I now outside the fence standing together in fear and trembling because there was a mob there on the road carrying machetes, sticks, pellets and bottles filled with gasoline, Molotov cocktails. We scattered in different directions. I ran to the Asrama for students from the 10th semester, which was not far from the campus. While I ran, I continued to pray to God: “God bless me, forgive me for my sins and mistakes”. After I arrived at the dormitory house, I knocked on the door twice, but no one opened the door. I turned around to see there were 4 girl students behind me who had followed me there. They called me: “Domi, follow us to our house”, but I said to them: “Let me hide here”. Still in front of the dormitory, I prayed again: “O, God, will I die to night? Forgive me my sins and mistakes”.
Caught by the Mob
I knocked at the door again but no one answered. I prayed again: “God….. is this my last day to live?” I heard the sound of a mob approaching me. They said: “There’s a student from Doulos, get him!” Someone shouted, “Butcher him, shoot him!” Then I was grabbed and could only surrender myself to God saying: “God, I am in their hands, I can no longer escape”.
My hands were tied behind my back and my eyes were covered with a white cloth. I continued to pray in fear and trembling. “Lord, forgive me my sins, at this moment you promised to be by my side”. Suddenly I heard a voice. I did not know where it came from. It said: “Don’t be afraid, I am with you. I am the Lord, your Elohim ” After hearing that voice, my fear and trembling disappeared because I had surrendered to God.
They look me to a dark place, where I was beaten and kicked. I was facing a bigger mob as more joined them. At that moment my blindfold was taken off because they were doubtful whether I was a Doulos student or a resident of the surrounding area. Some of the mob urged persistently that I be butchered or killed.
I prayed again: “Lord, my physical body is small, if I die, I am sure I will enter heaven. At this moment I surrender my soul into your loving hands, please forgive them”.
At that moment I felt a blow to the back of my neck and I fell like a stone. I passed out and did not know what happened next.
Five Angels Came for Me
Then my spirit was lifted out of my body, my spirit was in the form of a person who was ready to run or was crouching. Then I straightened up and stood upright and erect. I saw my body and said twice: “Why have I left my body?” My spirit body stood erect, not touching the ground. I did not know where to go, because all around me was totally darkness. My spirit said: “Where are you going?”
Suddenly five angels came for me, two on the left, two on the right and one angel leading the way in front of me. The place which was in total darkness was now bathed in a bright light but I could no longer see my body. My spirit was taken by the angels on to a straight road full of light. At the end of the road was a narrow opening like the eye of needle. My spirit said: “My body can’t go through there.” But the angel in front of me went through. My spirit spoke again and said: “My spiritual body is small, it surely can pass through “. Then my spirit entered through the hole of the needle.
In Paradise
I was in a large yard. The garden was very beautiful, but no one was in it. Suddenly I noticed there was a large house. I was taken into the house and met with many people in the first room. A voice which I think was my own spirit said, “The people believe in God. They were placed here [to welcome you]”. They were singing and clapping their hands. Some were standing, some sitting and some blowing trumpets. I was taken to another room by the angels which was similar to the first room with similar faces in the same posture. Then I was in a third room, when my spirit said: “These are the people who believe in Jesus Christ and have been placed (appointed) here.” After that I was taken to a fourth room, the last room. I was now alone, unaccompanied by the angels. The room was empty and my spirit said: “This is the Last Judgement. Either I will enter heaven or hell”.
I walked forward three or four steps in my spirit body. In front of me there was a very bright light like the sun which I could not look at. I closed my eyes and heard a voice say, “Kneel!” I knelt down and saw there was a book opened before me. I saw there was writing on it which I could read even though my eyes were still closed. The writing came and disappeared continuously. I exclaimed in my spirit, “God! These are my deeds, which I did last week, last month, last year. I acted badly and did I never confess my personal sin, so that you noted the sin here in the book?”
“God……! I want to be as the brethren in the first room, who always praised and glorify you”.
“God……! I knew that you were died on the cross to redeem me from my sins, I long to be as the brethren in the first room, second and third rooms who always praise You”.
Then the writing coming out of that book disappeared along with the bright light and there was a voice saying: “Go home! It’s not time yet to serve me!”
At that moment my spirit was back in my body. I could breath again and I had awareness. I tried several times to wake up and lift my head, but I could not; it was very painful. I realised that my neck had been cut and almost disconnected. My body had been thrown away in the bushes and covered with banana leaves. My body started to move. I was thirsty and I moved my hand to lick three drops of blood.
I said: “Lord God, I met with You because of what happened and You gave new breath and strength so that I am alive again. But God, please “move people” so that they will take me to the hospital”. God answered my prayer that night. There was a man approaching me with a flashlight then asked: “Where are you from?” I could not answer because I could not speak through the mouth, no voice came out, the only breath that came out of my body was through the open slit at the neck. The man called the police.
Praise God, though I was thought to be dead, I was still alive. They raised me up and carried me to the road. The police searched for my identity or my Identity card which was missing. Not knowing who I was , they intended to take me to one hospital, but I remembered the voice from God to me in heaven and there was a new strength from God enabling me to speak through my mouth. Suddenly, I said: “My name is Dominggus, I was 20 years old, Semester 3, I am staying in the Doulos dormitory, I come from Timor”.
The people around were watching and hearing me and then said, ” What time was he hacked? It is 2.30 in the morning and yet he is still alive.”
[ Editor’s Note: That was five hours+ after Dominngus felt the blow of the machete to the back of his neck.]
Taken to Hospital
Then they put me into a public vehicle and laid me on the metal floor. The vehicle went very fast over all the potholes in the road. I felt every bump and hole where the road was not level, the vehicle was jarring me lying on the metal floor and I felt pain in the wound at the back of my neck. I said to God: “God, will I survive to get to hospital? God when you were on the cross, you drink vinegar and bile, but I licked my own blood, because there was nobody to care for me”.
I opened my eyes; and saw there were no people in the vehicle to watch over me, only the driver. But I saw several angels in white who watched and surrounded me. I said: “God, these are angels who are loyal to watch for me”. I continued to pray silently so I may continue to be strong. On arrival at the hospital, my voice was normal again. I could speak and ask the nurse: “Where is my father?” The nurse asked me: “Who is your father? I answered: “Father Ruyandi Hutasoit from STT Doulos”. When father Ruyandi came he said “Dominggus, your neck is severed!” I answered: “Father pray for me, because I died and I met with God!” Then father Ruyandi laid his hands on me and prayed for me.
Afterward [examining me] a neurologist announced there was nothing they could do for me and he stitched my outer skin over the wound because the machete had severed the backbone of the neck, so brain liquid was spilling out. The spinal column and nerves had been severed. I lay for three days in the ICU but I was not given any blood transfusion. The doctor thought that I would die. I was not expected to live in view of the fact that brain fluid had spilled and I likely had an infection which had occurred in the brain, all of which would leave me brain damaged for life.
Resurrected to Life Again
On December 19, 1999 with a body temperature of 40 Celsius and all areas of the body swelling because of infection, I was removed from the ICU room, because another patient needed the room and I was left on a metal table. That night my spirit departed from my body for the second time and I saw the situation in the room where I had been left. My spirit was taken some distance away while surrounded with bright light all around me. Suddenly I heard a voice saying, “Go home…..go home…..!” At that moment my spirit returned to my body, my body temperature became normal and there is no infection. When that happened I heard a knuckling sound at the back of my neck. [Each time I have heard Dominggus tell his story he makes the knuckle cracking sound with his hands which the Indonesians often do.] At that moment, the muscles, bones, spinal cord and nerves were reconnected in the twinkling of an eye. I felt no pain and could move my neck again freely. Afterward I was given drink and ate broth. I was fully alive again and in very good health, praise God!
I was hospitalised on December 16 at dawn and released on December 29, 1999 with my normal weight of two weeks prior to the attack, despite having lost much blood and body fluids. I am totally cured, without defect, without being cared for as outpatient. I am alive again in normal condition.
“Thank you Lord Jesus, you are truly Elohim who is alive and miraculous, praised be your eternal Name forever and ever, Amen!”
[Before Covid, Dominggus has travelled the world telling his testimony. I plan to have him come to New Zealand to tell his story. I can personally vouch for his testimony having heard it three times in meetings I have been part of. I will set this testimony in context as these Puzzling Paradox Nuggets continue.I have added my comments or editorial additions in square brackets]