Last Saturday evening was our annual ECM Fundraising Banquet here in IN. By the time next year's banquet rolls around, our dear colleague Mark Luckey will have taken over the directorship position, so our board, staff & friends surprised & honored us with gifts and kind words. It always feels good to be appreciated, of course. But sometimes I feel a little embarrassed by the attention and the implication that we have given up so much to serve God. I hear so often, "They could have had a nice life." I understand that what they mean is, we could have had a more comfortable life. We could have made more money and accumulated more things. We could have driven a nicer car. But every time I hear these things, I want to interrupt & shout, "We had a GREAT life!"
Yes, our missionary life has been challenging. At times I have felt very discouraged. More than once, I've quit (in my own mind--only to re-enlist again before I got the resignation written). But it has certainly never been dull. It's not just that it's exciting. It's more like it's been rewarding. Friday night, in my response, I said "I can't think of anything I would rather have done with 30 years of my life," and I meant it.
Today I worked on writing Bible lessons for Congo in the Kituba language we learned when we lived there. This afternoon, I completed the lesson on the call of Abraham. God called him to do a very hard thing--to leave his country, his family and his home to go to a land that God promised to show him. In one sense he gave up everything.
But I was also struck by what he gained. God did show him a land, and gave it to his descendants. God promised him a big family and great honor. God promised to bless those who bless him and to curse those who curse him. God promised to use him as a channel of blessing to others--in fact, to bless all the families of the earth through him. I believe that includes at least the fact that his descendants gave us the Bible that we treasure, and also gave us our Savior. God used a Jewish maiden to bring His eternal Son into the world. That's why the very first verse of the New Testament shows that He was a descendant of King David and a descendant of Abraham. I was looking only at the first time God promised Abram great things (Genesis 12:1-3). Yet even there, I saw that he got far more than he gave up.
That's how missionary life is. In fact, I think that's how life is for any follower of Jesus. We give it all up, it's true. But then we get more in return than we had ever dreamed possible.
I've had the joy of hearing my own children say, "Thanks, Mom, for introducing us to Jesus." I've also had, just this week, the joy of getting a Facebook message from a former Sunday school boy in Congo who as an adult told me, "Mama, I remember so well the things you taught us. I will never forget them." Yes, I have had a wonderful life indeed.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
When We Faced Ebola
1995. It's been 19 years since we faced Ebola. Last month I was in Congo again, holding a reunion of our trainers in the very place where it all happened.
We were living in Congo in a remote outpost called Mission Garizim (Hill of Blessing). Our only communication with the outside was by radio. However, something had gone wrong with the radio and we could hear others talking, but could not call out. John was taking David Bryant back to Kinshasa after visiting the mission. (David later became vice chair & then chair of the ECM Board.)
The men were traveling in the big 10 ton army truck to Kikwit. They stayed there a couple days before catching an airplane to Kinshasa. Our mechanic Mukwa went on to Kinshasa with the truck to get much-needed supplies.
While in Kikwit, John & David noticed that people, usually very friendly, were avoiding shaking hands. Instead, everyone was greeting one another with an uplifted hand. They began to call it "the Kikwit handshake." In church, a doctor gave an announcement that people should be aware of an outbreak of "bloody diarrhea" and should wash their hands a lot and avoid bodily contact with others. She said they were fighting something and they did not know what it was.
The men arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday. The next day the government quarantined the entire Bandundu Province where I was located. The CDC was called in, and we later learned it was Ebola, and Kikwit was the epicenter. John & David had been sleeping in a guest house only about 200 yards from the hospital where eventually over 300 people died!
Back at Mission Garizim, even before the quarantine, I knew something was up, because there was a lot of strange, "coded" shatter on the radio. Missionaries were being told that "they might want to arrange to leave." When they questioned why, no definite reason was given, but there was an uneasiness about the conversation that made me know something serious was up.
In Kinshasa, John was trying to pull strings to get me out so the family could be together, but no permissions were being given & no exceptions made. I later learned that the only flights were for health workers, and the pilot had to take his temperature every hour.
Meanwhile, I was not sure how long it would be before John would be able to come back with the supplies for the mission, and we were already low, so I instituted rations for the students under our care and for ourselves--me and our adopted daughter Kristi.
John was in Kinshasa about three weeks. Mukwa also made it to Kinshasa, but the border was closed behind him. When I heard the whole story, I was thankful that he was not in one of the many trucks stranded at the provincial border, unable to enter the city after making a long & difficult trip to get there.
When I later learned the seriousness of the disease and saw video of workers in hazmat suits bulldozing bodies into a mass, plastic-lined grave, I knew God had been with our family in a special way. I pray for all those struggling for their lives both here and in Africa, and for their families. I pray God will give special wisdom to all who are struggling to contain this killer.
We were living in Congo in a remote outpost called Mission Garizim (Hill of Blessing). Our only communication with the outside was by radio. However, something had gone wrong with the radio and we could hear others talking, but could not call out. John was taking David Bryant back to Kinshasa after visiting the mission. (David later became vice chair & then chair of the ECM Board.)
The men were traveling in the big 10 ton army truck to Kikwit. They stayed there a couple days before catching an airplane to Kinshasa. Our mechanic Mukwa went on to Kinshasa with the truck to get much-needed supplies.
While in Kikwit, John & David noticed that people, usually very friendly, were avoiding shaking hands. Instead, everyone was greeting one another with an uplifted hand. They began to call it "the Kikwit handshake." In church, a doctor gave an announcement that people should be aware of an outbreak of "bloody diarrhea" and should wash their hands a lot and avoid bodily contact with others. She said they were fighting something and they did not know what it was.
The men arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday. The next day the government quarantined the entire Bandundu Province where I was located. The CDC was called in, and we later learned it was Ebola, and Kikwit was the epicenter. John & David had been sleeping in a guest house only about 200 yards from the hospital where eventually over 300 people died!
Back at Mission Garizim, even before the quarantine, I knew something was up, because there was a lot of strange, "coded" shatter on the radio. Missionaries were being told that "they might want to arrange to leave." When they questioned why, no definite reason was given, but there was an uneasiness about the conversation that made me know something serious was up.
In Kinshasa, John was trying to pull strings to get me out so the family could be together, but no permissions were being given & no exceptions made. I later learned that the only flights were for health workers, and the pilot had to take his temperature every hour.
Meanwhile, I was not sure how long it would be before John would be able to come back with the supplies for the mission, and we were already low, so I instituted rations for the students under our care and for ourselves--me and our adopted daughter Kristi.
John was in Kinshasa about three weeks. Mukwa also made it to Kinshasa, but the border was closed behind him. When I heard the whole story, I was thankful that he was not in one of the many trucks stranded at the provincial border, unable to enter the city after making a long & difficult trip to get there.
When I later learned the seriousness of the disease and saw video of workers in hazmat suits bulldozing bodies into a mass, plastic-lined grave, I knew God had been with our family in a special way. I pray for all those struggling for their lives both here and in Africa, and for their families. I pray God will give special wisdom to all who are struggling to contain this killer.
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