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My
sister sat quietly on the crude, worn bench in the sweltering African
church listening to her missionary husband inform his congregation that
soon he would accompany his 29-year-old wife back to the States.
She had
been diagnosed with cancer. Examinations by German doctors in Monrovia, Liberia confirmed it, as did a
careful biopsy. Her husband was advised that she had three months to live;
a prognosis that, for compassion's sake, he did not share with his wife.
Unaware of the harsh
time line, she stood to face her African friends, people she had taught,
loved, cared for and won to Christ.
Opening her well-marked
Bible, she addressed the familiar faces. "My friends," she said,
"God has given me two verses in Psalm 118:17,18: "I shall not die
but live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me
sore, but he hath not given me over unto death."
The African Christians
moved restlessly on their benches. "Doesn't she know?" they
whispered to themselves and to each other. "Hasn't anyone told her she
has only three months to live?"
Bidding the
congregation an emotional goodbye, she assured them that she would indeed
return to Guinea, West Africa. In her heart, she knew their work was
not finished; indeed, it had barely begun.
They had been married
eight years but still remained childless. Her heart's continued cry had
been to become a mother. And now this. Not only could she not expect to
have children, but she had been diagnosed with cancer as well. She crawled
inside her bed that was tented with mosquito netting and began her long
prayer vigil
In the deafening
silence of the long night that followed, she heard the quiet, distinct,
inner voice of the Spirit. "He maketh the barren woman to keep house
and to be a joyful mother of children." (Psalm 113:9)
Ultimately, her choices
were two: accept the verdict of the German doctors or place her faith in
the timeless word of God. She chose the latter. She would stand on the
promises of her Lord.
As she penned these
thoughts to her family back home, they remained incredulous. They talked
endlessly about how to deal with her insistence that God would heal her.
Was this basic faith or stubborn denial on her part? They began to make
extensive plans for her care, her comfort, and sadly, her funeral.
Arriving in New York, examinations and testing began for the
young missionary, with doctors meticulously comparing new x-rays with those
of German doctors in Liberia.
There was more than convincing evidence in the first x-rays. Further
examination by the oncologists in New
York revealed that indeed she was full of
malignant tumors. Doctors discussed the necessity of a hysterectomy which
made her wonder how God planned to bring Psalm 113:9 about bearing children
to fruition in her life.
But six weeks later,
the New York
specialists were stunned. They could detect nothing. The malignant tumors
had virtually disappeared. There was no trace whatsoever of cancer.
Finally, they were
forced to concede that God in His mercy had reached down with His mighty,
sovereign, healing hand and performed a miracle. She had stood valiantly on
God's promises, had taken Him at His Word and he Had honored her simple,
unadorned faith.
God directed their
return to Africa seven months later to
continue the ministry to which He called them, a ministry that extended
over 30 years.
Two years to the day on
which Norma Gardner arrived in America with her husband, Andy,
for cancer treatment, their first daughter was born. In the six years
following, two sons were added to the family of this dedicated couple. Two
of the children returned as missionaries to Africa and a third, also a
seminary graduate, is on the staff of an upstate New York church
For the grateful
missionary couple, God had made a miraculous U-turn on a path that others
had too readily assumed was a heart-breaking, dead-end road.
~
Copyright © Mariane Holbrook ~
Mariane Holbrook is a
retired teacher, an author of two books, a musician and artist.
She lives with her
husband on coastal North Carolina. She maintains a personal website
www.marianholbrook.com and
welcomes your Emails at Mariane777@bellsouth.com.
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