Memories of Kathy
Thanks to all of you who prayed for Kathy's family and friends and for the whole PIBC community during this time. The memorial service was lovely. Pastor Jeff and the entire Lutheran Church of Guam congregation presented a beautiful service to remember a grand lady. One of Kathy's Sunday School students told Pastor Jeff, "I'm so jealous. She's already there (speaking of heaven)." Out of the mouths of babes.
This morning I finished rereading Through Gates of Splendor, Elisabeth Elliot's book about the martyrdom of her husband Jim and the four other men in the jungle of Ecuador. It amazes and inspires me to note the widows' resolve to accept their husbands' deaths as God's will and not to seek revenge or ill will towards the natives who speared them. Through their forgiveness and the return Elisabeth and Nate Saint's sister Rachel to work with the Haorani people, that tribe was reached with the gospel message.
Of course, this event from over 50 years ago continues to touch people's lives. Many young men and women are reported to have gone into Christian service because of the faithful example of the five ordinary men who felt a burden for the Waoranis. The five went into the Waorani territory in January 1956 with their eyes wide open: they knew what could possibly await them. But they went anyway; that is the key.
Every time I read them I am touched by Nate Saint's words from his journal, an excerpt from Through Gates of Splendor:
"As we weigh the future and seek the will of God, does it seem right that we should hazard our lives for just a few savages? As we ask ourselves this question, we realize that it is not the call of the needy thousands, rather it is the simple intimation of the prophetic Word that there shall be some from every tribe in His presence in the last day and in our hearts we feel that it is pleasing to Him that we should interest ourselves in making an opening into the Auca (Haorani) prison for Christ.
"As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong in to the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha. May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility.
"Would that we could comprehend the lot of these stone-age people who live in mortal fear of ambush on the jungle trail. . .those to whom the bark of a gun means sudden, mysterious death. . .those who think all men in the world are killers like themselves. If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seems now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas (Haoranis) from a comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich.
"Lord, God, speak to my own heart and give me to know Thy holy will and the joy of walking in it. Amen."
Kathy knew that joy. I'm so glad that she came to Micronesia to touch my life and the lives of many other people.
This morning I finished rereading Through Gates of Splendor, Elisabeth Elliot's book about the martyrdom of her husband Jim and the four other men in the jungle of Ecuador. It amazes and inspires me to note the widows' resolve to accept their husbands' deaths as God's will and not to seek revenge or ill will towards the natives who speared them. Through their forgiveness and the return Elisabeth and Nate Saint's sister Rachel to work with the Haorani people, that tribe was reached with the gospel message.
Of course, this event from over 50 years ago continues to touch people's lives. Many young men and women are reported to have gone into Christian service because of the faithful example of the five ordinary men who felt a burden for the Waoranis. The five went into the Waorani territory in January 1956 with their eyes wide open: they knew what could possibly await them. But they went anyway; that is the key.
Every time I read them I am touched by Nate Saint's words from his journal, an excerpt from Through Gates of Splendor:
"As we weigh the future and seek the will of God, does it seem right that we should hazard our lives for just a few savages? As we ask ourselves this question, we realize that it is not the call of the needy thousands, rather it is the simple intimation of the prophetic Word that there shall be some from every tribe in His presence in the last day and in our hearts we feel that it is pleasing to Him that we should interest ourselves in making an opening into the Auca (Haorani) prison for Christ.
"As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong in to the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha. May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility.
"Would that we could comprehend the lot of these stone-age people who live in mortal fear of ambush on the jungle trail. . .those to whom the bark of a gun means sudden, mysterious death. . .those who think all men in the world are killers like themselves. If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seems now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas (Haoranis) from a comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich.
"Lord, God, speak to my own heart and give me to know Thy holy will and the joy of walking in it. Amen."
Kathy knew that joy. I'm so glad that she came to Micronesia to touch my life and the lives of many other people.
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