It’s has almost been a year since I met Pastor Paul in India, a pastor in his mid thirties who also taught theology in a seminary. He was assigned to be my translator for a week. After we were introduced, he informed me of his credentials, and I remember thinking to myself, “well, what do you need me for?” I later found out he wanted to assure me that I was in good hands. This was my second trip to India, and it was such a privilege to have a pastor for a translator because this doesn’t happen often, but I quickly learned that most of our translators were pastors. They set their own pastoral duties and other ministries aside to work with other pastors from other areas to plant new churches with an American team for the week.
We didn’t lack an audience in sharing the Gospel; I’ve never shared the Good News with so many women before. Pastor Paul and I pretty much shared the Gospel all day all week, so he would nudge me about varying my presentations. He’d say something like, “Why don’t share what God has been teaching you,” or “Why don’t share the story of Nicodemus and his question about being born again?” We worked very well together and because he was not a tall man, we saw eye to eye on a lot of things =). He understood my “English” just fine, and I didn’t need to slow down or explain much to him.
Besides our driver, we had two more pastors and another American with us in the vehicle that took us to our villages. He was a kind team member, volunteering to sit in the back of our vehicle where it was not comfortable. We shared lots of laughs and stories as we traveled around by foot and by car. After the week ended, Pastor Paul told me he would sign up and help translate again if I came back to plant more churches. I was looking forward to working with him again.
I had just inquired about going back to work in India again last month and I was happy to get green lights from the national director and the church planter I would be working with. A few days later, I got a facebook message from another Indian pastor saying Pastor Paul had suddenly passed away leaving behind his wife and two young children. I was shocked, but I know sometimes adventures with the Most High God takes us to the low valleys, including the valley of death. I think about Pastor Paul’s children and hope Paul has left them a legacy of faith.
I am quite acquainted with losing a father at an early age. I lost my biological father at the age 9. My mother was a widow with nine children and we lived in Manila, Philippines. My uncle, Cecil Bell of Sherman, TX, and his wife, my father’s sister, Priscilla, were stationed in an Army base in Quezon City, Philippines. They asked to adopt me and my youngest sister. My family agreed, and off we went living the nomadic military life, living in many states and even Panama.
Last week was Veteran’s Day, and I thought a lot about Cecil and how honored I am to have had him as a dad also. Cecil served in the US Army for 35 years and had many different positions in the military. He was a supply sergeant for many years, but at one point he had to bring unwanted news to the families of fallen soldiers. He retired as the post sergeant major at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. He loved the Army even though he served in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange. He had no bullet wounds, but like so many veterans, he suffered a lot of health problems later in life. I was 26 when he passed away; he died a year behind my aunt.
Death and other tragedies have a way of staring us in the face to ask, what do you really believe? Having experienced the loss of two fathers allowed me to trust in God in a deeper way because I had to depend on Him alone. I have seen how bad situations were turned for my good, building the character of Christ in me; I have experienced peace in troubled times; He has not left the throne, He is still in control and He know what He is doing, and most of all He is with us in the valleys. I believe in the resurrection and I choose to believe the words in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future...” I believe this for Paul’s family.
