News — Dread or of Relief? — The Wait! By Peter A. Black

Possibly, five hours had never felt so agonizing since the time Gail* was in post-op recovery after her kidney transplant surgery, more than twenty years previous. 

Similar gut-wrenching times of waiting for hopeful news would have coursed through their hearts when each member of this family – mother, father and both daughters – went through their respective cancer surgeries, and also when the mother suffered a near-fatal heart attack.

And now, Gail’s mom and dad and sister waited and wondered, hoping and praying. Her humanitarian work as a staff-member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) has taken her to many nations, flying with as many different airlines. On Sunday March 10^th she was to fly by Ethiopian Airlines – her most favoured African airline – from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya.

I can scarce imagine the anxious, torturous thoughts her sister and parents, and her son and

Photo Credit: news18.com

nephew experienced during those hours after hearing news of the crash of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, killing all 157 on board. Gail was to fly this morning. Was she on board that plane? 

The family knew the flight number she was supposed to be on, but it was hours before the flight number of the crashed plane was announced in the media. Was that hers?

Breep! Breeb! The phone. Is this it? News of dread – or of relief? Of devastation – or of rejoicing?

The message went something like this: It’s Gail. I’m safe in Nairobi. My flight from Addis Ababa was scheduled to leave forty minutes after the one that crashed. But then the airport was shut down and we were stuck for nearly three hours on board before taking off. Indescribable relief. Pent-up emotions burst the banks, overflowing with tears of relief and joy and exclamations of thanksgiving!

The day following, my wife May and I met with my sister and her husband. They expressed how their tears of relief and joy were also mixed with sorrow for those families of the crash victims who received the dreaded news of their loved ones’ decease.

We do well to always be mindful of others and to pray comfort for those who mourn, even while rejoicing with those who have every legitimate reason to celebrate. That’s what the Scriptures teach: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). And, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Credit: King of Kings

The period of Lent urges us to deepen our understanding of and appreciation for our Lord Jesus, who carried the sin-burden for us and all humanity in His devastating sufferings and death on the Cross of Calvary.

My wife and I rejoice with my sister and her family, and we pray comfort for those who received the awful news that their loved ones and colleagues perished in that disaster, while praying also that they will receive hope and healing from God, through Jesus, to find their way forward.

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* Name changed to protect privacy.

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Peter is a retired pastor – well, sort of retired – as he is currently engaged as an associate volunteer pastor. He lives in Southwestern Ontario with his wife, May, and writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column and occasional magazine articles. Peter is author of two books: "Parables from the Pond" (Word Alive Press) and "Raise Your Gaze . . . Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart" (Angel Hope Publishing). He and May are also engaged in leading nursing home / residential chapel services, pulpit supply and music. ~+~

A True Gift – More than Ink and Paper (Peter A. Black)

My gratitude was real . . . and surprising, even to me.

I beamed, “Thank you Lord . . . what a gift!” Gifts come in many shapes and sizes and in various forms. We often think of gifts as ‘things’ – something we give to or receive from someone else.
 

This ‘gift’? A magazine article.* Words. Black ink on white paper. Also a coloured photo of a smiling, greying-haired woman of Asian ethnicity. I first met Debbie Sirjoosingh three decades ago and heard her address a number of conferences over the years.

I still sense the throb of passion with which she spoke of her love for the people of Ethiopia, the country where she was serving. People were dying in the tens of thousands from disease and starvation, during famine and political upheaval. She’d shared the love of Jesus there, treating the sick and distributing food. After six years, Debbie returned to her work amongst her beloved Turkana people of northwest Kenya.

This woman has been a gift from God to thousands. That ‘gift’ article updated me on her life, and I’m thrilled that her fruitful labour continues and her passion remains unabated today. An afterglow lingered in my soul right through Christmas.

Upon her original arrival at a remote area of Turkana in the early 1980s, she was greeted by 60 degree Celsius temperatures, parched land and whirling, blowing sand and a dried-up river bed and virtually no water.
 

A grass hut became home and a small rodent-infested hut her dispensary. No phone, no post office and no newspapers. Neither was there electricity or medical doctors. And yet, in her heart she belonged. “[That’s] where God desired me to serve Him: among the Turkana people . . .” she said. 

Although she didn’t know the language and had no one to teach her, Debbie learned by living and interacting with the people and loving them in practical ways. Back then, most local Turkana had never heard the name of Jesus. Many years before, a German missionary couple had shared Jesus’ message, but were long gone.

Photo Credit: SAGE, Fall 2015
www.paoc.org

“My heart danced with joy,” Debbie said, “knowing that I was sent by the Lord who loves me, to minister to a forgotten people.”

I was truly humbled when reading her words: “I worked on the ground, on bended knees, delivering babies, washing and binding very infected wounds, dividing my bed sheets to give to the naked, cooking porridge and tea to serve the hungry, excavating graves with pick-axe and shovel to bury the ones who succumbed.”

What a gift: one woman, one compassion-filled heart, alone with God!  I’d also heard some time ago that she’d dug foundations and helped erect buildings for housing practical services and ministries for the people of the community. Churches have been established and pastors raised up and equipped to minister amongst the Turkana.

Currently, with funding from praying friends and donor supporters in Canada and assistance from ERDO (denominational-based NGO) and in cooperation with Kenya Ministry of Health, much has been accomplished. Presently a solar-powered health centre is under construction. It will soon be opened to care for the medical needs of 50,000 people and will provide both in-patient and out-patient care.

Although told that there was no water in the area, through prayer Debbie and those involved were led to “the exact spot to sink a borehole,” so they now have water to support the development. She has trained Turkana students who are continuing their education in various aspects of nursing, nutrition, agriculture, and more.

This intrepid follower of Jesus is still gripped by a passionate forward-reaching grace. “My journey continues, hand in hand with Him, until eternity,” she said.  And so, one year flows into the next and Deborah Sirjoosingh continues to go with the flow, sailing on and serving wherever the will of God carries her.

Hers has been an ‘incarnational’ Christian life. And that is what Christmas is about. God was incarnate – “robed in flesh” – in Jesus Christ. He still is, in people like Debbie. More than ink and paper, God’s Best Gifts are “the word made flesh.”

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*Photo credit and updated information courtesy of SAGE, Fall 2015; www.paoc.org;

Article by Deborah Sirjoosingh with Freda Myco.

 

(A shorter edition of the above post was published in Peter's weekly column, P-Pep! in The Standard Guide Advocate, Dec. 17, 2015.)

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Author:
"Parables from the Pond" – a children's/ family book (Word Alive Press)
"Raise Your Gaze . . . Mindful Musings of  Grateful Heart (Angel Hope Publishing)
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