Near to Death, but Closer to God

I was worried during orientation when my translator was not able to show up; there seemed to be a mix-up. The pastor who was supposed to translate for me had been transferred, so his wife was going to fill in. When I met Ivy for the first time, we didn’t outwardly appear like the perfect match; she was a mere 4’10” and I towered above her at 6’2”. But right away I saw her passion for serving God. She is a mother of two girls, Janeen and Jeia, ages 7 and 9, holds a job, and is apart from her husband Julie most of the time, who is pastoring another church over an hour away. Somehow she still found the time and energy to review the sermon notes before each meeting and often sing or bring her two girls to sing for special music. She adopted me into her family as her “little brother” and I became “kuya” or “older brother” to her girls. Her husband was very encouraging when he was able to come for a visit and attend the meetings.

Just over a week into the meetings, I got that feeling that things were going too well. God was blessing and the attendance was growing each night. Monday morning I woke up and during devotions had a gut feeling that something went wrong with my family back home. I began to pray for each of them. There were no messages or emails, but later that morning I was standing by one of our hosts when she received a phone call. I heard a mix of words that didn’t sound good. “Julie… accident… hospital… motorcycle… they were on the way to school… unconscious…” There had been something wrong in my adopted family. Julie had been driving the girls to school by motorbike when another bike pulled out in front of them. Julie was the only one with a helmet on. Jeia was the only one taken away still conscious from the scene. Janeen had fractured her skull, Julie broke his clavicle, and Jeia was scraped up bad. At the hospital,l Ivy did all she could to try and mend her broken family. We had almost received the most devastating blow, but God had protected their lives.

I had to go on without Ivy, so they found a fill-in translator. I was sure Ivy was done, but in just two nights, she came back to continue even with her family still in the hospital. Though the devil tried to stop the meetings, they continued and many were baptized and the church was uplifted. By the time the meetings were over, Julie had been sent home and Janeen was responsive and sitting up eating spaghetti as I said good bye.

When I got home, I was watching a short video clip of Janeen singing special music before the accident. The phrase she sings in the clip is “…and when I am put through the fire, I come out shining like gold.” God only knows why he allowed this to happen, but through it, he will bring this dedicated family out shining like gold.

We continue to pray for Janeen’s full healing.