I was reminded recently of how our lives have been surrounded by PRAYER - our own prayers and also the prayers of God's people. At the time of my unexpected brain surgery and the aftermath of all that, Dad wrote a daily report of what was happening in our lives right then, and I found a copy of what he had written in a file just the other day. He wrote far and wide to ask people to pray for us at that time of our deep need, and people responded by praying and writing encouraging letters. God DID answer their prayers.
People who walked with us through that time of trouble see me now and cannot believe how well I am and what I am able to do again. I have always had a lot of energy, but during those uncertain days - weeks, even a couple of years - I wondered if I would ever feel normal again. But God answered prayer and it was nothing but a miracle. At (almost) age 79, I am able to do a lot more than some of my peers who did not have to go through the trauma I experienced during those three years. I just recently had a perfect doctor's report, and he commented on how far I had come. The first time he saw me after my brain surgery, I visited him in a wheelchair. A good doctor is a blessing, but without prayer I would never be where I am today physically.
The Bible tells us a lot about prayer, and as Alliance missionaries we have been abundantly blessed by the prayers of hundreds of Alliance (and other) people. The Apostle Paul had this experience of living by the sustaining prayers of God's people. He says, "(God) delivers us from deadly peril...and will continue to deliver us as you help us by your prayers." Like Paul, we as missionaries have been delivered from peril, trouble and heartache even as he was, and you children have also been the recipents of this deliverance many times in your lives. David tell us in the Psalms, "He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help."
I have already mentioned how devastated Dad and I were when our entire month's allowance was stolen out of our apartment in Bobo while we took you little girls out for a Sunday afternoon walk. What a shock for brand new missionaries. We soon learned that we belonged to a good mission which would advance us enough money to live on until we could pay back what we borrowed.. But God helped us to put all of that behind us, and not live in constant fear of robbery. In fact, during our years in Africa, we were robbed so many times that we lost track. But it did not deter us from the joy of living and serving in West Africa for more than forty years. Credit for this goes to those who prayed so faithfully!
During our first term, Dad was often sick with malaria - the old fashioned kind that lasts! But many people were praying for us in our missionary life and prayed for his health. In answer to prayer, Dad had less and less bouts with malaria and was fairly free of the sickness during our later years in Africa.
As a child, I had often had the old fashioned malaria and I can still remember the chills and the burning fever, and my mother wiping my face with a cool washcloth by the hour. But during those early childhood years I must have built up an immunity in my system, as I was seldom bothered by a malarial attack in my adult life as a missionary. We had a lot of praying friends who prayed faithfully for us during our long life of service in West Africa. Prayer support is so important for international workers in our day even as it was for the Apostle Paul who spoke of those "who helped me through your prayers" as he traveled and preached the Gospel. It has alwaqys been an encouragement for me to have someone tell me, "I prayed for you...."
And now WE are on the praying end. We pray for all of you children and grandchildren and now the "greats" every single day, and we also have a big photo album filled with prayer cards from workers all over the world for whom we pray faithfully. Prayer is a privilege for the one praying and a blessing to those for whom we pray.
to be continued...............................................
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