The Finish

Here it is, the 12th of July, and we have two days left before we leave for the U.S. It’s hard to believe that we’ve come to the end of this trip that seemed like it would never end. God has taken us through some amazing things here, but certainly not the kind of things that we guessed might happen before we left to come here. God is like that though, always surprising us, and not always in the ways that we want. You can’t come to the end of a trip like this without reflecting back on all of the events that transpired.

The Tough Surprises

Before the trip, we had envisioned that we’d meet a lot of local people at the apartment complex, do bible studies, and those noble sorts of things. It didn’t pan out. When we got here and saw that we had a spare room, I thought how great it would be to use that room to house a missionary or someone like that who might need a place to stay during a visit here. Nope, didn’t happen. The room stayed vacant. I prayed that I would meet some European or American who I could fellowship with, who would be my close friend and partner in everyday life here. While this didn’t happen specifically like that, I did meet some Europeans, and Indians as well, who became my friends, but none who were Christians that I could fellowship with. Plus, we only got together one day a week. I felt that each thing that I prayed for fell on deaf ears with God. All I got was 6 months of isolation and loneliness, and trying to manage my kids’ emotional breakdowns over missing home and living in a difficult culture.

As I recounted in my many blog entries of the black days of crushing loneliness, I struggled to understand why God would do something that seemed so ‘meaningless’. I read the other day in a book by Alistair Begg, an account of a British woman named Dr. Helen Roseveare. She went to the Congo to serve Christ as a doctor in the mid-1960’s. When she got there, she was engulfed by utter chaos and watched as rebel troops shot many of her colleagues in the head and dumped their bodies into open graves. She couldn’t understand the situation, but in the hour of her greatest need, God gave her the phrase, ‘Can you thank me for trusting you with this experience, even if I never tell you why?’ I found that very powerful. God not only asks us to trust Him with the trials that He gives but to thank Him for trusting us with them.

I might never know what God’s purpose was for the loneliness and isolation. I have come to know Him in a much deeper way though, a way that I would never have gotten to in my day to day walk with Him in Idaho. I think this old poem best summarizes it:

"I walked a mile with pleasure and she chattered all the way,
but left me none the wiser for all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow and ne’er a word said she,
but oh the things I learned from her, when sorrow walked with me."

He knew what my weak spot was, the place where I was the most vulnerable, and He asked me to trust Him. I am thankful for that.

The Wonderful Surprises

A few years ago, Pastor Daniel who runs the Mercy Homes programs here in India, came to visit the US and stayed with us. We had dinner with him and our friends the Siekers, and it was an incredible time of fellowship and prayer. During prayer, Pastor Daniel felt God telling him things about the future ministries for both of our families. For me and Adam, we were going to be used like Barnabas- as encouragers. At the time, I was really wanting to go on a missions trip and thought, ‘Encouragers?! That’s it?!’ Again, I was hoping for something more glamorous.

Being that God of surprises that He is, we now see in retrospect what a blessing being encouragers really is. We feel that one of the main reasons for this trip was for us to encourage the pastor of Radiant church, our little church here in town. One of Pastor Thomas’ mentors was visiting two weeks ago, and he told Adam that our involvement in the church had finally validated within Pastor Thomas the fact that he was indeed the lead pastor. Just a month ago, he decided to commit to being the full time pastor, and we were blessed to witness his ordination ceremony at the church. In the past few months we were able to bring other American Christians from Adam’s work who were visiting to Radiant, and Adam also worked with Thomas to build a website for the church. In our few months there, we have seen two new families join the church. This little church has the ability to transform many lives in this city, especially with its target group of professionals at Technopark, the technology center where Adam’s work and many other companies do business. God has surprised and blessed us by allowing us to be a part of His plan for this church in this city. We also grew to dearly love Pastor Thomas and his family and the other family that we first met at Radiant. It was very hard to say good-bye. Even Jackie cried last Sunday night before bed, saying that she’d miss church. That was quite a transformation from her not wanting to go those first few weeks.

During this visit, we also got visit Mercy Homes and spend some time with Pastor Daniel and his lovely wife Lilly. We met many amazing people from all over the world. Adam was also encouraged to preach, which he did several times. And lastly, the needs of the missionaries that we support have been made crystal clear to us through this trip. We hope to be better able to support them when we return.

Thank You!

I’ve said it before, but we are eternally grateful to our friends who have been such a support to us. Your prayers and care packages made the unbearable times bearable. We can’t wait to see everyone in a few short days!

All of our love,
The Getchells