Alone and Dying? God Moves the Heart of a Businessman and a Missionary's Life is Saved

Alone in the little hospital room, Cindy* began to mentally draft a final letter to her husband. She and Craig were serving as global workers in Central Asia. The loneliness of the quarantine separating her from Craig and their two little boys was as agonizing as the waves of unexplained pain coursing through her body.

The hospital medical team offered little comfort or help. They spoke almost no English. Their lab tests were inconclusive. The doctors seemed to think Cindy had meningitis, but they were unsure how to treat this potentially fatal disease. Fatal? Was she dying — alone, far from family and home?

Cindy struggled to make sense of her circumstances. She and Craig had gladly answered God’s call to minister in Central Asia. They had felt the reassurance of God’s provision and protection while serving in a gospel-resistant country, thousands of miles from parents and family. Then everything collapsed.

A couple of days after arriving at a team conference in a neighboring country, Cindy suddenly felt very ill. Craig rushed her to this local, poorly equipped hospital. Hours stretched into days. Their questions had no answers. Was this God’s plan for them? They had said “yes” to His call and spent months sharing their vision with supporters. They had spent more months learning a new language and culture until they finally felt ready to share the gospel with those who had no meaningful access to it. And now they faced a health crisis.

Tears formed as Cindy continued searching for words to say goodbye to her soulmate and darling boys.

Craig felt the same desperation and uncertainty while trying to balance work and home, and anxious children who missed their mommy. In an effort to get help for Cindy, he was busy with international phone calls and official forms. Cindy needed to be life-flighted to a better-equipped hospital with more experienced doctors, but that was an international — and expensive — evacuation.

While requesting help, Craig learned that Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM), their sending agency, provides for emergencies like theirs through a special account. Global workers can rely on a combination of insurance and monies from this account for assistance, provided that donors contribute to this account. Because this account is not as well-known or as exciting as other projects, making sure there are sufficient funds to assist missionaries means that we must make donors aware of this account.

At the exact time of Cindy and Craig’s emergency need, God was moving on the heart of a businessman. Although Doug had a childhood connection with the Assemblies of God, as an adult he was worshipping in a different church fellowship. But while reviewing his retirement accounts, he felt he needed to call Assemblies of God World Missions. From there, AGWM personnel directed him to the Legacy of Faith office.

Legacy of Faith encourages planned giving to AGWM through experts who specialize in the tax benefits of charitable gifts from retirement funds, trusts, and other assets.

I answered Doug’s phone call. He knew nothing about Cindy and Craig, but as I explained the Legacy of Faith, he decided to designate a tax-free withdrawal from his retirement account to help global workers.

“I love my church and support it,” he told me, “but when I think of world missions, I come back to the Assemblies of God. I learned to love your global workers when I was a child. I met many of them through my mother’s connections.”

Thousands of miles lay between the desperate prayer of a young couple and the obedient answer to their prayer. No conceivable connection existed between Cindy and Craig and Doug, except in the mind of God. No distance or time difference is too great for His response. Before Cindy’s questions hung in the air, God’s answer was ready.
Cindy was life-flighted to facilities that could treat meningitis. After recovering, she was reunited with her family and they are currently preparing to serve again in Central Asia.

*Names changed to protect workers in sensitive areas of the world. This article original appeared in Worldview magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 6. Used with permission.