{"id":1438,"date":"2014-11-02T20:08:51","date_gmt":"2014-11-02T19:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jcstoker\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2014-11-02T20:08:51","modified_gmt":"2014-11-02T19:08:51","slug":"thankful-for-a-life-dedicated-to-the-people-of-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jcstoker\/2014\/11\/02\/thankful-for-a-life-dedicated-to-the-people-of-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"Thankful for a Life dedicated to the people of Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The month of November does not pass when I don’t remember the living and dying of Vanette Thorsell. \u00a0She was likely the first missionary to Congo (then Zaire) I met. \u00a0She was passionate about the need for teachers in Congo and loved to tell stories of her life there. \u00a0 She was so excited when Jeff and I visited her in Berkely, CA, to tell her of our decision to become missionaries in Zaire. \u00a0Vanette had retired by the time my family arrived in Karawa, Zaire, but her legacy was alive. \u00a0We were so excited when she came back to Zaire to serve an additional short term during our first few years at Karawa. \u00a0She was so excited that we had gone there and were working with students she had taught. \u00a0She became seriously ill soon after arriving and died in surgery. \u00a0What was so amazing was the response of the population of the Ubangi to news of her death \u00a0People walked for days to attend her funeral and burial. \u00a0The road from the church to the cemetery was a sea of people. \u00a0All people coming to mourn the death of their friend.<\/p>\n

Vanette loved the people of Congo, not just a few, but many. \u00a0She poured her life into them and her legacy is seen in the lives of the many she taught who have gone on in service to the church. \u00a0I wish I had a picture to share, but unfortunately I have none.<\/p>\n

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The month of November does not pass when I don’t remember the living and dying of Vanette Thorsell. \u00a0She was likely the first missionary to Congo (then Zaire) I met. \u00a0She was passionate about the need for teachers in Congo … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThankful for a Life dedicated to the people of Congo - Stoker Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jcstoker\/2014\/11\/02\/thankful-for-a-life-dedicated-to-the-people-of-congo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thankful for a Life dedicated to the people of Congo - 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