By Paul and Sheryl Noren
YAOUNDE, CAMEROON – Following is one of the many stories that reflect the importance of the UBAC Hostel ministry that supports the children of missionaries and others while attending the Rain Forest International School (RFIS).
Just this week (October 16-20), Anita, a German girl of 16 who lives at the UBAC Hostel, had a major crisis in her family. Anita is an only child and was raised in Gabon and home schooled completely up to this year.
Just this week (October 16-20), Anita, a German girl of 16 who lives at the UBAC Hostel, had a major crisis in her family. Anita is an only child and was raised in Gabon and home schooled completely up to this year.
Yesterday morning, after Paul had already taken the kids to school, we received a call from Anita’s father telling us that his wife was in the hospital dying. She had fallen ill with a terrible headache – she then went into a coma. The French doctors at the hospital found an inoperative tumor was killing her. The doctors told Anita’s father that a medical flight to Germany was not really an option and would not make a difference in the outcome. They suggested that he try to get his daughter home to Gabon as soon as possible to see her mother before she died.Needless to say, we dropped everything and started making arrangements to get her home. How do you tell a 16-year-old girl that her mother is dying? Mary Lebeuf, a Covenant short-term missionary, is the guidance counselor here at RFIS. After talking with her and the school director, Vince Griffith, we called Anita out of her classes and God gave us the words to say, and an opportunity to pray with her.
God was gracious and gave us all the right words to say. We let two of our other hostel girls return back to the house with us to help Anita pack and to keep her company. It was a long afternoon, but Anita was our priority of the day. Paul drove her to another city, Douala, about three and a half hours away, to catch an International flight to Gabon.
Now, she is back with her father and they have some tough decisions to make. Will they take her mother off life support? Will her mother die soon? What will Anita and her father do – return to Germany? Will Anita return to us and continue to go to school here? Will her father continue his current job and ministry?
Although Anita is with her father, we have 11 other teenagers who are affected by Anita’s sadness. This is another opportunity for us to talk, to share, and to pray with our students about God’s love, power, and faithfulness, despite the very tragic events that come into our lives. We never know the future.
We all visited with Anita’s mother just a week ago today. Now, she may be gone. All of these kids are living here, apart from their parents, so this event is touching their lives – and for some it is very traumatic.
Praise God for those of you who are praying for us daily. You never know what is going to happen, but we know your prayers are surrounding us, and so does Anita. We are here to care for missionary children. This means loving them and helping them through the good and bad times, through sickness, broken bones, being hit by cars, losing boyfriends, losing sports events, and losing loved ones. We are constantly in need of being lifted up in prayer to have the patience, wisdom, and physical energy to keep going and be effective.
Editor’s note: the photo shows a time of devotions with Paul Noren and students (from left) Ron Burke, Caleb Grove, and Anita Sturn.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
