In Memory

photographs used by permission of ARLDF.

Rev. 12:11 But they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

Cyd,

The news was shocking at first. All that believing prayer - surely it can't be true. God delivered Paul for the sake of ministry more than once, and I really believed He would deliver you. All those Afghan women obviously needed you. There was so much left for you to do.

Or so I thought.

In reality, God saw that you had poured out your life as a drink offering to the fullest extent. He knew the women needed Him more than you, and He knew that you would agree. He saw you had fought the good fight and finished the race, even if it didn't look that way on this end.

And so, He told me no. He would deliver you all right - to Himself. I would never get to hear your story (at least in this life, but save me a seat near you at the wedding supper, okay?).

I don't know about Muhammed's relationship with the Lord, but I respect his devotion to you to the point of death. I worry about his wife and kids. I pray this starts a snowball for the kingdom in his people group that nothing can dissuade.

Today I sit in the quiet of my home, thankful for the stomach bug that allows me a day off work, a day to process this hard truth. Somehow I have felt connected to you despite never having known your name until a month ago. So I am taking this quite personally. My friends in the region are too, I'm sure - they know it could easily have been them. But they press on to minister, and you pressed on to overcome.

Ah, to think you see it all from the perspective of eternity today.

Until the kingdom,

A fellow traveler