Recently, my youngest daughter and I were able to meet a gracious, humble missionary who has inspired people around the world. Gladys Staines made world news as the wife and mother whose husband and two sons were brutally murdered in January 1999 by extremists who were angry about the number of conversions to Christianity in their area.
The Least of These is a movie made about the story of their ministry and the murder of her family members. In February, it was released in US theatres and has since been released in theatres around the world.
We saw her at an event where she spoke of her life and ministry. As Gladys spoke of how she was raised in her native Australia, she talked about how her mother read missionary stories to her. She loved the missionary stories; and after she became a Christian, God started working in her life and made it clear to her that He wanted her to become a missionary. She completed a degree in nursing; and after a few years of working as a nurse in different places around Australia, she went to India as a missionary. It was there that she met her husband, Graham, who was also Australian and serving as a missionary. They married, and together they served in a leper community in India.
As the years passed, God blessed them with three children, Esther, Philip, and Timothy. Years later, as Graham and their two sons were returning from running a camp for tribal children, they camped out in their vehicle for the night. That night would be their last here on earth as they were burnt alive in their vehicle by an anti-Christian extremist group. Gladys then made headlines around the world, as she grieved and was questioned by the media; to the amazement of many, she said that she and her daughter had forgiven the perpetrators. The two then went on to serve five more years among the leprous people there in India, before returning to Australia.
Her testimony touched us in many ways. One thing that she spoke about was
sacrifice. She left her comfortable life in Australia to go to an impoverished, disease-ridden place. She also said, that a few weeks before her husband and sons died, she was reading about Abraham being willing to sacrifice Isaac. She said that it crossed her mind at that time, "What would I be willing to sacrifice?" That spoke to me, because though we may be willing to give up some comforts in this life, how would we respond to giving such an unfathomable sacrifice as Gladys gave or that Abraham was prepared to give. (Many of us have a hard time "sacrificing" any material thing that makes our life comfortable.) Gladys then spoke about
forgiveness. While she was clear that the perpetrators should pay for their crimes as required by law, she gave many verses and said that, as Christians, we are called to forgive. Wow! Although we all know that, think about that coming from someone who must have had unimaginable grief at the thought of the suffering of her husband and two sons being burned alive. In her greatest sacrifice and grief, she responded with forgiveness. (Often, we find ourselves having a hard time forgiving pettiness that is part of our every day lives.)
Finally, a quote that was from someone who was a missionary in India and someone whom Gladys had read about as a child. This quote stirred our hearts and puts perfectly into words something that I have been thinking much about and that should be taught to our children and youth groups. It applies to all Christians and is never too late to put into practice in our lives.
A life totally committed to God has Nothing to fear, Nothing to lose, Nothing to regret.
~Pandita Ramabai
