Sister Freaks (24 page)

In the midst of her busy schedule, Bonnie met fellow student Gary Witherall. Bonnie had dated occasionally during high school and at Moody, but no one had ever captured her heart. She told her mother that she was hesitant to fall in love, afraid someone would come into her life who would keep her from what God wanted her to do. But in Gary, she met a man whose passion for missions rivaled her own. It was love at first sight, and the two married just after graduation.

Bonnie and Gary moved to Portland, Oregon, and began to look for ways to serve God overseas. When their first assignment choice fell through, Bonnie was disappointed but determined. “I have come to realize that God has not called me to a place,” she told Gary. “He has called me to Himself.”

Not long afterward, Bonnie and Gary were accepted by Operation Mobilization and assigned to southern Lebanon in January 2001. Her sister Cheryl told
The Oregonian
newspaper that the family was concerned, but supportive. “Bonnie was doing exactly what she wanted to do. She said, ‘I’ve found my niche in the world.’ I think that she found true happiness, and she wanted to share that with other people.”

Bonnie and Gary settled in Sidon, a city mentioned often in the Bible, for two years of language training. In Lebanon, Bonnie discovered a people in desperate need of both the love of Christ and the physical comfort she felt called to provide. She began volunteering at the Unity Center, a Christian prenatal clinic for Palestinian women living in the poverty-stricken Ain al-Hiweh refugee camp. Acting both as an administrator and an assistant, Bonnie interacted with clinic patients every day. She helped deliver babies, offered clothing and supplies, and answered any questions the refugee women had. She built relationships with the women, and if they asked her about her reasons, she gave them Bibles and talked to them about her faith in Jesus.

Bonnie loved what she was doing and cared deeply about the women she served. In an e-mail to her former pastor, Bonnie wrote, “I feel this overwhelming joy in being here. I have such a heart for the women in this camp and I can touch their lives through the clinic.”

Friends and coworkers say that Bonnie tried to avoid the political upheaval that was happening around her. Local Muslim leaders began to condemn the clinic staff for sharing the message of Christ and converting local Muslims. The clinic and associated church received threats. Yet Bonnie remained committed to her work. If talk turned to politics, her coworkers said, Bonnie changed the subject. She would rather talk about people and relationships, and how better to serve the women in the clinic.

In an interview with the
New York Times,
Sidon’s Roman Catholic archbishop George Kwaiter said, “We told her she might be vulnerable to insults or even being hit, and she answered that she would consider it an honor.”

Even after the terrorist attacks in America on September 11, 2001, Bonnie overcame her fear and continued to serve. “What is there to be afraid of?” she asked her mother while they chatted online one day. When friends visited Bonnie and Gary, she told them, “I wish every believer could enjoy her ministry so much that she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

On the morning of November 21, 2002, Bonnie arrived at the Unity Center at eight o’clock, as usual. Waiting for her outside was a single gunman. When Bonnie opened the clinic’s front door, he shot her three times at point-blank range. Bonnie Penner Witherall died instantly.

As Gary accompanied his wife’s body from Lebanon to the United States, he struggled with his grief. Eventually, though, he found peace in the same calling that had drawn his wife to Lebanon in the first place. In the many memorial services that followed the death of this compassionate, faith-filled woman, Gary spoke out again and again about forgiveness. “You either hate and be angry, or you forgive. I have to forgive.”

Their message of Jesus’ death and resurrection was worth the price that they paid. “God led us to Lebanon and we knew that we might die,” Gary told
The Times
of London. “It’s a costly forgiveness. . . . It cost my wife.”

Letters poured in to Bonnie’s parents and to Gary. People they never met—from elementary schoolteachers to former coworkers—shared stories of how Bonnie had touched their lives.

Gary’s voice broke often during the memorial services for Bonnie, but at one point, he shouted as he proclaimed, “So many people think [Bonnie’s] death was a waste . . . but we believed that coming here with the message of Jesus would never be a waste. . . . I will take this message as long as I live. The tomb’s empty! Bonnie is dancing with Jesus!”

This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

(1 John
5:11-13
)

5

brittany hamilton

Confidence in God

B
rittany Hamilton accepted Christ when she was seven years old, but she never dreamed she would need to lean on the Lord so severely in the early years of her faith.

On October 25, 1994, when Brittany was nine, she waited for her mother to pick her up from school. Kathleen Hamilton was always on time. Brittany waited and waited, knowing in her gut that something was terribly wrong. Her parents had driven out together that morning, looking for a good spot to hunt deer for an upcoming hunting trip. But they should have been back in time to pick her up. At 5:30, the secretary from Brittany’s church picked her up and took her to see her pastor.

“Your parents have been in a train accident, Brittany, and your mom went to be with the Lord.” Brittany remembers crying but not fully understanding. Pastor Frank then took her to the hospital where her dad was in a coma and not expected to live more than four or five days. Everyone who cared for Brittany was there to comfort her. But nothing seemed real. In just a matter of minutes, Brittany lost her loving mother and faced the reality that she might lose her dad as well.

Miraculously, Gary Hamilton survived. But Brittany soon learned that her father was paralyzed. No more playing outside with Dad. No more walks together. And because he had to endure many months of rehab, Brittany would have to wait to feel the warmth of her father’s hugs.

Brittany finally moved into the hospital quarters so she didn’t have to be separated from her dad anymore. She saw some of the difficult, painful medical procedures that her father had to undergo. The therapist often just pushed him out of his wheelchair to see how he coped. She hated how they treated him.

When she became discouraged, Gary reminded his daughter that some in the hospital were even worse off than he was. Some had no feeling at all and couldn’t ever hug their children again. He had the blessing of being able to use his limbs and hold Brittany on his lap. The bond between them grew through the struggles, and God knitted their hearts together for His purposes.

Gary felt Brittany needed some time away from the hospital. Her aunt and uncle had a ranch in Wyoming, and they invited her to come visit for the summer. They had horses and Brittany learned to ride. She fell in love with the sport and enjoyed the beauty of the outdoors. “I think God gave me horses so I would be less focused on the loss of my mother,” she says. “I could ride for hours looking over the vast canyon all around me. I just let the beauty minister to me, and I bonded with my horse. My horse listened to me cry, yell, and scream. I was angry, sad, and all those things you would expect. It’s amazing, but horses really do listen. Their ears flicker, letting you know they hear you. My horse was a much-needed companion.”

Today, Brittany is nineteen years old. She now has three horses and competes in local rodeo events. Trophies line her living-room shelves, attesting to her strong will and dedication. The proud owner of Snazzy, a grand champion, Brittany also has aspirations to compete for Miss Rodeo America.

Most of her events are on Sundays, but she is able to participate in Christian ministries for those on the rodeo circuit. “My dad has reminded me that even though it is difficult to miss church, I can still share my faith with others,” she says. “God has promised us that wherever two or three are gathered, there He is in our midst.” Brittany is involved with a program called Women Behind Cowboys, which encourages young girls to stay in the Word and to run the real race, which is for Christ.

Brittany also has completed a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) program and is working at her local hospital. “I saw how some of the medical staff treated my dad, and I decided I want to spend my life caring for people.” Brittany plans to attend the University of Wyoming to further study nursing and equine nutrition.

Many of the whys of the accident are still puzzling. The engineer operating the train was not at the front of the train when the Hamiltons’ car was hit. He didn’t see them coming, and then it was too late to stop. Why did God allow man’s carelessness to have such a devastating outcome? What if the Hamiltons had come along just a few minutes earlier? God could have spared Brittany from loss and grief. Why would a loving God allow this to happen to a young girl?

With a humble disposition, Brittany admits that it has been very hard to accept everything, and she still struggles with the effects of the accident on her life.

“I still miss my mom. To me, she was an angel. I remember she was good to everyone she met. She always was upbeat, and I never wanted to leave her side. Yes, I would love to have my mom back, but I know I wouldn’t be who I am and who God has made me to be.

“I still struggle with why it had to happen, but I’ve learned God will never give me more than I can handle. I could have chosen to hate God and could be living apart from God’s best for me. But for some reason, God has blessed me and chosen to entrust me with the great responsibility of caring for my dad.”

Brittany admits that many of her friends have not understood the weight of her responsibilities. Her schedule does not look like that of a typical teenager because she has to run her home: wash laundry, cook, and clean. She makes it a priority to be home by 10:30 to tend to her dad’s medical needs. She has lost friends who get tired of Brittany’s demanding schedule. With conviction, Brittany has always told them, “Sorry, my dad is more important than bowling.”

Though the struggles continue, Brittany’s faith is strong and real. “The accident has given me the opportunity to find strength and confidence I would not have known otherwise. When my dad and I are out together at horse shows, we share our faith. People see the bond between us. And we know, without the Lord, we wouldn’t be here together.”

The
LORD
is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

(Psalm
23:1-3
)

WEEK TEN JOURNAL

•  What areas of your life would you like to see changed?

•  How can someone surrender difficult areas of her life to God?

•  If you were to surrender completely to Him, how would you know that God will take care of you, no matter what happens?

•  In your view, what is a costly sacrifice? Why would someone make a sacrifice like that?

•  What Bible verse or passage of Scripture has been most meaningful to you this week? Why?

week eleven

1

purnima

Faith Despite Sorrow

W
hen only thirteen, Purnima found herself having to say good-bye to her parents. She had professed her faith in Christ, and officials demanded she either denounce her faith or leave Bhutan. She knew she could not deny Christ. He was the only one who could save her.

The officers interrogated Purnima and thirty-four other believers, asking the same questions over and over. “Why do you want to be a Christian? This is a Buddhist country, and you have dishonored us by accepting this foreign religion.” She and the others were given five days to leave their homes and go to Nepal. Christians were labeled “traitors,” and the other villagers openly attacked them.

A year before, Purnima’s parents had forced her out of their home. Purnima was the daughter of a witch doctor, who led the village in rituals and performed animal sacrifices to drive out evil spirits. Her older sister, Maya, had suffered a serious illness, and she watched her father perform Buddhist rituals and sacrifice chickens for three years, calling on the spirits to heal his daughter. It never worked. Purnima could not understand why nothing her father did appeased the gods.

Miraculously, Maya was healed, but not through the incantations of a witch doctor. Maya claimed that Jesus had healed her. Maya’s husband, Sival, had a Bible and they had prayed for Jesus to heal her. Purnima’s father was so enraged at such a claim, he kicked Maya and Sival out of the home. Their newfound faith was a disgrace to the family. Purnima was heartbroken when they left, and no one was allowed to mention Maya in the home.

Soon, there was news that Sival and Maya had a baby boy. Purnima knew they lived outside the village and couldn’t keep away from her sister any longer. She had to go meet her nephew! Her curiosity about Maya’s new faith remained. What kind of God would just heal, asking nothing in return? How did Sival and Maya have such strength to stand against their families and leave Buddhism?

Purnima cut across fields, hiding in the brush so she could remain out of sight. When Maya opened the door to their small hut, she embraced her little sister with joy. The visits continued, and Maya began reading stories from the Bible to her sister. Purnima was fascinated with the story of Moses. He left his home to become a mouthpiece for God. She wondered what God would have her do if she were a Christian.

Finally, Purnima’s mother confronted her. “We know what you are doing. I’ve lost one daughter, and I don’t want to lose another. Do you understand?” Her mother explained how Christianity was for a lower class of people and not acceptable to their family or their country. But Purnima couldn’t keep away from her sister. She kept visiting and hearing more about Jesus.