WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?
One of my girls from the Youth Group was also the preacher's daughter. I watched her grow from a gangly little girl into a tall, lovely blond woman. Now as blonds go, Connie had her moments of being off the wall, but she showed all of us what she was made of as she grew into womanhood. She was becoming the kind of woman God created her to be right before our very eyes.

Connie married a young man that she had known for many years and I bet she was just as surprised as all of us, of the match she made. They became missionaries! Todd with his pilots license and many skills along with Connie and her experience as a dental surgery assistant became invaluable on the mission field. The story I want to tell wasn't being remembered quite correctly so I contacted my friend Ellen, who is Connie's mother. Ellen filled me in on a few details but it still didn't quite compute the way I remembered hearing it, so I contacted Connie. Her story takes place on the small islands in Micronesia. This is one of her stories!

"I was pregnant with my second daughter Courtney," Connie begins! "When it was time, Todd had flown the only American Doctor to Guam, through a tropical storm to save a young man who fell from a coconut tree. The island Doctor is more like our EMT's and he looked a little like Bozo the Clown. Short curly hair that went straight out the sides and bald on top. He always wore a pink striped shirt with maroon corduroy pants every time I saw him. I had a lady lawyer friend with me when I went to the hospital. There was just a trouble light hanging from an extension cord that was hooked up to a generator which was out on the lawn. There were huge bugs! The walls in the hospital only went part way down and the chickens along with other things were running around. The old saying; "Were you born in a barn?"; is something that Courtney can say yes to; complete with chickens and bugs. The island Doctor did come in to deliver Courtney but he waited and waited to come in because I wasn't screaming and he said; "all white women scream when they deliver, so I didn't think it was time yet. However, the Island Doctor did deliver Courtney!"

Of course the way I remembered hearing this story was Connie cleaned the delivery room and delivered her own baby! Ellen remember Connie was waiting outside the delivery room when the baby started to come. She walked into the delivery room, fearful that the baby would come before she got there. Our Connie, our little blond who grew up under our watchful eyes, so courageous and unafraid because God said; "I will be with you even to the end of the age!"

Todd and Connie's family now include two young men they adopted as boys, while they were living on these islands and their two teenage daughters. Jessica, the eldest, just graduated from highschool. Their plans for mission work is broadening as Todd is now enrolled in school to become a Doctor. Having a pilot's license and also being a Doctor will allow the two of them to do more. I am not sure of their destination; it could be Africa. They know of the desperate need there and they both love huge and exciting challenges.

"Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and we are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:1-3 "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." 1 Timothy 4:4-6 God does amazing things through those who are willing to go into all the world. Connie says; "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!"
Jane Ann