On the weekend, Mark and I attended an Impact conference. For those who have managed to escape a life dictated by the health system, Impact is a Christian medical/dental conference for students and recent graduates. I enjoyed playing the role of 'supportive and mildly cynical' wife. The cynicism was mostly aimed at the lame medical jokes, which I politely smirked at from time to time. The Bible teaching at the conference was fantastic, and Mark and I both came away feeling very encouraged.
We returned from the conference last night, and had dinner with my Mum and Grandparents at Mum's house. Just as my Grandparents were leaving, I noticed that someone was at the door. The woman was clearly upset, and was on the phone to the police. She explained to us that her brother-in-law had just threatened to kill her sister and her three children, who were trapped in a house down the road. We tried to coax the woman into explaining the situation to us, but she was clearly upset. She walked back to the house, and screamed at us to help her. We ran to the house, and realised that the man had left the house, and was threatening his sister-in-law from the driveway. Mark distracted the man, who was clearly inebriated, and began talking to him whilst keeping a distance. This allowed the mother and three children to leave the house and follow me into a near-by neighbour's house. The man was very aggressive, and came quite close to Mark a few times, but Mark kept calmly talking to the man; distracting him until the police came. When he realised that his wife and children had gone, the man snapped and started yelling that he was going to kill himself. He went back into the house and slammed the door, and at that moment the police arrived. Praise God.
Why the woman decided to knock on our door is a mystery. Our house certainly wasn't the closest to hers. God is so good to have led her to us, and to allow us to pray for this family.
Why the woman decided to knock on our door is a mystery. Our house certainly wasn't the closest to hers. God is so good to have led her to us, and to allow us to pray for this family.
The focus of the Impact conference was "Finding Hope in Suffering". We listened to numerous talks which encouraged us to put aside our own fears for the sake of others. Mark and I certainly had an opportunity to put this into practice. However, our fears, at the time, do not compare with what this family will now have to deal with. A broken marriage, children legally restricted from their father, a man's life in shreds. Where is the hope here? After things had calmed down, we spoke to the two women, and said that we would pray for them. We then learnt that the women are Christians, and that the abusive situation had been on-going. From what we could gather, these two women are trusting in Christ and His redemptive power - knowing that this life is not where the story ends.
This is where we find hope. Not in our circumstances, but in God's sovereign and just reign over our lives and, thus, our circumstances. Our hope is in the life to come, not in the trials and hurts of our present life. We long for the day when everything hostile to the glory of God will be destroyed. What a day that will be.
Please keep this family in your prayers. My heart breaks for the children - to hear your father say that he is going to murder you, your siblings, your mother and your aunty would certainly be traumatic.
I'm very thankful that God gave us the opportunity to practically consider suffering and how powerful it can be in the life of a family. Although, I hope that the topic for next year's conference isn't martyrdom, or something of the like.
