THE LORD OF LIFE

I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life;

No one comes to the Father, but through Me.  

John 14:6

In 1985, on our way home from Africa, we stopped to visit missionary friends in Switzerland. We planned to stay one week, so we bought seven-day passes on the Swiss railroad and looked forward to seeing that beautiful country. On the fourth day Ruth became sick. Our hostess believed she had the flu that had been spreading through their community. For the next three days Ruth was unable to go sightseeing, so Steve, Sheri, and I went without her.

When it was time to leave, we boarded the train in Bern to catch our flight in Zurich. During the trip Ruth developed severe abdominal pain and became terribly nauseated. By the time we reached the Zurich airport she was in great distress. Later, while waiting in Brussels, Ruth lay on the floor because of her misery. Airport staff called an ambulance, and she was taken to the clinic. The doctor suspected appendicitis but gave medication for pain and nausea so we could continue home. The airline rearranged our seats so Ruth could lie across a row of five seats, where she slept most of the way to New York.

Ruth spent two weeks in our local hospital. Her white blood cell count rose and fell regularly, puzzling the experts. They said it should remain high if her appendix had ruptured. Eventually she was sent to the Cleveland Clinic, where her main doctor specialized in infectious diseases. He spent many hours at her bedside asking questions and teaching his interns, “Listen to the patient. She will tell us what is wrong.”

Tests revealed two masses in her abdomen—either abscesses or tumors. With no clear answers, exploratory surgery was the only option. The masses were abscesses which the Great Physician had formed to contain the poison from a ruptured appendix. The doctors told us it had ruptured on the train in Switzerland—four weeks before surgery. Medically, there was no way she should have lived that long.

Our Lord Jesus truly is the Life—spiritually and physically. We praise Him that He sustained her life.

Les Vnasdale