Ann O'Dell

Recently, I unpacked a treasure from childhood…a little cloth doll from India. My mother told me years ago that a missionary visiting our church from the Punjab District of India had given the doll to me as a gift. I was too young to remember the incident, but I had always carefully kept the doll through the years as something precious. Because of the doll, I’d always been curious about that part of the world.

In September of 2003, Art and I made a trip to Pakistan. We visited a church in the Western Punjab District. (Prior to 1947, this had all been a part of India.) I was dressed in the traditional clothing of women in that part of the world, a shalwar kameez which is a knee length top over loose fitting pants and a dupatta or scarf around my head similar to the way my doll from long ago was dressed. The congregation met us a distance from the church building. They put a gold turban on Art’s head, leis of flowers around our necks, and roses and white blossoms in my hair and around my wrists. Then they draped a gold scarf over my head. Slowly we walked toward the church between the people lined on either side of the walkway as they sang to welcome us. We learned from our host that they had dressed us as a bride and groom! 

It didn’t occur to me until sometime later, maybe because we were in Pakistan not India, but at some point, I realized Art and I had actually been in the very area of the world the missionary had ministered in. Could the doll from so many years before, have been a harbinger of experiences to come? Although I’ll never know, is it possible I met a Christian or two who came to Christ through that missionary’s efforts? I am humbled and amazed that so many years after receiving that doll I actually visited the people of this area!

My day in Northeast India had been busy.  Now at last my hostess Kim and I had an opportunity to sit quietly and visit over a cup of tea.  Suddenly her husband, Pastor Paul came into the room followed by a couple with a small child in their arms.  Paul apologized for the intrusion.  “But this couple has come to see if there is any way we can help them.”  He went on to explain that the two-year-old toddler had swallowed battery acid.  The parents stepped into the room behind Paul.  They held the toddler who was lethargic and could barely hold up his head.  They had rushed the child to the nearest hospital, but the acid had already deeply scared the child’s esophagus and had closed off any way for the child to receive nourishment.  He was in need of surgery.

When the parents could not produce the necessary 15,000 rupees or about $320 US for the child to undergo surgery, the hospital had released him and basically sent him home to die!  The parents who were members of the local church had come to the pastor to seek help for their child.

My mind was flooded with questions.  How could the hospital turn away this little one?  Where is the value of life?  How could such an accident happen in the first place?  Were the parents negligent?  Three hundred dollars might as well be three thousand dollars to this impoverished family.  Who was I to judge their parenting skills?  My own son was constantly getting into things he shouldn’t have as a toddler.

What would God have me do in this situation?  I remembered the words of advice given to me years before when I first started visiting developing countries of the world.  “The need doesn’t determine our response but waiting before the Father.”  I turned to Pastor Paul and said I need a bit of time to pray about this.  He nodded.  Then turning to the parents, he sent them on their way.

I asked Kim to pray with me.  As we prayed several thoughts raced through my mind.  Did I have enough funds with me to cover the cost of the toddler’s surgery?  I knew that if I only had a portion of what was needed, the child would still go untreated.  I also knew there wasn’t time to go back home, raise the funds and send them.  It would be too late.  Checking the cash I had on hand, I realized I had what was needed.  However, the parents needed to see the funds come not through my hands, but the hands of their pastor.  I slid the cash into an envelope.  Then Kim and I were off to the evening service.  When we entered the church, I handed the envelope to Pastor Paul.

What were the chances that this need came up while I was in this remote village in NE India?  I truly think that it was a case of God knowing ahead of time what would be needed to spare the child’s life, and He had placed me there, just as He had Esther in the Old Testament, “…for such a time as this.”  Esther 4:14

Recently I came across this devotion written by my late husband, Dr. Art O’Dell. I wanted to share it as we remember the cross and what it means to each of us. —Ann

A Devotion based on Luke 23:26-49 

By Art O’Dell

“And when they came to the place of the Skull, there they crucified Him…” Luke 23:33

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18)

As we sprinted to the car through the raindrops on the Thursday before Good Friday, my wife Ann made the observation that it often seems to rain on Good Friday.  I stored that bit of information in my memory bank.  Later it occurred to me that storms occur at the point when opposing forces- cold and warm air- come together.  At the place where they meet, the temperature changes, dark clouds form, thunder booms, lightning flashes and the rain falls.  Everyone along the front feels its effect; no one escapes its impact.

So it is with Good Friday. The cross is the meeting place of the opposing forces of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness; God’s power and man’s impotence; God’s love and man’s hate.  Calvary is the frontline of the battle between God’s selfless work and man’s selfish will. 

The place of the cross is a place of …

…DOUBT as some question his “Godness” and refuse to see Him as anything more than a good man or a noted teacher (v. 35).

…DERISION as some mock and question His power to overcome the forces of evil (v. 35).

...DEFIANCE as some demand salvation without submission; desiring Jesus as savior but denying Him as Lord (vs.39).

…DISTANCE as the cost of identification with a crucified leader pushes some to follow from afar; respecting His life but fearing his death (v. 49).

…DARKNESS as creation mourned the break of fellowship between Father and Son (v. 44).

…DEATH as the Lamb of God lays down his life as a perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of those who killed him (v. 46).

…DISCOVERY where the reality of our rebellion meets the standard of God’s holiness (v. 41).

…DECISION where our prideful self-determination bows in humble submission to His superior plan (v.42).

…DISMISSAL OF CHARGES and DELIVERANCE where God’s life-giving forgiveness meets our death-producing sinfulness (v.34,43).

…DRAWING where a searching God meets lost souls (v.45).

Of all things that the place of the cross is, one thing it is not is a place of neutrality or apathy.  You must respond.  At Calvary, you stand at the foot of the cross, confronted with the claims of a crucified Christ.  Some of us will shake our heads in disbelief and denial.  Others will shake our fists in defiance.  Still, others of us will lift our hands in divine worship and bow our heads in deferential humility and thankfulness.  One thing is true, however, no one who faces the cross will remain the same.  What will you do with the cross of Christ?

The year was 1973.  Art and I were feeling a need for a place to get away from the demands of pastoring and have time with our family.  We also longed for a place to share with our friends who also needed a place to get away and find refreshment.  At one time we had even started to purchase an empty lot on a small manmade lake, but when financially we couldn’t keep up with the land contract, we had to let it go along with our dream.

For four years, two of the older couples in the church loaned us their cottages on Crooked Lake near Fairview, Michigan.  Sharie was just 3 months old the first summer we spent at the lake, and Stephen was ready to turn 5 in a few short weeks.  That summer we had to haul water from a neighbor’s pump, and use the outhouse, but we so enjoyed our time there, we didn’t mind the inconveniences.  The next summer another neighbor loaned us his cottage which was definitely an upgrade to the first one we used.  He had running water and indoor plumbing! 

Art told our neighbor that if he knew of someone wanting to sell their place to please let him know.  I always worried about finances.  How could we possibly purchase a cottage?  We barely covered our monthly expenses as it was.  However, Art assured me that when the time was right, God would provide.  In March of ’73, my grandfather passed away.  When his estate was settled, each of his grandchildren received a small, totally unexpected inheritance.  A short time later our neighbor approached Art.  The cottage next to his was for sale and would make a great get away for our family. 

That summer Art and I slipped away from a youth retreat to look over the property.  He was convinced immediately that this was the place for us.  It was nothing fancy.  There was a well with an electric pump, but no inside plumbing.  I made Art promise that if we bought the place, he would put in a bathroom right away.  When Art negotiated the purchase, the small inheritance we received covered all but about $1500 of the purchase, and the owner was willing to let us pay the balance on a land contract.

Through the years the cottage went through several upgrades and renovations.  Art’s comment, “While we’re at it…” became a family joke.  We still laugh about the time we were sitting around the lunch table and suddenly Art and Steve were on the roof tearing it off to reconfigure the roof line.

Art named our place Heart’s Desire after the verse in Psalm 37:8 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Someone made us a sign for the cottage that said Heart’s Desire that still hangs on the front of our porch.

Through the years, Heart’s Desire has been a place of refreshment and renewal for not only our family, but for extended family members, friends, fellow pastors, and even sometimes people we didn’t know well.  Recently, I’ve been amazed at how many people have mentioned their fond memories of time spent here.  When Heart’s Desire became our permanent residence in 2013, Art and I continued to enjoy a steady stream of family and friends coming to visit.  I wondered what would happen once Art was gone, but the draw of this place continues to bring family and friends to the door.

The question was raised in our Bible class as we studied Psalm 37, what does it mean to “delight in the Lord?”  I thought of how when we tried to find a way to purchase a getaway, our efforts failed.  But when we committed our dream to the Lord and waited on Him and His timing, He made a way where there seemed to be no way.  Through the years, we experienced Him doing that over and over again in our lives.