Faith and Vocation

On this Ash Wednesday it seems appropriate to share a story of faith from my book.  This one is about my own family - in my father's words:

In the summer of 1958 we were living in Taejon.  We began the morning as usual with family prayers, committing our day and our family to the Lord.  We were opening a new mission station in Chonan, a county seat town of about 50,000, fifty-two miles north, toward Seoul, where there was a railway junction more central to my three districts.  I planned to go to Chonan that morning to check on our new house being built there, stay overnight and go on to Seoul the next morning for some business there.


David (our youngest son) had vomited two or three times that morning so I told Edna Rae that I would postpone my trip.  However, she said there was some stomach flu going around and insisted I go on to Chonan.


But after I left, David continued to vomit.  Becoming concerned, Edna Rae took him to a small army camp outside of town where there was a young army doctor she had become acquainted with because of her work with orphanages.  He quickly determined that David was becoming dehydrated and should get to a hospital immediately.  He tried to call in an army helicopter, but it was too cloudy for it to fly.  She had no choice but to take the train to Seoul, a six-hour trip at that time.


David had just turned two years old, and Kathy was only three months old and nursing.  Loaded with two small children and a small suitcase, she was getting on the train when the doctor warned her, "the motion of the train may send the child into convulsions.  If it does, you have to get off the train immediately."


With these words echoing in her mind, she found a seat.  In the facing seat was a middle-aged Korean couple, the man dressed in Western clothes.  After a few miles, the man leaned over and in English said, "Your little boy looks quite ill."  When Edna Rae explained what the army doctor had warned, he replied.  "I am a doctor.  If you have to get off the train, I will get off with you!"  How wonderfully the Lord provides!


But the story doesn't end there.  In the meantime, finding everything progressing well with the construction of our house, I decided to go on to Seoul that afternoon.  I got on the train, sat down, and opened a book to read.  A few minutes later I glanced up and, looking down the aisle, I saw Edna Rae and the children at the far end of the car.  Surprised, I rushed to them and learned what had happened.


David did not go into convulsions, and when we reached Seoul, we thanked the kind doctor and his wife profusely and rushed across from the train station to the old Severance Hospital.  David was quickly admitted and hooked up to an IV.  He was terribly dehydrated and remained in the hospital for a week.


And with grateful hearts, Edna Rae and I thanked the Lord for his mysterious ways.

There are a lot more stories of faith in my book: An Intricate Tapestry (http://www.kirkhouse.com/Books/An_Intricate_Tapestry).

The photo was taken about a year after the story above- in front of our new house in Chonan

Share your own stories of faith and vocation