Mission Leader

Well it has been a while since I have posted a blog. A lot has happened since my last blog, including God calling me to a new ministry area and a move cross country.  There are very few things as frustrating as packing and unpacking, except maybe a moving truck getting caught in an ice storm for days.

My new full time ministry is as a business administrator at a church in the southeast.  Currently, the church does not have a mission’s pastor.  With God’s calling on my life to be a World Christian, I am looking for the opportunities to advance missions while not officially wearing that hat.  This is a challenge that many staff members find themselves in, so I want to open up the subject for discussion.  What I will attempt to do over the next few months is blog the steps and miss-steps I take to share the concept and vision of God’s heart for the nations.  Please comment and offer advice from your experiences and together we may find new and constructive ways to advance God’s work around the world, even when that is not in our job description.

Since my job title and description are limited to business administration, I have spent the first 6 weeks trying to get the lay of the land.  But I am anxious to stick my toe in the water to test whether or not the people of this congregation are ready to reach out beyond their immediate surroundings.  I have pulled together a list of a few people I believe have a world Christian mindset.  I have sat down with them over a meal to just listen to their heart and the history of missions at this church. I have allowed them to share their vision of missions for the future and their desire to expand the church’s outreach. 

I asked them to pull together a list of other’s in the church who they know have a heart to reach out.  We discussed starting small groups with a mission emphasis to start training up leaders to share God’s heart for the nations with everyone in the church.  I will let you know the outcome of that plan.

I already know that this will not be easy, and I have already felt the push back, the “it’s not your job” mindset.   But we are commanded by our Lord to go to the nations.  It was not a suggestion or restricted to only those who have a job title of mission’s pastor or missionary.  This call is for all of us, whether we are on staff at a church or sit in a service.  We do not need the title to advance the kingdom globally.

To be continued…..

David Watson is a friend who has done great work locally and globally as a Church Planter, a Strategy Coordinator, and as a trainer of Multiplying Mentors.  David has been an over-achiever in about everything he has done, mainly church planting.  His words are worth taking to heart.

Check out his recent blog on Leadership and Spiritual Multiplication.

There seems to be some confusion regarding the various roles leaders must play if they hope to succeed. For me, success in a leader is defined by having a vision, accomplishing the vision, and making more leaders who can have a vision, accomplish the vision, and make more leaders who… and so on.

When I am evaluating leaders I always look for three generations in the room – myself, the person I am mentoring, and the people he or she is mentoring. If you cannot see three generations, then the leadership model is probably new, flawed or broken. Leaders make more leaders as a natural part of leadership. Some are more intentional that others, but all real leaders produce more leaders.

In the reproduction of leaders we have to work through information/knowledge transfer, skill set transfer, and capacity building. Information/knowledge transfer is the primary function of teachers. Skill set transfer is the primary function of coaches & trainers, and development of capacity is the primary role of mentors.

Today I’m submitting the final of three articles which serve as a reminder that so many of us desire to spend our lives for a cause much greater than ourselves. Rebekah is leaving a legacy, even before she leaves this earth.  Still serving, still obeying the Lord, still multiplying herself for the Kingdom.

Enjoy these tributes and commit yourself to such a high calling.

Thank you Rebekah for serving so well.
That All May Hear.
Mark Morris
Fellow servants pay tribute to IMB missionary Dr. Rebekah Naylor as she retires

BANGALORE, India–Editor’s note: Dr. Rebekah Naylor retired Feb. 1 after 35 years of service as a medical missionary with the International Mission Board. She served various roles at Bangalore Baptist Hospital in India. Here her colleagues and friends pay tribute to the legacy she has left.

“Having served as a pastor of Southern Baptist churches for more than 32 years, prior to being commissioned as medical missionaries under the auspices of the International Mission Board, I and my wife, Audrey,* had heard of Dr. Rebekah Naylor and her ministry in South Asia, but we had never had the privilege of meeting her until 2006.

“While attending a missions conference and seeking an assignment under the Masters Program, we were referred to Dr. Naylor as our contact person for an assignment. Needless to say, that was the beginning of a most beautiful relationship. Dr. Naylor recommended us for the assignment we were seeking, and, in fact, became our long-distance supervisor.

“Now even though she is retiring from the board, her influence will live on through the many lives she has touched – including ours. It is obvious to me that her handprints are all over Bangalore Baptist Hospital, but her influence is not limited there. Her life has been written across the missions world in indelible ink as a surgeon, an administrator, a fellow colleague, and a personal friend to a multitude of people. Speaking for both Audrey and myself, it has been our privilege to serve under her leadership and now to claim her as our forever friend.”

Tate Bassett*
IMB missionary, South Asia

“I have had the privilege of serving alongside Dr. Naylor as a missionary colleague for the past seven years. She is indeed a gracious servant of God. I have been touched by the way she cloaks the highest levels of competence and professionalism in a genuine humility of service to her Lord.

“Dr. Naylor has effectively bridged the gap between institution and people, showing us all that there is no need to choose a hospital ministry over and against evangelism and church planting or vice versa. Her ministry of the past decades has wonderfully integrated the two, setting a standard that we all hope to maintain in the years ahead.

“Thank you, Dr. Naylor, for the gift to South Asia that your life has been.”

David Garrison
Regional leader for South Asia, IMB

“Rebekah Naylor and I have been friends and prayer partners since 1973 when we were in missionary orientation together. Through these many years, Rebekah has been an example of commitment to her call from the Lord. Even when things were bad and she was being hung in effigy and slandered by those she befriended, Rebekah never wavered from the task the Lord called her to – that of caring for the sick and needy, both physically and spiritually. She was consistent and steadfast and kept her eyes focused on Jesus. I am proud to call her friend and co-worker. She has been and continues to be an encouragement to me.”

Barbara Bush
IMB missionary, Pacific Rim

“Dr. Rebekah Naylor is the epitome of the genre ‘missionary-doctor.’ Well-trained, decisive, compassionate, and always on mission for Christ, Dr. Naylor left a legacy in India and far beyond. My wife and I will never forget our visit to her in Bangalore. She had created an exact representation of a rural village on the hospital grounds because she had discovered that children suffering from malnutrition went back home to their villages well, but because of nutritional misunderstandings, they soon returned suffering the same malady. Dr. Naylor hit upon the idea of requiring mothers to come and live in the hospital village, and while the children were treated, mothers were taught how to choose and prepare nutritiously significant meals in village circumstances – exactly like those in which they lived. Soon, few children ever returned for treatment, and Dr. Naylor had demonstrated that the essential problem was lack of knowledge rather than poverty. Naturally, this endeared her to thousands and paved the way for people to come to know Christ. Southern Baptists have seldom had a more effective, diligent and compassionate medical missionary.”

Paige Patterson
President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“We first met Rebekah about 11 years ago when we were new to the field and stressed. We just saw Rebekah around and spoke to her briefly. She always acted toward us as though we’d been her friends all of her life. She’d already been on the field for many years and was a doctor and had no reason at all to be so kind. Surely, she’d seen people such as us come and go. She shared her concerns especially for obtaining a renewal of her license to practice medicine in India as well as visa renewals, but even though we knew she was worried, she was calm. Such was the case when her father was ill and close to death. That is the bottom line of what we feel about Rebekah Naylor. She has an aura of peace about her – a calm trust in the Lord even when things aren’t going so well, and genuine rejoicing and praise when they do.”

Ted and Colette Cranston*
IMB missionaries, South Asia

“I’ve gotten to know Dr. Naylor here at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In hearing excerpts of her life stories, witnessing her passion for missions and simply seeing a life well invested for God’s kingdom, I’ve decided we should hail her as the Southern Baptist Convention’s 20th-century equivalent to Lottie Moon. That’s intended to be stated as a great accolade.”

Keith E. Eitel
Dean of the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, SWBTS

“I grew up hearing the name Dr. Rebekah Naylor. As a child attending Girls In Action, we prayed for Dr. Naylor, for her hospital work, and for the lost in her beloved India. Through the years, I followed her ministry through IMB literature and continued to pray for her. Then some 20 years later, while I was teaching Girls in Action, my pastor invited me to join him and a team going on a Crossover India trip. It would be my first overseas mission trip and the trip that ultimately would lead me back to South Asia to serve on the field full-time. I never dreamed we would actually meet Dr. Naylor during that trip, but she shared with us, dined with us, and gave us a tour of Bangalore Baptist Hospital. Working as a secular journalist for years, I had been in the presence of many influential people; yet, I will never forget that first time meeting Dr. Naylor. I might as well have been a 9-year-old GA again – I stood awestruck as she radiantly showed off the new donated incubator in the hospital’s neonatal ward. Though now a colleague of Dr. Naylor’s for nearly a dozen years, I remain in awe of this godly woman. Her talent and drive are incredible, but it is her compassion and humility that set her apart and make her most worthy of emulating. Thank you, Dr. Naylor, for your faithful service unto the Lord and for living a life of obedience that draws us to want to do the same.”

Goldie Frances*
IMB missionary, South Asia

“South Carolina Baptists realize that Dr. Rebekah Naylor has lived in more places than South Carolina, but we claim her as our own missionary even though she only lived here for five years during her childhood. Her name is spoken with great respect and awe in South Carolina Baptist circles. So when the International Mission Board asked us to partner with South Asia, one of the delights was that we were going to be able to send teams to the ‘land of Rebekah Naylor.’ Of course, she would want us to focus more on the fact that South Asia is the land of the greatest concentration of lostness.

“The partnership has given us a great excuse to invite Rebekah back to South Carolina for missions conferences, annual meetings, senior adult conventions, and medical mobilization events. It is amazing to see how many people she has stayed in touch with throughout the years and in spite of the distance. During her visits to South Carolina, I have seen delight on the faces of people who have prayed for and admired Dr. Naylor and are getting to meet her face to face. One retired director of missions says he is honored to meet her and expresses deep appreciation to her for her years of faithful service, and then you hear a single woman whom Rebekah has mentored for the past several years. On her most recent visit, many lined up to meet her and get her to autograph her biography. She is ‘one of ours’ and will continue to be. Most importantly, she is one of His humble servants who has impacted many lives for eternity.

“Rebekah, you are always welcome in South Carolina. We appreciate and admire the way that you have represented South Carolina Baptists, Southern Baptists, and our Lord in India and beyond. I know as the next part of your journey begins that you will continue to honor His name and allow His love to spill out of your life onto many others. Your impact will continue for eternity. What more could anyone desire! We love you. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your life and ministry through the years.”

Debbie McDowell
Director, Missions Mobilization, South Carolina Baptist Convention

“I first met Dr. Naylor in 1988 as a Baptist Student Union summer missionary. I was a new nurse right out of college and had the privilege of working at the Bangalore Baptist Hospital and living right next door to Dr. Naylor for the summer. Her love for the patients and the staff inspired me. She is so patient and kind. She truly walks in the Spirit as evidenced by His fruit flowing through her to those she comes in contact with. That summer, I remember it took a lot to get her ‘feathers ruffled.’ One evening she had my roommate and me over for dinner, and she calmly recounted her encounter with a huge snake on her back patio that day. She told us about it like it happened every day. Ten years later, after marrying and starting a family, I moved back into the South Asia region. Looking back, I believe Dr. Naylor’s ministry in India impacted my life and inspired me to serve in South Asia.”

Rosalie Peart*
IMB missionary, South Asia

“We knew Rebekah at Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, before her appointment to India. We had been appointed to the Philippines, but when IMB administration for India was transferred from Europe and the Middle East to Southern Asia and the Pacific, that country was among the new countries assigned to me to develop media use. There had been an unsuccessful attempt to use media formerly, so Rebekah was not too pleased to have a new media person visiting.

“But I was able to work with her Bangalore Baptist Hospital outreach teams in their visits and film ministry. When the opportunity to begin a radio program in the Kannada language came, we were able to work together, especially as Rebekah lived in Bangalore and I was only commuting in and out.

“As the missionary medical staff and other support missionaries began to dwindle, I recall Rebekah carrying much of the administrative load. She was the true ‘point person’ for the whole Karnataka ministry effort. During some of those years, she was under much pressure due to labor issues. She relied on and supported her hospital staff and the staff of the Indian Baptist Society.

“I was in her home having supper one evening when word came that a long-time pastor friend was brought to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. It was too late to save him. When Rebekah returned to her apartment, I recall that she was deeply grieving the loss of a friend.

“Rebekah loved audiocassette music to relax to when not on duty, so it was a joy to bring her a new tape from time to time. Also, chocolate cake mixes from Singapore and Philadelphia cream cheese seemed to make a hit.

“We’ve been off the field more than eight years now, but we occasionally see Rebekah here in Fort Worth. It was great during those years and a privilege to work alongside Rebekah in her beloved India.”

J.O. and Mabelee Terry
Retired IMB missionaries

“For many years, I was actively involved in missions by working with Girls in Action and Baptist Women [now Women on Mission] as part of our Texas Woman’s Missionary Union program. I read about and admired the work of Dr. Rebekah Ann Naylor in India, as did all active Baptists in Texas. Some of my friends even had the opportunity to meet her, but not me. Then, more than a year ago, God called my husband and me to work in South Asia through the Masters Program of the IMB. Through a mutual friend, we were able to communicate with her before we left the U.S. She was so supportive of our decision, and we felt as if we knew her after that brief conversation. I can’t begin to express in words the feelings that came over me to finally meet this servant of God once we were on the field. Although we grew up and lived not more than 30 miles apart in Texas, God sent us to South Asia to meet her. Her name is so respected among all of the nationals in India, and with her retirement, the great void will be hard to fill.”

Peggy Uppinghouse*
IMB missionary, South Asia

This is the second of three posts submitted as lessons learned from a life well spent…and still being spent for Jesus.  Thanks to Ethan Leyton for sharing Rebekah’s stories with us.

Mark Morris
Indian colleagues and friends love to retell their stories of Dr. Rebekah Naylor

By Ethan Leyton*

BANGALORE, India–Florence Charles remembers speaking to Dr. Rebekah Naylor when the medical missionary missed her first-ever flight to Bangalore, India, back in 1974.

“She ended up in Madras [now Chennai],” Charles, then the secretary at the Indian Baptist Society, said. “She was young and eager to get the work going at the mission.”

Charles and many others at Bangalore Baptist Hospital and the Indian Baptist Society said they love to relive memories of Naylor, who retired Feb. 1 after 35 years of service with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. For most of those years, Naylor filled various roles at the hospital in the south Indian city of Bangalore.

“She was very hard-working,” said Charles, who retired as director of administration of the Indian Bible Society after 26 years of service. “I used to worry because she had no free time. People only wanted Rebekah to deliver their babies, so she would start to go out somewhere and would get a call to come deliver a baby. She was very dedicated.”

Dr. Naveen Thomas, associate director of Bangalore Baptist Hospital, said Naylor is “absolutely focused” and has “enviable” energy.

“Everything in her life is colored by kingdom values,” he said. “She worked with a tremendous amount of energy in spite of her ups and downs. Her energy reminded me of Paul striving toward the goal. She didn’t sail along, but put her soul and heart in whatever she did. If I didn’t know her so well, I would ask her what was the secret behind her focus and energy; but I know her faith in Jesus Christ is the secret of her drive and force.”

Flora Edwin, head of the hospital’s nursing division, said Naylor knew everybody’s job.

“When I would get a call to come, it would take five minutes to get from my house to the hospital,” Edwin said. “Before I arrived, she would lay out the table in the operation theater – the nurses normally do that. She’d put the instruments out and the necessary gloves and sutures, too. She’d also get the anesthesia ready. She’d call and receive the patient, which the nurses would do. She’d check everything, and by the time I would get there, all was ready.”

Naylor would even take the dirty linens from the operating room down for cleaning, Edwin said.

“Even her walk was always brisk,” Edwin said. “Early in the morning and late at night, she didn’t seem tired. We know her even by her footsteps down the hall. She’d help with everyone’s work and make us all feel like she is just one of the team. We’re very proud that we had a chance to work with Dr. Naylor.”

Daisy Tennyson, head of finance at the hospital, said Naylor even involved herself with architects and engineers who were building additions onto the hospital.

“She was not only a good medical officer, but also a good administrator,” Tennyson said. “She spent time to learn how to do that. She was a very fast learner in accounts. She didn’t know about that at all at first but learned quickly.”

Edwin said Naylor always brought God to the operating table.

“Without prayer, she never started a surgery,” Edwin said. “She’d encourage us also to pray in our language. Then we would start the operation.”

Naylor saw the patient as a whole, Thomas said.

“She would not say this is a gynecology patient or a patient that another department should take care of,” he said. “Whatever the need was, she would pitch in. I wish we had more role models like her for the present generation of medical students and residents to see the patient as a whole and not as a lot of compartments.

“And she would not hesitate to talk about Christ with any patient,” he said. “The whole thing revolved around presenting Christ.”

Charles said some of Naylor’s non-Christian patients became friends.

“Once, when a patient’s husband died, she visited the family, and this was a Muslim house,” Charles said. “She didn’t hesitate to talk about Jesus and the comfort He gives. I would’ve hesitated because there were Muslims all around us, but she grasped every opportunity to present the Gospel.”

K. Jacob, a chaplain at the hospital, said when Naylor had time, she would accompany him to villages to do ministry, sometimes telling Bible stories using flannel graphs.

“She did it very humbly and easily,” he said. “She would make sure children would understand the story.”

Because Naylor’s schedule was so full, she would sometimes finish her lunch in a matter of minutes, Jacob said.

“She was very busy night and day, and even at midnight she would attend cases, and I would come along,” he said. “She was very strict – and even some were afraid of her, but the work was very hard. She is like my spiritual mother.”

Naylor is strict and straightforward, but also loving and affectionate, Edwin said.

“She would ask us after busier cases if we’d eaten or finished eating and tell us to eat because even harder cases were coming,” Edwin said. “She’d take care of us personally.”

Edwin recalls trying to pull an April Fool’s Day joke on Naylor by calling her to help a “patient” – actually a pile of pillows under a blanket on a gurney – who was in “serious condition.”

“She ran to us, and we were so scared,” Edwin said. “But when she came and looked at what we had done, she said we needed to hurry and put the patient in intensive care. She called other doctors to come. They wrote orders down, and we did the orders. That was a really fun day. We can’t forget that.”

Florence Charles would accompany Naylor on shopping outings and to the movies.

“She is a very good friend,” Charles said. “I used to be sick and was in the hospital sometimes, and she was always by my side. She would come in early before her rounds and see me and sometimes eat lunch in my room. Always if I had any problems, she was there to help me solve them.”

Charles was the one who took Naylor’s call when she arrived in India. Charles was also the one to talk to Naylor about returning to the United States.

“Eventually, she had to decide – when her mother became very ill – to stay or go back,” Charles said. “I told her that she had no option. Her mother needed and needs her. She was torn in two. She lived and breathed the hospital when she was in the compound. I believe she left part of herself back here in Bangalore.”

Inspired by Naylor’s commitment, the hospital carries on without her daily presence, Tennyson said.

“The nursing school was her initiative,” she said. “Now we’re in the process of making the school into a college of nursing. We’re building more classroom floors and a new student hostel. Every few months when Dr. Naylor visits, she sees progress.”

Everyone aims to be alert and on top of his or her work based on Naylor’s example, Edwin said.

“She’s a very good teacher,” Edwin said. “We admire her and every activity she does – and the way she does them.”

*Name changed for security reasons.

Ethan Leyton* is a career International Mission Board missionary serving in South Asia as a music and media strategist.

Today I’m posting the first of three articles paying tribute to a lady I’ve had to privilege of hearing about, then watching from a distance, and briefly serving along side of in the same region, but always admiring and learning from.

She is retiring from serving since 1974 among India’s poor and those in need of medical care and Christian love.

If you are interestdc learning about how a single life can change the world, stay tuned for the next three posts about Dr. Rebekah Naylor, contemporary servant of the Lord Jesus Christ among Indians.

Mark M

Retiring medical missionary says she will “simply adjust” to changes

By Ethan Leyton*

BANGALORE, India–Some call her the Mother Teresa of Bangalore – but at one time, some called her a criminal over labor disputes at Bangalore Baptist Hospital.

She is a celebrated, sought-after surgeon who befriended the local officials in her area – but later, the Indian government denied her license to practice medicine and, at times, delayed or denied her residential visas.

Colleagues and friends know her as disciplined, strict and forthright – but also as warm, affectionate and not shy at all to express her faith in Jesus Christ.

Dr. Rebekah Naylor first arrived in India in 1974 as a medical missionary with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board). She served as a surgeon at Bangalore Baptist Hospital and became chief of medical staff four years later. In 1984, she became administrator and medical superintendent. She founded the adjoining nursing school named after her in 1995 and became a consultant on special assignment with the International Mission Board in 1999. During her tenure at the hospital, she started a choir, taught Bible studies, led chapels, supervised building projects, and created a strategy to reach India through the hospital’s ministry.

Since returning to the U.S. in 2002 to care for her ailing mother, Naylor has been on active staff as attending surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. In 2008, Camille Lee Hornbeck released a biography about her called Rebekah Ann Naylor, M.D.: Missionary Surgeon in Changing Times. Naylor officially retired from the International Mission Board Feb. 1, but she plans to have a continuing role in the ministry of the hospital in which she has invested nearly 35 years.

In the South Asia News interview that follows, Naylor reflected on her years on the mission field and discussed what retirement will look like for her.

CONTINUING IN MINISTRY

Q: So what is next?

REBEKAH NAYLOR: I will continue in my faculty position at UT Southwestern for some more time – not sure how long. As long as I am productive and still enjoy it, I will continue. I am becoming more involved in some global health initiatives in the university.

My relationship with Bangalore Baptist Hospital will probably change very little in the near future. I will continue to visit every few months. I will be involved in teaching, pastoral care, fundraising, and any administrative projects they may ask me to do.

The IMB has asked for a few more months to continue consulting on medical strategies to help us access peoples in South Asia. A lot has happened with this in the last 18 months, and more will happen I am sure.

I would anticipate that I will still do some speaking in churches to support missions. Oklahoma Baptist University has asked me to teach a course on India in their missions department this fall. It would be three concentrated weekends with 12 classroom hours per weekend.

Q: Your biography mentions that some of your hobbies are watching sports, doing needlework and playing piano. How will you spend your retirement in nurturing your hobbies or cultivating new ones?

NAYLOR: I definitely want to spend time at the piano for my own pleasure. I have not been able to do that in a while. Maybe I would get back into some needlework as that has been put aside for years. I have lots of books I want to read. And I look forward to some pleasure travel both in the U.S. and overseas.

Q: You have very impressive parents. Your father, Robert Naylor, served pastorates in Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Texas before becoming president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. [He passed away in 1999.] Your mother, Goldia, turns 100 in March. How is she doing, and what does she mean to you at this point in your life?

NAYLOR: Mother is mentally alert, but has limited physical strength and mobility. She remains in our home, and I am the primary caregiver with five wonderful ladies who cover nights and work days. Mother is still my friend, encourager and inspiration. I know that she continues to pray for me in whatever I undertake. She still has a very determined spirit that is a model for me even now.

LIVING BICULTIURALLY

Q: “Simply adjust” became one of your mottos in India. What meaning does that have for you now?

NAYLOR: I believe “simply adjust” will stay applicable forever! When I cannot do the things I want to do or had planned – such as my recent trip to India that was cancelled – I need to simply adjust. I am still very bicultural and do things that are more Indian than American. So in that also I must simply adjust. Changes go on around us – political, IMB, life situations, stages of life. Simply adjust.

Q: What are some things that you do more Indian than American?

NAYLOR: A few months ago, I was driving a rental car – my first time to do that – in a city new to me and was trying to merge onto an interstate. The oncoming car in the right lane kept blinking his lights. Finally, I was on the shoulder, and there was nowhere else to go. The friend with me was at first puzzled and concerned until I said that I didn’t know why he kept blinking his lights when I was doing my utmost to get out of his way. She gently told me that he was telling me to come in – not get out of his way. I only knew that in India that meant to move aside!

A friend told me that I carefully eat my muffin or roll with only my right hand. I carefully pull it apart with just the one hand like we do in India. And once I was in a home here with Westerners – friends fortunately – who had cooked a wonderful Indian meal. I was happily eating away until halfway through I realized that I was eating with my hands and had not touched my fork. They were quite amused, and I was quite embarrassed!

SEEING GOD AT WORK

Q: What is God doing at Bangalore Baptist Hospital and in South Asia now that is fresh and new in your mind?

NAYLOR: Two or three things stand out. Most exciting is the great response to the Gospel that we are seeing in South Asia. I never dreamed that I would get to see this, and I feel so privileged. Second, I am encouraged by the number of workers engaging the peoples of South Asia. And I am so thrilled and gratified when I see strong national leadership carrying on the ministries in a great way.

Q: Bangalore Baptist Hospital has a special relationship with Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, and the Indian Baptist Society. Can you explain how they are all working together?

NAYLOR: Since 1989, Christian Medical College has managed the hospital through a tripartite agreement drafted by the IMB, the hospital and the college. The hospital retains its autonomy, vision and mission. The IMB still has participation through a representative on the governing board of the hospital, any personnel assigned to it and support of the pastoral care department of the hospital. The college has six of seven members of the governing board and decides overall policy regarding finance, personnel and other areas. The college also has been great to provide consultants both in administrative and support areas, as well as professional. It has been the chief guide in development of the many educational programs at the hospital.

The Indian Baptist Society was the parent legal entity representing the IMB in India. In 1987, the hospital became a separate legal entity known as the Bangalore Baptist Hospital Society. The Indian Baptist Society has given over all of the property for the hospital society to use and manage. Both have a very strong relationship in our mission work. The methodologies and training are common to both.

RECALLING THE EARLY YEARS

Q: Think back to your first day in India in 1974. What sticks with you still about that day?

NAYLOR: I was stuck for two days alone in Madras, which is now called Chennai. I guess the best word to summarize the feelings was fear. That and feeling so alone and out of touch was quite an introduction. It took more than four hours just to call Bangalore. There was no way to communicate. The trains were on strike. The tiny puddle-jumper planes that left twice a day were full. Welcome to India.

Q: Strange question, but what was the weirdest surgery you did in India?

NAYLOR: I really don’t remember. It is not weird in India, but I really disliked the patients with a perforation [hole] in the intestine and round worms, which are long, white and fat, running free in the abdomen. Those are internal critters.

Q: You have never married. How did you deal with your singleness in a culture where marriage and family are ultra-high priorities?

NAYLOR: Though loneliness had to be faced, my singleness allowed me to give myself totally to the work. This is not to say that I did not do things for relaxation, because I did. My extended family was made up of my national colleagues and friends. Even going alone to professional meetings created a stir. People wondered if I drove myself. But I just learned to accept their curiosity about this single female American. I used my home as my social place and often invited friends to eat.

Q: For a few years, you were the only FMB missionary serving in a country approaching 1 billion people. What was that like, and how is it different now in your eyes?

NAYLOR: You miss being with people of your own culture. An example is that Indians do not touch and they do not hug like we do. I missed physical touch. I focused on my work and the individuals whom I helped physically and spiritually to be whole. If I thought about all of India and me being one person, it would have been overwhelming. I also claimed God’s promise that His resources are enough. He has a plan for a way that all the peoples of India could hear about Jesus.

HONORING THE CALL

Q: You are a breast cancer survivor. How is your health, and how has this impacted your life, ministry and approach to medicine?

NAYLOR: My disease was at a very early stage, and I was fortunate. Nonetheless, the “cancer” word really gets your attention. Though cure is expected, there is that small percent that might not be – even with early-stage disease. So I suppose that somewhere in my mind will be that question and a little apprehension before each check-up. Certainly I learned much about being a patient, and this makes me more caring and sensitive as a doctor. I also was reminded about the need for good stewardship in every aspect of my life. And I have been able to help several friends and colleagues facing similar problems, not as their doctor but as a friend who has walked that way before.

Q: You were a surgeon, administrator, anatomy teacher, mission leader, piano player, and choir leader in India. Now you mentor medical students in addition to representing South Asia around the nation and taking care of your mother. What time management secrets do you have?

NAYLOR: I am a very disciplined person and impose a fair amount of self-discipline on myself. I try to organize my work. I really learned how to do that as a surgery resident long ago with so much to do, working 120-hour weeks and needing to know what was urgent. I set priorities on what I have to do and then reprioritize as the circumstances require. I multitask. I do not waste time. I try to maintain regular eating habits and sleeping habits, which is harder with night call, but this helps efficiency so much if you are in good physical condition. I learned long ago how to relax and enjoy things even if the time was short!

Q: Many know you as a very strong, disciplined woman. What do you consider your weaknesses to be?

NAYLOR: Your strengths can sometimes be weaknesses. I think sometimes I have imposed the same standards on others that I set for myself, which was not fair or reasonable. I feel that rules and policies should be enforced and firm, and sometimes I may not have balanced that correct view with sensitivity to the people involved.

Q: Your biography lists the myriads of successes and accomplishments you have had, but also many of the trials. You were burned in effigy over labor union disputes. You went to court over those allegations and were cleared. India denied your medical license. Visa problems stretched out for years. There were frequent power, water, furniture, rodent, snake, and relational issues. You had many days where many might have considered quitting. How did you keep from jumping on a plane and washing your hands of this place during those times?

NAYLOR: The answer to this lies entirely in the call, in God’s clear direction, about what I was to do. Absolutely there were times that I not only wanted to quit, but I actually thought maybe God was directing me to do so. But as I trusted Him completely with my life and future, He always gave direction. Back in 1991, with no license for many weeks and unsure what work I was to do, I actually came home on vacation and went for a job interview at UT Southwestern. In the middle of the interview, it was so clear to me that I was supposed to be in India. I told the man in the middle of it that I was no longer interested in a job.

I also learned that I was accountable for each day – for the opportunities and responsibilities and work of that day. I did not know what the future was, how long I would be in India, or what was going to happen to my parents in America. I learned just to leave all that with God and remember my daily accountability for what He placed there for me to do. Staying grounded in Bible study and prayer was surely an essential part of this.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE

Q: What advice do you have for – or what do you have to say to – the following as you retire? Bangalore Baptist Hospital?

NAYLOR: Keep the spiritual ministry and purpose of the hospital a priority. With every expansion and new service, ask how that can be used to introduce more people to Jesus.

Q: India?

NAYLOR: It has been a privilege to call India my second home. That is still where I feel most at home. I pray that India will ensure freedom to its peoples to choose their religion and to worship without fear.

Q: Personnel serving in South Asia?

NAYLOR: Love the people, work tirelessly, avoid laziness, pray much. Be ready to give an answer in season and out of season to anyone and everyone. Allow God’s miraculous power to work through you.

Q: The International Mission Board?

NAYLOR: I am grateful for the good financial and physical support as well as prayer support and equipping that I have received since 1973 [her year of appointment]. Prayer must be central as we send more workers and as we seek more ways to “impact lostness.” I look forward to continued participation in our Southern Baptist IMB mission effort in every way possible.

Q: The Southern Baptist Convention and its churches?

NAYLOR: I mainly say thank you for letting me be your representative in India all these years. I challenge our churches to renew emphasis on missions done cooperatively, which has been so effective for many years. I challenge our churches to renew emphasis on mission education, which is crucial if God is going to call young people to go.

Austine Stone Community Church is radical about their small groups being missional.

They’ve created a brand new blog spot to serve their missional communities.

They are also serious about training and equiping for those groups. They’ve taken on specific unreached people groups and social/spiritual causes for the kingdom.

I love the variety of tools and articles they’ve posted on this first blog – Austin Stone’s Missional Communities Blog.

Enjoy it and be inspired to create the tools and resources to lead your small groups to fulfill their missional purpose.