Mission Leader

The attached video (to the right of this front-page posting) tells the story of Shadi, an indigenous Christian in Gaza who chooses against all odds to live out his faith in a very volatile setting.  His pastor was recently murdered and thrown into an empty field.  Muslim children at the school where Shadi teaches are magnetically drawn to the love of Christ that emanates from Shadi’s being. How strange for a Christian to be teaching in a Muslim school. Sounds like the kind of thing that Jesus would do.

What are you living for? What is your bold step of faith in the midst of a world that is either complacent or hostile toward faith?

If I am living a life of purpose, I am on a path of knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  To know The Crucified One results in self-crucifixion by believers today.  Since Shadi has placed himself on the cross already, he also is living by the resurrected power of The Resurrected One.

So in the story of Shadi, it becomes clear, when you’re already crucified there is no need to fear death. And when your already living in the power of the resurrection, there is power in your walk and talk.   Living purposefully? It’s about being crucified with Christ, nevertheless living in His resurrected power – even on the streets of Gaza.

Read the “Last Letters” of missionaries and contemporary leaders at www.thelastletter.org

Here’s a local church sending question – one that is only important if you are dealing with it.

The question – What if my church wants to send our own missionaries without the aid of a mission sending agency?

Many churches come from a tradition that believes this is the best way to send and support missionaries.  No question – missions is the responsibility of the Local Church.  No question – when a small or large church takes complete responsibility for the sending, the financial supporting, the field mentoring, the financial oversight, the transportation and housing needs, the ministry guidance and the spiritual support of a missionary family thousands of miles from the US, there are issues to address.

I’ve been in a setting in which missionaries felt called to go, they were qualified, but for some reason were not able to join one of the existing mission agencies.  That fact alone is worthy of asking some serious questions.  Why wouldn’t this  individual go with one of multiple excellent sending agencies? Why aren’t they qualified to go with an agency?

There are clearly situations in which a particular project really merits the local church sending their own team.  That decision is wrought with potential land-mines.  That decision can also be a tremendous means to involve the church in a great way than ever before.  With everything riding on the church’s effectiveness to send, support, pray and engage the missionaries and their ministry – opportunities abound for the entire church to get involved.

My own experience with local-church sending outside of a partnership with an existing sending/supporting agency/partner is this –  only experienced, mature, cross-cultural workers should endeavor such an effort.

Why?  Here’s two reasons that I recommend when sending as a local church, to make sure you partner your chruch’s missionaries with great field partners.

1. Cross-cultural learning requires guidance, accountability, and repeated encouragement from someone who has experienced the value of going deep into the language and culture.  Even the best North American mission leader, committee, or pastor doesn’t have the time and touch to constantly monitor and encourage an inexperienced missionary to make steady progress in appropriate cross-cultural learning.  As an experienced missionary who can speak a second and third language fluently, I was never able to insure that the missionaries our church sent separate from a partnering agency ever learned the language.  Even today they continue to use a translator and thus will never be able to communicate deep spiritual truths in the heart language of their audience.  This, in my view is one of the greatest tragedies and greatest risks to the spread of the gospel through a means that indigenous communities can understood.  It’s a fallacy to think that getting the gospel out there is enough. The message must be communicate not only through intelligible words, by means of messengers that understand the subtle non-verbal communication that often carries more weight than words.

2. Isolation, personal spiritual crisis, and marriage and family issues are nearly impossible to monitor and support without lots of opportunities for presence and touch.  I’ve had the unfortunate responsibility as mission pastor to travel from North America to Asia to meet with a family whose marriage fell apart on the mission field.  The warning signs were apparent to many, but there was no one on the field who was responsible for sharing those concerns with their sending church. In fact, there were two sending churches and both of us assumed the other was doing their part.  We failed and the children and marriage suffered the loss.  Avoidable, personal tragedy is too easy without hands-on care.  Add to that the fact that the right agency might have better screened the couple and rejected them, encouraging them to stay and work on their marriage.  In our case, the couple was connected to people of influence in the church, which made it nearly impossible to not send them.

Not every story ends in tragedy so that my message is not “Don’t Do This.”  Rather, my advice is when a local church sends, do it right. Don’t send novice missionaries on your own.  Don’t send any missionaries without some kind of prearranged field support system.

This subject was raised by a pastor who recently wrote a group of us and asked for policies and procedures related to local church sending absent from an agency.

Gary Coombs is the Mission Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, CA.  Gary’s church is diligently seeking to be an effective sending church.  He sent a copy of his church’s sendingagencypolicy for local-church-sent and supported missionaries.  Thanks Gary for allowing us to make your guidelines available.  If any of you have similar documents to share – please jump in and pass them on so the rest of us can benefit from your experience.  That’s code for “we want to steal your ideas.”  It’s for the kingdom!

Take advantage of more from mission leaders by checking out the resources and links on missionleader.com.  If you have a resource you would like to share with others and you are willing to give them away on this site, please send them my way and I’ll post them for others to “borrow.”

Mark Morris

A friend sent me this letter from a Muslim background follower of Christ.  The letter gives a different perspective on the role of mothers in his land.  Remember your mother this week.

Mark

Excerpt of a Letter Below —

As most of you know I grew up in a Muslim Family, and brought up with a combination of Muslim and Central Asian cultural values.  Some very good values, while some not so impressive. One of the teachings of Islam is about honoring your parents especially mother. Mohammad said: “Paradise is under the feet of mothers.” So in order for a person to go to paradise his/her mother has to approve of his/her good behavior and ask God to send her child to paradise. While she herself is not sure where will she end, to paradise or to hell or to a place in between called Barzakh.

On the other hand even for the most righteous Muslim to go to paradise is that they have to cross a bridge called SERRAT. Which, according to Mohamad and the Mullah of our neighborhood Mosque the serat bridge is thinner than a string of hair and sharper than Sword.

And the legend in our neighborhood says that one day when a famous drug addict and gang member of our area was in the mosque for Friday prayer. There he heard Mullah say that all Muslims have to cross the Serat Bridge to get to paradise otherwise they would fall down in everlasting Fire of hell; he got up, shook his prayer mat and leaving the mosque he said to Mullah: “if that is the way to paradise not even you can cross it, so why should I waste my time here” and he left.

I am reading you this so that you know how hopeless I was as a Muslim. But today I thank and Praise God, because now I don’t have to cross the Serat Bridge. I don’t have to go to bed with fear that if I die I will fall from Serat Bridge in to the flames of hill that Allah has prepared for me.  Today I have a promise and that promise with Confidence says: “my child, if you leave this world today, you will be with me in Paradise”

We thank God and Jesus the living son of God for his sacrifice on the cross, and for this GREAT ASSURANCE and Promise. That whoever who believe in Him shall not parish but have eternal life. And where will that eternal life would be? IN PARADISE WITH JESUS.

Now that you know about the role of mothers in recommending God to take their children to Paradise I should also let you know that it gives some mothers a bit more power of persuasion . And the example of that would be my mother who lives in Central Asia.  When I told her that I am a Christian. She began weeping and saying “if I am your mother please come back and be a Muslim. Or I won’t forgive you” in other words: “you won’t go to paradise”. And crying she mentioned “I sent you to the Islamic school to learn Quran so that when I die you read Quran on my grave, and now you become an infidel. Now God not only punish you but God will punish me as well for your sin.”

So should I be afraid that because my mother is not happy with me I will end up in hell. No of course not. Because I love Jesus and he is enough for me. I am content with Jesus. Because I have Jesus and he takes my hand and take me with him to where he is. And I am sure wherever he is it is much nicer than (the writer’s home city) in winter.

One day Fatima the daughter of Mohammad asked her Father to make sure she goes to Paradise when she dies. Mohammad got angry and said: “I am not sure if I am going to paradise and you ask me to promise you that. Everyone is responsible for himself or herself.” Wow. Isn’t that a risky business to follow a leader who doesn’t know where he is leading you?  That was my situation 10 years ago.

We are so blessed to have Jesus Christ, the great leader, friend and savior who not only knows the way, but HE IS THE WAY, The truth and the life. Isn’t this a wonderful promise?! “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) and he says this with authority and confidence. He doesn’t say if I go then you can come with me.
Jesus not only takes us straight to God but He also gives us the right to become children of God.  “To all who received him (Jesus Christ), to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
And of course children are always allowed to stay in their father’s home. And guess where our Father’s home is? PARADISE.  Imagine a place where there is no war, everybody loves one another, no one cuts you off while driving, and we even don’t have to pay taxes any more, And we might never see any pothole again.

Just remember if Jesus says to a dying thief on the cross: today you will be with me in paradise. How much more does he want you and me to be with him in paradise?  And this promise is not only for the dying man on the cross but to all of us here who believes in him.
And we have this confidence in Jesus Christ. That one day we will be with him in Paradise. Because in Jesus we have eternal life, and we have the assurance that we will not be condemned, and we have the promise that we have crossed from death to life.

“Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

P.S: you are free to share it with friends without mentioning my name and address.

A dear Afghan brother, Hussain Andaryas does a weekly, live call-in television broadcast into the Muslim world.  In today’s post-9-11 world, Americans tend to rule out any thought of Muslims coming to a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. We’re distrustful and simply do not believe it.  In fact we struggle with the question – “God, how could you love a Muslim?”

Take a look at some excerpts from recent telephone calls from Iran and Afghanistan as well as Saudi Arabia.

God is at work, even among Muslims.  Could it be that God loves All Peoples?  See excerpts from his recent newsletter.

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.

One of my dearest friends is Hussain Andaryas, an articulate, gifted Muslim-trained follower of the One True God.  As a child growing up in Afghanistan, Hussain encountered a Westerner who placed in this 12 year old boy’s hands, a copy of Matthew and Luke’s Gospels. That event led to an eight year journey in which Hussain sought God as a student, as a jihadist tank driver, and as a religious zealot studying in Iran and Egypt’s leading Muslim seminaries.  Amazingly, God took that young boy on an 8 year journey of seeking, and eventually finding faith in Jesus Christ. And his life was never the same again. Torture and persecution, family rejection and personal sacrifice have been his along with the gift of life in Christ.  You can learn more about Hussain’s story at hesavedme.com.

Turn the clock forward to this past week in which Hussain and a team of Afghan believers engaged Iranians and Afghans who call in on a live TV show via satelite. During September 150 individuals from Muslim nations called into the live television broadcast to discuss faith in Jesus Christ. Here’s some of the conversations.

• I would like to commit my life to Jesus Christ. From a Muslim in Iran.
• I want to follow Jesus and be taught. A Muslim calling from Afghanistan.
• I’m an Iranian businessman helping Afghans follow Jesus.
• I’m an Afghan follower of Christ worshiping in a secret house church.
• I’m an Afghan believer in Afghanistan and my pastor has been arrested.
• I’m a Muslim in Afghanistan – please help me become a follower of Jesus.
• In the name of God I will kill you for this television broadcast.  This should be your last broadcast.

Over a half million hits have been recorded on the TV website www.afghantv.com.

So, is Jesus real?  Did he actually live and die and rise for us?

Afghans and Iranians and people from many different faith backgrounds bank their lives on Jesus’ authenticity.

So if Jesus is real, why do we merely flirt with faith in him?

If you are still thinking about Compassion vs. Conversion then it may not make sense to talk about mapping and missions. There are many things that I have heard with regard to mapping and the Great Commission. One is, “if you define the task with great specificity, you take God out of the picture.” Another is, “If you define the greatest needs and place them on a map, you are not looking at the places where God is really working.” Yet others have articulated that the showing the work God has done through churches and mission agencies on the map give glory to God for his working in our world.

When we look to Scripture and see the story of the one lost sheep, we see Christ’s compassion for those who have no Shepherd. The willingness to go to where there has been no witness and go to where people are lost shows the compassion of Christ. At the same time, across the globe are people in various stages of growth in their relationship with God. Staying attuned to the various needs of the varied people groups allow us to tailor our ministries and trainings to share and disciple.

Mapping the Great Commission has been the heart of the World Missions Atlas Project (www.worldmap.org). Knowing where the church is and where it is not allows us to develop different strategies of ministry based on their segment of society and their exposure to the Gospel. This includes understanding the level of Bible translation, the level of literacy and prevalence of orality within the culture, which people groups have been exposed to the gospel and which ones have had no church planting. Together with all this information Churches, missionaries, and agencies are better equipped to find the areas where their gifting match needs nearby them and around the world.

Take a look at this letter from a friend from Perspectives regarding the Muslim holy day.  What are you doing to pray for your Muslim neighbors. Cindy and I made a visit to a Muslim home this week.  We did NOT accept their offer of tea and sweets because they were fasting and we did not want to be eating and drinking in front of them while they were fasting. There are also some prayer guides for Ramadan that churches and small groups can use.

T points us to a great site to guide our praying.

mm

Dear Friends,

As I write this, the date is September 4, 2001 AD.  But in the Muslim world this date is also 4 Ramadan, 1429 AH.

For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a very special month – the month of fasting.  From sunrise until sunset, devout Muslims don’t eat, drink, smoke, or engage in sexual relations.  From sunset until sunrise, Ramadan is a month of feasting.  Muslims eat MORE during Ramadan than during any other month – and they eat richer, more delectable foods during the “fast”.  Think of Thanksgiving dinner every night for an entire month.  The Islamic Center of Nashville generally posts items on their web site asking members to watch their calories during this month!

Since the Islamic calendar contains 12 lunar months, the year is about 354 days long.  This causes Ramadan to occur about 11 days earlier on the Gregorian calendar each year.  It also causes Muslims to gain an extra year in age about every 33 years.  A friend of mine is either 45 or 46 years old depending on the calendar used!

So – what is so special about Ramadan anyway.  According the the Qur’an, Mohammed had the first of the 114 revelations that would later become the Qur’an during Ramadan.  No one is quite sure on which day this occurred but the Lailatul-Qadr (Night of Power),  is the most likely candidate.  It falls on September 26 this year.  Many Muslims believe that God will do something very special that night (whichever night it is).  Many stay up all night during the latter part of the month so they won’t miss out.

For the last several years, millions of Christians have prayed that God will indeed do something special for Muslims during the month of Ramadan, specifically that he will reveal Himself to them personally.  This may be through the witness of a follower of Jesus, or it may be through a dream or vision.  Up to 80% of Muslim Background believers report having a dream or vision as part of their path to Jesus – many of them occurring during Ramadan.  Please join us in this global prayer outreach.

The web site www.30daysfire.net is a great daily resource to use as you pray.

Pray for Muslim leaders to see Jesus.  Could you imagine the impact a converted, spirit filled Usama bin Laden would have on the world.  If you don’t believe that God can redeem him, remember that Saul of Tarsus was the bin Laden of his day.  If God could transform the Usama bin Laden of the first century into Paul, why can’t  we be so bold as to believe He can turn Usama bin Laden into the Paul of the 21st century.  Please join me in praying for Usama and other Islamic leaders.

Blessings in the Name of Jesus,

T

T.N.
US Center for World Mission