|
|
City Light News |
|
| ||||||
| |||||
|
Love for Kenya brings missionaries back despite brutal
attack "It was beautiful before it got ugly," reflects Eloise Bergen on their missionary endeavors before she was raped and her husband John was viciously beaten by nine drunken thieves. While John was being strangled he managed to squeak out, "Jesus Help Me" and during the assault with clubs and machetes he heard a small voice saying, "It doesn’t hurt so much." His pain was mitigated by the mercy of God. With both his arms broken and a great loss of blood he no longer struggled and fell unconscious which saved his life as his assailants took him for dead and threw him in the bushes. His knees were slashed nine times and the attending doctor stated in disbelief that just one blow was sufficient to sever a leg. His arms should have been cut off but his tendons, vessels and sinews were left intact. He had five fractures to his jaw but none of his teeth were smashed. He suffered five blows to his head and one machete strike went through his skull but amazingly, his brain remained undamaged.
The thugs then turned their attention to John’s wife and as Eloise was violated with a machete to her throat she whispered, "Jesus," taking strength that she had a secret they didn’t have – she found the address to the secret place of God’s presence. She was surrounded with His love. She considers herself not a victim because, "Jesus died to give us back our dignity." Bergen believes he was spared, "to continue to make the ministry happen on both sides of the ocean." John asked himself "what do I do now?" He has come to the conclusion, "that the greater the crisis the greater the Christ." His wife concurred stating, "Oh Africa – I love you, I will take you back in my heart to Canada and I will be back." They have to go back because they have a vision of green houses full of tomatoes irrigated from fish tanks, of planted gardens and fruit trees to feed the orphans. They have to go back to provide wells for the villagers. They have to go back because every fifteen seconds Kenya offers another orphan to add to the existing two million. Orphans like twelve year-old Debra who witnessed her parents being hacked to death and had to walk sixteen kilometers to safety." They have to go back to continue teaching forgiveness to the tribes. They have to go back because Kenya is their life and purpose for going on. John asked, "When you watch a Riders game do you ever see the quarterback going out by himself? You see him with his receivers, defensive backs, blockers; because the whole team will get the job done. I cannot sit here in Canada – watching children starve to death without doing something. I don’t mind going back and being the quarterback. I know there are Canadian Christians that want to be team players with us. If you hear the voice of the Lord and want to be team player, just know that together we can make a touch down in the hearts and lives of lots of kids." For more info please call Darcy Bergen at 480-430-2337 or email darcyb@cox.net or www.bergensmission.com. The Bergen’s are sharing their experiences in Alberta at the following locations:
|
|
Home : Directories :
Calendar :
Accommodation : Classifieds :
Advertise :
Education :
Volunteers :
Calgary : Archives :
Contact |
City
Light News