Sue lived life with an expectant sense of adventure. Nothing seemed to inhibit her enthusiasm. Not even broken toes.

We were on a 20-hour flight sequence to Hyderabad, Andrha Pradesh, when it happened. Somewhere in the air between London and Turkey the foot rest in the cabin seat crashed down pinning Sue’s foot.

I remember hearing her groan in the middle of the night and fumbling my way across the darkened jet aisle to help get her more comfortably situated.

It wasn’t until we were attempting to deplane and she tried to get her feet back under her that we realized the extent of her injury. Two toes on her right foot were already turning black and her entire foot was rivaling the size of a football. You see, for years her hands and feet were mostly numb except for jolts of white fiery nerve pain from her MS. She could not feel the pain or the swelling happening during the night flight. And she certainly could not balance herself on the ballooning foot.

Thankfully, because of the multiple sclerosis, we had already pre-ordered a wheelchair to meet us.

I’m sure we were quite the sight proceeding through that International Airport. One porter was rolling Sue in the wheelchair, another one pushed the luggage cart loaded high with suitcases and topped with the folded rolling walker Sue normally used. I was toting both of our carry-on luggage with the leash for Rodney, her service dog, in one hand, and nervously clutching our passports, visas, and all of Rodney’s travel permits with the other.

Finally getting through customs we headed down the dimly lit corridor to the exit. There under the bright skies of a hot clear Indian morning was our welcoming party, with one familiar face beaming in the midst. Solomon. Even though we had only met him once, he felt like an old friend. And before the month was over he had become a close brother to me, and another son to Sue.

That emerging moment was very emotional for Sue. You see, her desire to go to India was planted when she was in Bible College after leaving the FBI. She dreamed of going to Calcutta and working with the deaf and hard of hearing, who lived as outcasts throughout much of their society. This was back in the ’80s, and Sue had been enthusiastically raising support through the mission society and had even gotten her visa and traveling papers in order when everything came to a screeching halt.

Devastated, it took a while before she accepted that all things, even difficulties and misunderstandings come through the hand of God and that He was the One rearranging her plans.

But the desire for India remained, lying dormant until fully awakened in spring of 2015 when we met Solomon. That summer was a whirlwind. By October, we were on a plane.

Now on the ground we still had another leg to the journey. Six more hours by car from the airport to the village of Nuzvid which would become our headquarters for the next few weeks of ministry.

I was exhausted from our travels, jet lag, the time change with a difference of 11 hours, and just wanted to close my eyes. Not Sue. She literally hit the ground running… with a broken toe and swollen foot.

With her MS fatigue, she desperately needed times of rest or she would physically crash.

Later I jokingly told her that I believed that God had given her that injury on the plane! There was no other way to slow her down!

We arrived in time for the Pastor’s Conference being held in Nuzvid. Hundreds of pastors and their wives from all over India had gathered together for encouragement and fellowship.

Those first few days, though, Sue had to stay in bed with her foot elevated. Our guest room developed a revolving door as dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus came through to meet her and to share their testimonies with her.

It went on all day and into the next and the next. There was Sue reposing on the big built-in bed in the corner with her feet elevated on three pillows, enveloped by
the odor of a powerful smelling local salve mixed with fresh raw coconut oil. Seated next to her was either Solomon or Nehemiah interpreting the pastors Telugu into English and then Sue’s English into Telugu. Sue focused intently on their lips, but often she would dart a quick side look at me and I would quickly and quietly mouth the few words or even sentences that she had missed because she could not quite read the Indian accent on the lips.

Grown men wept unashamedly as they talked about the transformation that Jesus did in their lives. I remember one young mother coming in and sitting on the floor smiling and nodding at us as she nursed her baby.

But even more indelibly printed in my mind’s eye, is the vision of Sue shaking her head with incredulous amazement.

I could hear sadness resonating in her voice, “When was the last time an American came up to you and said, ‘I want to tell you what Jesus has done in my life!’”

Yes, Sue embraced life with a sense of expectancy and adventure. More times than she would ever admit, I’m sure the mountains felt insurmountable.

But there is a line in one of Sue’s favorite poems by Helen Steiner Rice that became a recurring theme in her life. I hope it encourages you, too, to keep moving forward and looking upward.

“Nothing in life that is worthy
Is ever too hard to achieve
If you have the courage to try it
And you have the Faith to believe.

For Faith is a force that is greater
Than knowledge or power or skill
And many defeats turn to triumph
If you trust in God’s wisdom and will.”