Five Lessons from the Life of Darlene Deibler
Note: This is an article I wrote a while ago, but I thought it deserved a repost! As a little girl of ten, Darlene prayed, “Lord, I’d go anywhere for you, no matter what it cost!” Little did she know just how much it would cost. As a young newlywed, Darlene and her husband, Russell Deibler, set out as missionaries to Indonesia and New Guinea. Darlene worked hard to learn the language and join Russell in his work of sharing the gospel. They were able to reach isolated natives of New Guinea with the message of Jesus and were overjoyed to see fruit from their labors. Then war came. It was early 1942, and the Japanese took over Indonesia, also known as the Dutch East Indies. Russell was taken prisoner, and later Darlene was imprisoned–separate from her husband. Darlene was taken to a prison camp for women–and children, too–where she endured great misery but was never forsaken. Here are five lessons we can learn from her life: 1. God’s grace sustains in even the darkest of place...