5 Lessons from the Life of Darlene Deibler (Part 2)

 

   Hello friends! A few weeks ago, I shared the first in a two part series of lessons from the life of Darlene Deibler Rose. (If you missed it you can read it here.) Here is Part Two with the final two lessons we can learn from the life of this lovely woman. 

4. Share the love and hope of Christ with others.
  Darlene’s passion was to share Jesus with others and she did this not only to the unreached tribes she and her husband ministered to, but also to her fellow prisoners and even the Japanese camp commander. In the camp, Darlene was willing to do the most unpleasant tasks that went along with caring for sick children in filthy living conditions and continually shared Christ through her words and her actions and example.

  Mr. Yamaji, the commander of the prison camp, was a horribly cruel man. He carried a cane which Darlene witnessed him employ savagely on more than one occasion. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy to love Mr. Yamaji. One night after he’d harshly punished a young woman, Darlene was fuming. “Pray for your enemies,” went through her mind.
“All right, Lord,” she said. “I’ll pray for him. I sincerely don’t want the man to be lost eternally–but I really would like it if you would curdle the food in his stomach tonight, and would you stretch him on the rack of his conscience–at least for a while?”

  Shortly after hearing the news of her husband’s death, Darlene was summoned to the commander’s office, and she took the opportunity to share the gospel with him. Slowly, she began to see a change in the man.

  Years later, a priest stopped at a bicycle shop in Japan and struck up a conversation with the owner, who was none other than Mr. Yamaji himself. He asked the priest if he ever met any of the women who had been imprisoned at the camp to tell them he was sorry he had been so cruel. Later, Darlene also heard that he’d spoken on the radio, sharing the gospel with the Japanese people. 

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“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves,
but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 

2 Corinthians 5:14

5. God delights to give us good gifts. 

  One day while in solitary confinement, Darlene climbed up the wall to peek out the small barred window of her cell and witnessed someone sneak a bunch of bananas to a prisoner. All Darlene received to eat was worm-infested rice porridge. She began to crave a banana. “Lord, just one banana,” she prayed. But she could not see how God could possibly get her a banana. She didn’t want anyone to be punished for giving her one. So she gave up the idea.

  Then one day, her cell door opened to reveal Mr. Yamaji, the commander of the prison camp she’d been at previously whom she had shared Jesus with. To Darlene, it was almost like seeing an old friend. Mr. Yamaji spoke with two officers in Japanese for a few moments, then with Darlene in English for a moment. When the cell door closed, Darlne suddenly remembered. She hadn’t bowed to them! That was a serious offense. She heard the guard coming back and expected to be punished. But the guard entered the cell and with a sweeping gesture laid at her feet–bananas!

  “They’re yours,” he said, “and they’re all from Mr. Yamaji.”

  Darlene sat in stunned silence and counted them. There were ninety-two bananas. Darlene didn’t even expect one, and God had given her almost a hundred! This story reminds me of how God delights to give us good gifts. He doesn’t always give us exactly what we ask for, but He always gives us good things–even better than what we thought to ask for! 

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“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to
all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” 

Ephesians 3:20

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven
give good things to those who ask Him!”
Matthew 7:7-11

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   When World War II finally came to an end, Darlene was freed and returned home to the United States. It had been eight years since she had left. When she first talked to her mother on the phone, Darlene was so overwhelmed all she could say was “Uh-huh.” She had a joyous reunion with her family and recovered from the hardships she had endured. Eventually, she married a missionary named Gerald Rose and they labored together for the Lord in New Guinea and had two sons. After some time, they returned to the United States where they spent their final years. Darlene went to be with her Lord in 2004. 

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   Well, I hope you enjoyed those lessons from the life of Darlene Deibler Rose! What about you? Have you read her autobiography Evidence Not Seen? If so, do you have some more lessons from her life to add? Who are some other Christians from history who inspire you and what can we learn from their lives? Leave a comment below!

   As always, remember, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it,” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
All for Him,
Savannah Jane

Source: Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose