“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.” I Thessalonians 5:24 NASB

I celebrate this month a most sacred anniversary. For it was 40 years ago this month that I graduated from the Dayspring Christian Bible School. At age 25, I stepped out into this great big world and turned my face to the nations.

40 years of planes, trains, busses, auto rickshaws, and tuk-tuks. Trucks, long boats, and jeepneys. And walking and walking and walking endless miles on dust covered paths as well as concrete sidewalks. 40 years of sights and sounds and smells and tastes far removed from home.

The beauty and majesty of the North Sea and the Taj Mahal, the Himalayas and the mountains of Hong Kong. The beauty of both the tribal peoples and their culture of open hearts and hospitality. SO different from our private dwellings and inward-gaze culture.

Open faces. Open hearts. Food shared with me on a bus into the mountains by a family with only rubber flip flops for shoes, because they saw that I traveled alone and had no food on me. Huts on stilts open for me to share with them, sleeping on teakwood floors gleaming from coconut oil. The smells as I drift off to sleep reminding me of my Coppertone covered childhood.

40 years of never being turned away. Never missing a meal unless I chose that in a time of fasting. Never sleeping in the open, unless I chose that for the sake of the gospel. 40 years of rides when I needed them. Phones when I needed them. Friends every where I turned, over and over and over again. SO many precious friends.

40 years of His Presence going with me every single place I went, whether traveling by myself or in the company of a beautiful man of God who loved me, and a son who has his smile. For just as was written in the scriptures: “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them….” Mark 16:20a.

40 years of knowing the faithfulness of a God who had promised me that if I trusted Him with all of my heart, and did not lean on my own understanding; if I acknowledged Him in all my ways, then He would make my path straight.

And He has. And He did, Over and over again He has been faithful. Thank You, Lord Jesus. And thanks to the many dear friends who have loved me, cared for me, prayed for me and our little family these many, many years. You have been a part of all that my life has touched. May God richly bless you.

~ Debbie Ecker