Whispers

Wade and Nancy came to work with us in Upper Volta (now called Burkina Faso) at the same time as Ted and Carol. They each served for a year as volunteers from Tennessee. Nancy worked in our literacy program and Carol worked in our clinic. Ted and Wade were teachers for Jason and Jeremy and also for Cory and Jason, children of our colleagues. Amanda was a preschooler, but she also had a little table in the school building where she would occasionally do some assigned activities.

We had built a small (15’ x 15’) classroom building out behind our two houses (that we also built with the help of Tennessee volunteers). It was a good school year for the four boys. Ted and Wade did a good job guiding the boys through their Calvert home school curriculum and adding many other activities to enhance their learning experiences.  

The four boys have many fond memories of school with Uncle Ted and Uncle Wade, but among the best are the special activities in their own Royal Ambassadors (RAs) program. Among their activities were campcraft, fire building, and a bike-a-thon to raise money for a mission offering. All this may not seem impressive to readers but remember that this was in the “bush” of West Africa near the edge of the Sahara Desert.

After this life-changing experience in West Africa, Wade and Nancy went back to their teaching jobs in Memphis and began having children. But the Lord was not finished with them overseas. They became missionaries and were assigned to work in Peru. During their service in Peru, Wade, Nancy and their two boys were in a tragic accident in the mountains near Trujillo, Peru. All four of them were injured, but Wade was the most serious. He was air evacuated to Memphis with life threatening injuries.

For months Wade was in a coma. I was traveling to the states from my overseas assignment, and I decided that I needed to go and visit with Nancy, and I wanted to see Wade. 

In the hospital I visited with Nancy beside Wade’s comatose body. There had been no movement or sound from his body since the accident. When I was ready to depart the hospital room, I told Nancy that I was going to pray in More’ before I left. I am not sure why I said that I would pray in More’ which was the local African language that we had spoken in Burkina Faso. Nancy had been a literacy teacher, so she had picked up a lot of the local language, and Wade enjoyed speaking More’ with the boys’ friends. Besides it had been 15 years since we left West Africa, and I was not sure how much More’ I recalled.

Nevertheless, the words spurted out of my mouth that I was going to pray in More’, so I began to pray. As I started the prayer I held Wade’s limp hand and bent near to Wade’s ear, and I began to whisper the prayer in his ear. When I finished the prayer, I let go of Wade’s hand, and as I did, he moved his forefinger ever so slightly. Nancy and I were shocked. It was a small, but significant movement because that was his first response since the accident.

Several weeks later Wade was able to go home. Although he never regained enough mobility to walk,  he was grateful for a few more years of life to watch his boys mature into manhood.  

Never underestimate the importance of whispering. I have made it a practice to whisper in the ear of every one of our 16 grandchildren. I started whispering to them when I was first introduced to each of them. Interestingly, one of the first words our grandchildren have spoken is “Papa”—probably because of my whispering “Papa loves you.”

God uses whisperers. God Himself also whispers into our spirits. I believe that God whispers to us much more than we realize because we are so busy that we just don’t hear his whispers.

Elijah heard God’s whispers. When he ran from the threats of Jezebel, he hid in a cave. He did not hear God in a strong wind, an earthquake or a fire. But Elijah heard God in a whisper (I Kings 19).

God was in the whisper. God does not like to shout. He is speaking to us in whispers. Listen!

“Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘ This is the way, walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21