This is the warm engaging story of a British woman whose life changed in a personal touch meeting Christ as her Savior, and ultimately came to India as a missionary in the 1960s
In
England and then Africa
I was
born in England, a land of freezing cold winters, warm and pleasant summers
with a lot of foggy weather, with fires usually merrily crackling in homes to
warm up the cold frosty air. When I was a 3-month old baby, in 1938,
my parents took me to East Africa in Tanzania, to a tropical climate
with lovely sunny days, where we lived in a small town in the midst
of wide flat plains of 'Savanna. I remembers going by car with my Mum and
Dad along a road from where we could see mysterious Mount Kilimanjaro with its
three volcanic cones, looming in the distance, half covered in clouds.
My Dad
was working as an Administrative District Officer under the British Govt. The
job entailed managing all the affairs of a huge district with many indigenous
villages in it. The District Officer would have quarters for his family, and
when I was a baby, their home was a fort built by the Germans who had colonized
Tanzania earlier but lost the colony as result of the 1st World War, so from
1918, Britain had the mandate to rule it.
I was
brought up in different parts of northern Tanzania, as government officers were
moved on to new districts quite often, usually every 2 or 3 years. It was
a very happy childhood. I spent a lot of time playing under
gigantic trees in the grounds of whichever bungalow we were then
living in. I had an African nanny, a sweet-natured caring lady
whom II loved very much. There were no other European children most
of the time.
My
mother's mother came from England to join them in about 1940, due
to World War II, not wanting to be separated from her only
daughter, and was a wonderful grandma to me all the years she was growing
up. She brought a lot of joy and security in my life.
I was
mostly in good health, but every rainy season [that was twice a year], despite
sleeping under a mosquito net, I did suffer from malaria.
At the
age of 6, my mother taught me the Lord's prayer, which she used to recite with
me every night, along with a short prayer from one of my story books. It
was the first time I had heard about God, and I started to become aware of Him.
Just
after my 7th birthday, my baby brother was born, and in the next year, 1946, my
family got a passage back to the UK, having been in Tanzania all through World
War II.
When my
parents and little brother returned to East Africa after this, I had to stay
with my grandma in the south of England as the doctor said the
malaria had made me anemic. So I went to a small school
there, where the teachers taught us good morals and good behavior, but God
was in the background of it all. There was no mention of Jesus as the way to
God, or that we needed to tell God we were sorry for our wrong thoughts and
actions - no mention of the fact that we are born sinners! - and so there was
nothing to believe or think about.
After 3
years, my family took me back to East Africa with them, and I then went to a
bigger school, which had an assembly where they sang good hymns every morning,
and where we were taken to church every Sunday [a nice boarding school, but I
did not think any teacher or other adult knew Jesus]. At that
school, at the age of about 13, I joined confirmation classes, being
blessed by a Bishop at a service of confirmation. Prior to the Sunday
service, we had had lessons for some weeks, given by a very nice
kind man who explained the service to us."
But I was
so disappointed when we still did not know God even after the service and the
blessing, as still there was no one to tell us about Jesus.
I was
just 15 when my Dad took early retirement and we all came to live in the same
place in the South of England where I live now.
The
Book in the Library
The busy
years rolled by. I finished my schooling, college, teacher's
training, etc., and after 2 years teaching in England, found myself with a job
in New Zealand, which for me was just great as New Zealand is so pretty,
such a lovely place [beautiful sunny weather, plenty of rain at night, green,
green grass, tall forests, and red flowers on the trees round the North
Island beaches], and at that time, the people so extra
friendly, because it was then [1962] still such a small population,
and very relaxed.
One Sunday, in the church I was attending as I entered, I saw a book on the lending shelf at the back of the church, and the title was 'Religious or Christian?' [by O. Hallesby], and I was intrigued - I didn't know there was any difference!
But God I
now know directed me to this book!
Every
evening, when I got back from work, after doing all my school work, I
eagerly used to read this book, which explained so clearly the difference,
and I really wanted to change from being 'religious' to being
'Christian'!! How could I get saved? What could I do?
I do not
recall at all just what it was in the book, but there must have been something
that I understood because at last, after about a month of reading and
re-reading it avidly, one morning I woke up, and in my mind were the words
'Jesus is my Savior too…and somehow I knew that was it! I knew that
I knew that I knew that I belonged to Jesus. Such certainty itself
was supernatural. I had never been so sure of anything like this in my
life. And my life started changing. I started
feeling different, doing things differently. That very day I told another
teacher on the staff that I knew was a believer that I was saved, and he at
once took me to his house after school and introduced me to his wife, and from
there they taught me how to read the Bible every day, how to talk to God, and
gradually I learnt!
A while
after this, I was at a conference for geography teachers, and met a lady called
Miss Penman who had just returned from teaching in a school called Mount Hermon
School in Darjeeling, India, which is in the foothills of the great snowy
mountains, the Himalayas. This lady became a good friend to me,
again part of God's plan.
About a
year later, the kind teacher and his wife [as above] both advised me
to apply for a 2-year course at New Zealand Bible College, where I got a place,
and learned a marvelous amount about the Bible - it was a brilliant course, and
the then Principal was the former Mount Hermon School Principal, Mr.
Stewart. [This was the same Mr Stewart who had the Stewart Building put up in
Mount Hermon School). He with his wife gave such a wonderful Christian
foundation to Mount Hermon School, like, the Bible taught in class, Chapel
plays, Sunday chapel, and many other activities, as well as a very sound
academic basis, and he started class plays too.
My two
years at Bible College went by, and when I graduated, I was able to get a
job through this same Miss Penman at a school where she was the Senior
Mistress, in Auckland, the largest town in New Zealand.
During
that year, while I was in Auckland, Mount Hermon School in India needed a
new geography teacher, and the principal [Mr Murray] wrote to Miss
Penman to ask her if she knew of anyone who would be interested - at a time
when I was staying in her house!
Of
course, I asked Mr Stewart if I should take it up and what did he advise? How
could I be sure it was really God giving me the chance to go, and not just
my enthusiasm? But he and other praying people all reassured me that it was
right. So I applied for the job, and that is how I arrived in Darjeeling, one
cold February day in 1968!
As I
arrived in India, Darjeeling with Mt. Everest snow mountains shinning in the
distance, rugged mountains, springs and towering pine trees all around was
beautiful. I had a pretty wooden cottage to stay in on the school campus
which was sprawling and extended almost like a small township. There,
however, were a few practical discomforts, scarcity of water and electricity
cuts were high running in those days, but I learned to adjust to those
circumstances. I was the English and geography teacher there for
many years. I lived in that dear wooden cottage down the hill, on
the school estate. Over time, as children [taught by Mrs Bhakre, in
particular] got to know the Lord, they often had prayer meetings on
Sunday evenings in my cottage, where they would study the Bible and sing.
It was a transforming time for all of us, teachers and students alike!
I had
many happy years at Mount Hermon School with these lovely appreciative
students, and if sometimes there were problems with my colleagues, always God
was my help and my refuge, often helping me through other praying teachers on
the staff, among whom I must mention particularly Miss Hawke, Mrs Joy Rongong
[sister of Mr Stewart], and later after they both had left, Mrs Saroj
Rongong.
I can
just say that when one believes in Jesus as their Savior, their life will never
be the same. He will transform us, take us to places we would have
never gone and give us courage to do things we would have never
tried. And I can say my loving Father God has been with
me through it all, and how grateful I am to Him. He has been faithful
to me!
This
words stands true for my life, "Genesis 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you
wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised you."
Patricia Russel:
Patricia Russel:
Ms. Russel, a British missionary to India, who came to India during the 1960s, now lives in England. Though she has retired as a teacher, she still has a very active ministry in prayer and in England too, where she with other friends pray much for countries and nations.
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Only God is the true converter of a human soul. No human can convert anyone. It is God's Spirit to a human's spirit that converts.
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