University of Oklahoma student's bold stand for Jesus Christ

Not long ago my brother-in-law Joel received an e-mail from a medical doctor who had somehow found his contact information.  This man was a graduate from the University of Oklahoma in 1966, in the graduating class of my father-in-law (and Joel's father) Tom Sloan.  Both men are pictured below, with my father-in-law's picture circled towards the bottom.    

I have chosen to leave the name of the man who wrote anonymous as this is his story to tell, not mine; therefore, his picture is not circled.  

However, I was so encouraged by his words that I wanted to share them here with you today.  

"Your father was a classmate in medical school.  When I read your mom's book I may learn more.  He brought the gospel to school everyday.  Despite cruel treatment from many faculty and classmates he was faithful to God.  We usually would arrive for an 8AM class to find on the blackboard----GOD LOVES YOU.  If it was Biochemistry that morning the Prof would quickly erase with something like "I HATE COMMERCIALISM"  but Tommy was never deterred from his goal to spread the Gospel. I wasn't receptive at that time in life but made an intellectual decision about 15 years later and faith followed.  But I think your dad was the boldest Christian I've known.  I hope to be more like him."

Wow.  That was just powerful on so many levels.  Both men went on to become professionals in the medical field.  My father-in-law graduated a pediatric surgeon and was well on his way to a prestigious, wealthy lifestyle as director of pediatrics in a Louisiana hospital when he decided to instead pursue living out his life as a missionary in the poorest region of Mexico.  He used his knowledge, gifts, and brilliant mind to help people not only physically but spiritually as well.    He never charged people for his medical services, but instead lovingly shared his talents, his passion for God, and the hope he had of eternal life in Heaven to all who would listen.

That bold college student, my father-in-law, lived out the rest of his life with the people he loved - his wife and eight children - amongst the people he loved, the Mexican Indians in the southernmost state of Chiapas.  He delivered scores of babies and performed countless surgeries often without the luxury of state-of-the-art equipment, but he enjoyed a high medical success rate because of a quick, brilliant mind.  However, I believe that he would have told you the greatest accomplishments of his life were those times he was able to point souls to a Redeeming Savior and see their lives changed because of spiritual healing.

Dr. Tom Sloan graduated from the University of Oklahoma 50 years ago this coming May.  I wonder how many university students  in the class of 2016 will leave a legacy of bold faith in Jesus Christ in their classroom and on the blackboard like he did?  When I think of what Dr. Tom Sloan accomplished for Christ, I sometimes forget that his bold witness didn't begin once he reached the mission field.  He didn't need a title like "doctor" or "missionary" to start making a difference.

Yep, Doctor.  I hope to be more like "Tommy" too.

"BMW" Blog Hop

I have the opportunity today to connect you with some fabulous other bloggers: other Baptist missionary ladies.  Now, for the sake of our acronym "BMW" (and hence the title of this post), we like to refer to this wonderful group of ladies as "Baptist Missionary Women."  Through this blog hop, you will be introduced to somewhere between 10-20 other ladies who serve on various fields throughout this world.

Image Source

To those who are new here:  My hubby and I served as missionaries in Ukraine for ten years.  Two years ago, the Lord brought us back to the USA to take the Missions Department at Golden State Baptist College.  Missions runs deeply through our veins, and is the heartbeat of our family and ministry.  My hubby is a third-generation missionary and is a perfect fit for his role.

The only requirement given to me for this blog hop is to tell you 5 fun or interesting facts about myself, and then to send you to the next blog.  So, let's go!

1.  I have the awesome privilege of speaking in two conferences in the next two months.  The first one will be here in our home church in a little more than a week (just one session), and the second one will be somewhere that my eight-year-old daughter Brianna and I will be flying to.  I won't say where we are going just yet, because I want to create some sort of suspense here just to make it fun!

2.  My current favorite extra-curricular activity of the week is teaching "The Missionary's Wife" to 28 college ladies every Thursday.  I love being able to transfer what God has taught me {and is still teaching me} to the precious group of ladies He has put me over this semester.

3.  I have been surpassed in height, weight, shoe size, and hand size of my firstborn son who is only 12 years old!  Is that supposed to happen this early on?!  By the way, his shoe size is already bigger than his daddy's too.  I think we are rearing the Jolly Green Giant (and he loves it!)

4.  I bought myself a Costco card with my recent Christmas money.  We are a family of seven, and most people were surprised to find out we have never shopped at this money-saving warehouse of bulk items.  For fun, I have challenged myself to try to ONLY buy my groceries and housing needs from Costco, to see how the savings add up for awhile.  My choices are more limited there, and I have had to order a few things online from Amazon, but so far so good.  The biggest change I have noticed is how much more meat we now enjoy.  Hmmm.... I wonder if that has anything to do with #3?

5.  Our family of seven lives in a home that is 1,207 square feet (which is considered small in the USA), and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love knowing where everyone is and what everyone is doing most of the time.  I also feel great satisfaction when all of us (except the one-year-old) can clean the whole house so quickly because of its smaller size.  Can't beat that!

Now, onto the real fun...

Now you get to visit Anne Williams, missionary's wife to the people groups of Burma.  Her blog is new to me as well, so let's get to know her together!  Click here for Anne's blog, and to learn five things about her too.  http://annehammond.blogspot.com/2015/03/things-you-might-not-know.html

To start at the very beginning of this blog hop, start by clicking here: Baptist Missionary Women
Thanks for stopping by!

My In-Laws: Philip & Liz Sloan

The series that I started on introducing my hubby's amazing missionary family may take me awhile to get through, but I will certainly finish.  And, I believe you will be blessed if I do!  This family has long been a symbol of what it means to serve the Lord together in missions.  I often tell people that it is natural that my hubby is now teaching missions at Golden State Baptist College.  Missions is really all he has ever known his entire life (He is brilliant in many areas, but you know what I mean!), and speaking/teaching about missions is as natural for him as breathing.  Although it is natural, it certainly isn't monotonous!   He has a deep passion for missions and the Gospel, as does his entire family.

The next brother I would like to introduce you to is David's third brother Philip.  Philip has a natural gift for ministering to people.  He has been on the mission field of Mexico (as an adult) since 2003. After his father passed away, he took the pastorate of the church he grew up in that his father had started and pastored.  Philip grew the church to new heights with his youth and vision, and spent 10 years dedicating his life to that one work.  He and his angelic wife Liz (who literally has the voice of an angel) and their four boys have since moved to another part of Mexico to start a new work.  David and I are excited to see what the Lord is going to do through them in this new phase of ministry.

I enjoyed the opportunity to travel one year on my college's tour group with my (now) sister-in-law, Liz.  At the time we didn't know what the future held, but it is fun to look back now and realize that four of the seven of us who were on that group are now related in some way or another.  Before you start thinking our college was tiny, I assure you that it really wasn't.  The Sloans just had a way of saturating our college with their amazingness. :-)

We are proud of Philip and Liz and their four precious boys, and we are praying the Lord sees fit to eventually add some sweet pink (a girl!) to their little sports team.