My late husband, Edgar, and I served as Foursquare missionaries from 1955 to 1987. Wherever we were, we taught our people how to pray for divine healing and miracles that would prove the power of God.
We shared many wonderful experiences together of God’s abundant provision and grace as we told others about Jesus. As miracles took place, we witnessed people giving their hearts to Christ and embracing the message of hope as they learned how to pray in faith.
In August 1978, a miracle occurred in our Foursquare church in Penonome, Panama. A woman in the church had taken her grandson to a doctor to remove a cast from his hand. What should have been a simple procedure turned serious because of an error in judgment in the doctor’s office. Fearing that the hand was deformed, the doctor ordered that an operation be performed immediately.
In haste, the child was given an overdose of anesthetic that killed him. When the doctor notified the grandmother, she began to pray for resurrection life for the little boy. She fell to her knees in the waiting room, and lifted her hands and voice in fervent prayer. She also asked the Lord to heal his hand.
Doctors, nurses, and technicians all watched in unbelief as the little boy drew breath again. They also watched as his hand returned to normal. The child’s doctor brought the boy to his grandmother and told her to take him home. No further medical treatment was necessary.
We shared many wonderful experiences together of God’s abundant provision and grace as we told others about Jesus. As miracles took place, we witnessed people giving their hearts to Christ and embracing the message of hope as they learned how to pray in faith.
Children were always an important part of our ministry. I know that children have a special place in our heavenly Father’s heart, just as they did for Edgar and me. The children we worked with were always such a blessing in our lives. Many of them have grown up to serve as ministry leaders and pastors. It was a thrill for Edgar and me to be part of helping these children learn about Jesus and give their lives to His service.
For 11 years, Edgar and I served the Lord among people in Venezuela. We then moved to Panama, where we served for 12 years as supervisors of 150 national pastors, training and equipping them to do the work of the ministry. The final two years of our shared ministry were serving the national church of Foursquare Zambia in Southern Africa.
It was there that Edgar lost his life in 1987, in a terrible car accident while I was visiting the U.S. Our daughter, Vonnie, returned with me to Zambia to settle our affairs and bring back to the U.S. anything we wanted to keep from nearly 30 years of global ministry. The hardest part of all was cleaning out Edgar’s office. Everything was just as he left it. The calendar had all his appointments for the weeks ahead, and on his desk was the work he had started that day, looking like he would return soon to complete it.
As we cleaned out drawers and shelves, I found an index card with 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 written on it in his handwriting: “Now may the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work” (NKJV).
I found this verse written and placed throughout our house. Edgar was memorizing it. But I knew it was from God to our family. God surely had our comfort and help in His mind. I am thankful for the comfort of the Holy Spirit and for the wonderful memories of ministry Edgar and I shared with our Foursquare family in Venezuela, Panama and Zambia.
Read article part 1: Darlene Coombs recalls years as missionary to Venezuela
