The newspapers are full of bad news. National debt. Lawlessness. Violence. Immorality. So here's some good news.Mark and Vesta Sauter were missionaries to the Czech Republic, with a particular desire to reach the country's deaf people with the gospel. After three years' service, they hadn't led a single deaf person to Christ.
Lillian Beard, a long-time supporter, decided she was no longer content just to pray for them. She wanted to go to help.
Vesta wasn't at all sure about that. The problem was that Lillian was 90 years old and in a wheelchair. And although she was fluent in sign language, she didn't know the Czech sign language.
Lillian's friends didn't want her to go. They thought she was crazy. "Listen," said Lillian. "I can die there just as easily as I can here. They can put me in a box and send me home. Serving Him is all I want to do." So she went.
The Sauters arranged for her to speak at a luncheon at a deaf club in Prague. On the day, the club was packed because people were curious to find what a 90-year-old woman who had travelled so far to speak to them would have to say. They demanded to see her passport as proof of her age, and passed it round the room for all to see.
Anna Smolkova, a deaf Czech woman, was there. She was the matriarch of a family of 60 deaf people. She was an alcoholic, an atheist, and hostile to the gospel. "I want to make it very clear to you that I don't want anyone in my family to know about Jesus or God," she had said.
As Lillian began to speak, something happened. "I didn't believe this woman was 90," said Anna. "I was amazed at how beautiful she was, how she radiated. Something touched me inside. . . Something began knocking at my heart. . . and wouldn't release me."
When Lillian had finished, Anna asked her "Why are you so beautiful? Why do you radiate?" Lillian said "It's the love of Jesus."
Kneeling in front of Lillian's wheelchair so they could see one another eye to eye, Anna peppered Lillian with questions. When she'd finished asking questions, she accepted Christ.
Anna arranged to be baptised with all her family present. She helped lead her three daughters to the Lord, then her sons-in-law. She baptised one of them herself in the bath. There wasn't much room, so she baptised half of him, then baptised the other half.
She led many of her 14 grandchildren to Christ. She helped plant churches. She started a Christian youth camp.
Lillian, who spoke at the club that day, is now with the Lord. She died this year, aged 101. But the work among the deaf continues to flourish - in large part, because of a lady of 90 in a wheelchair.
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