June 2009 - Calvary Baptist Church

Left: Friends in Papua New Guinea, Bottom: ESL students in India
ANOTHER PLAN
by Jude Fabisch
His love is healing, not dysfunctional;
He is always ready to provide whatever I truly need;
and He has written me an incredible letter in which
He tells me that He loves me every day of my life.
On a scale of 1-10 for dysfunction, the
household in which I grew up rated
about 7.5. Sparing the details, let
me say that while all of my physical
needs were met, my step parents were
emotionally bankrupt. In the 55+ years
that I knew my stepmother, I never once
heard the words that told me that she
loved me.
That said, my idea of the “perfect plan”
was to find a man who loved me, get
married, have a home, and have babies.
I knew about God, but I often hoped
that if I died it would be right after
communion in our main stream denominational
church so that it would be with
my sins forgiven – by the pastor. Other
than that, a godly life could wait until
I’d had time to have a little fun. I would
do it my way.
In 1957, the man came; Edward Fabisch
and I were married a year later. 1964
brought the baby, my son Scott. The
house came a year after that. But the
emptiness inside of me wasn’t filled. I
went back to church, but found little
there. Enter, Ed and Diane Fuller. They
were our new next door neighbors; he
was the new pastor of Garfield Baptist
Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was
threatened by their Bible knowledge.
Diane longed for my salvation. I pulled
the Bible out of the closet and began to
read. She sat at her bedroom window
at 1:00 every morning and prayed.
I sat in my living room at 1:00 every
morning wondering at the purpose of
life. Late in the spring of 1971, I stood
in sunlight of my open back door and
asked God to take over the life I found
so bereft of meaning, knowing at last
that salvation came from Him and not
from works.
To say that the change in my life was
profound could be the understatement
of the year. Old habits were rejected, I
developed a hunger for the Word, and
I began praying for the salvation of my
husband and child. My son Scott made
a profession of faith about six months
later. Ed and I talked; he rejected the
message. In January of 1973, I began
to feel that God was calling me to some
kind of full time service. I prayed
harder for Ed’s salvation and pictured
us marching off to the mission field as a
family, thinking that was the only road
“full time” service other than being a
pastor. On March 18, 1973, however, at
2:00 in the morning, I was awakened by
the death rattle; my husband of fifteen
years succumbed to a heart attack.
Whatever was going to happen would be
without this husband at my side.
Because I was such a new believer,
the Fullers suggested that I spend a
year working in the church, and I will
be forever grateful for that advice. I
taught Sunday school, served as prayer
chairman for the Ladies’ Missionary
Society, and performed other services,
learning from all of them. In June of
the following year, I sold the home Ed
and I had shared and moved to Grand
Rapids, Michigan, to attend what was
then Grand Rapids Baptist College. God
blessed me in ways that are too numerous
to list here, but I sat under the
Bible teaching of men like Joe Crawford,
John Wilson, Jerry Casner, and Victor
Matthews. I also sat under Dr. Raymond
Bartholomew, an English professor,
who showed me that I could write. Just
before I graduated in 1977, I was able
to celebrate the acceptance of my first
book, Not Ready to Walk Alone, for publication.
It is the account of the lessons
I had learned as a widow.
One of my professors, Dr. John Wilson,
pointed me toward a furloughing
missionary couple from Papua New
Guinea, George and Norma Haberer,
who welcomed my son and me into their
home and their hearts. By September
of 1978, Scott and I were ready to fly
half-way around the world (literally).
God’s hand was everywhere: He provided
a one year time-line for deputation;
He provided a house in Jenison
with a garage so that our goods could
be crated for shipping; He provided
someone to build and pack the crates;
and once we were on the way, He even
provided escort services from Australia
to Papua New Guinea to insure that we
would have a flight from the coast to
Goroka during what is known as the
Goroka Show. Qe, a worker on a cable
laying ship who was flying back home,
stayed with us during lonely hours
in the airport in Port Moresby, where
we had landed at 2:00 a.m., and then
miraculously came up with passage for
us in the morning.
The four years in Papua New Guinea
were not a mistake, souls are bound
for heaven because I went there, but
God used those years to show me that
I really belonged in the United States,
teaching. That was the ministry in
which almost all of the good things
during my ministry overseas happened,
and so, against the advice of several
people, I moved forward to what I felt
sure in my heart was God’s plan. In a
year, I finished out a major in English,
finished a second book, and enrolled
in the Masters’ program at WMU, which
I began that summer. Before my first
classes there were finished, I was hired
to teach basic writing and study skills at
Grand Rapids Baptist College. That was
twenty-six years ago, and the journey
has been astoundingly fulfilling.
Ironically, my original thought was to
get a doctorate in English and then
move back to a mission field as a professor
in a foreign university. God said,
“No. Get the doctorate, but stay right
here to teach.” Yet He has allowed me
to travel to Kenya, India, and Ukraine
– often to teach English as a second language.
He even led me back to Papua
New Guinea for a week long reunion; the
names of those I love there tumble from
my heart like music. For good measure,
He threw in trips to Eastern Europe and
France.
Would I ever remarry A nickel for every
time I’ve been asked that question
would buy a ticket to visit my son and
his family in Japan. The answer is, “Perhaps.
The right man at the right time.”
I would not reject the idea of having
someone to love again in an earthly
relationship. But if God were to say to
me, “Well, Jude, shall we roll the clock
back and follow your plan this time” I’d
turn down the opportunity without hesitation.
I have learned that true joy does
not need to lie in husbands and houses
and children – although they are really
nice; I do own a condo, and I love my
son beyond all words. True happiness,
the kind that lasts for eternity, lies in
the truth I have found in Isaiah 54:7:
For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
He has shown me more joy and fulfillment
than I ever thought possible. His
love is healing, not dysfunctional; He is
always ready to provide whatever I truly
need; and He has written me an incredible
letter in which He tells me that He
loves me every day of my life. His plan
has been the perfect one. Anyone who
wants to argue with that can just go talk
to the head of my household. Truly, I
am satisfied in His unfailing love.
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