A Fond Memory of God Working His Purpose
by Fred Wingham
THE YEARS HAVE rolled by, and memories of God working out His plan are especially comforting. God chose Jeremiah while still in his mother's womb. Likewise, God has chosen unnumbered, willing servants to accomplish special assignments. Scrolling back through the memory lane of missionary life, an extraordinarily pleasant incident leaps to mind when remembering how Gretel (Williams) Grant responded to the call of God in her life.
In the beginning years of missionary work in Bottle Creek on the Island of North Caicos, Gretel responded to the message of salvation. As a young person with an uncertain future, she stood at a crossroad. Her choices were to travel to another country and do nursing or respond to the invitation of missionaries to attend Hobe Sound Bible College. Soon after deciding to attend HSBC she sent her passport to the American Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas for a student visa. Six weeks later she had not heard from the visa or the passport. Since it was time to leave for Florida, we decided to stop in Nassau and get the visa and passport on the way.
Before daylight Gretel and I left the Turks & Caicos Islands in a Cessna 172, a four-seat single-engine airplane. After several hours in the air and a long taxi ride, we arrived at the American Embassy in Nassau only to be treated with rudeness that I had never before experienced. After a long wait, it was determined that her passport had been sent back to Grand Turk the day before, and we were informed that we would have to return to Grand Turk.
After suffering insults and verbal abuse, I was finally able to speak with a high official. When I suggested that he give us a temporary visa, he said, no way! However, I continued to use grace and kindness that came from God alone - for sure it did not come from me. Finally he picked up a form and started filling it out, shaking his head, saying all the while, "I am not supposed to do this. I don't know why I am doing this. I cannot believe I am doing this." The last thing I remember him saying, as he handed me the paper and closed the window was, "I cannot believe I did that." As Gretel and I walked away to continue on to Palm Beach, I remember smiling and saying, "Praise the Lord."
Recounting the 35 years since this remarkable moving of the hand of God, all who know Sid and Gretel may truthfully say, "God's hand was in it all."
