It is always bitter for those who are left behind
In every company, new employees join and others leave. You could say that’s just the course of life. But things are different at Diospi Suyana. We are not a profit-oriented company, but a group of highly motivated volunteers who demonstrate a great willingness to make sacrifices as an expression of their faith. And although we are not a Christian community, the idea of community plays a paramount role.
On Saturday, we had to say goodbye to five missionaries. John and Viola Lentink were virtually part of the inventory of our work for 14 years. Nobody knows whether the Dutchman John performed 100,000 or 200,000 ultrasounds. The gifted pianist with a golden tenor voice enriched our meetings enormously with his musicality. His wife Viola initially helped as a biologist in the laboratory and then devotedly took care of visa matters for the foreign employees. They are now traveling back to Europe with their three children for family reasons.
Nurse Sabine Teichert from southern Germany led the team of nurses with great dedication and skill. After five years of service, she now wants to focus on caring for children in the village.
Daniel Wiens and Rebecca Wiens, née Meininger, have been flying the flag at the hospital and beyond for three and a half and five years respectively. They met and fell in love at Diospi Suyana and got married a year ago. Daniel worked in the X-ray department as an MRTA and in the technical department of the festivals. His bread in the hospital bakery tasted particularly good and he was often seen at the patient’s bedside having pastoral conversations. Nurse Rebecca radiated pure joie de vivre day after day. Hard-working and attentive to people, she ensured the best mood even on the gloomy days. Wiens will soon be starting theological training in Great Britain.
Of course, we thank the five of them from the bottom of our hearts and our blessings will accompany them wherever they may go. We had always hoped that the day of farewell would never come, but it did. As Christians, we find hope in the conviction that we have a future together. If not here on this earth, then on the other side in the presence of God. /KDJ
