A Hidden Treasure...

We only have seven days left before we leave as missionaries to India. All this past week I have been going through the closets to sort out/throw away any last and loose items. Last night I went through the last few remaining items in the office closet and found  a stack of old pictures that I had forgotten about. They were pictures from my childhood, from my year in Mexico with the kids, and of my first few years living in India, many with friends and children. These pictures brought back so many memories and emotions. I was reminded by seeing them of just how blessed my life has been just because I said yes to God's plan. He has sent me to places that I never thought a little girl from a South Texas town with a population of just 5000 could ever go. He has brought such rich relationships out of these adventures and it has made my life and any sacrifices I may have made oh so worth it!

This morning as I was going through the front coat closet there was a Bible sitting on the top shelf that was given to us from a friend. This Bible is in Marathi, a northern Indian language. When we got this Bible we knew it was old, but until this morning we hadnt really taken an in depth look at it. It's printing date goes as far back as 1893. It had an inscription on the first page which said, " To the Rev. J.M. Goheen from the member of the Kolhapur Church as a humble token of our sincere love", dated- 1896.  When I first read this I didnt think much about it...it's a Bible that must have belonged to a pastor in India...I thought.  But as I continued flipping through the pages I saw notes on the side and an obituary in it of a  Bible Woman that must have been a member in the church. But something about it kept stirring in me to find out more about the owner...so I did. 

After much research online and several peoples searches I found out that the initials J.M. stood for Joseph Millikin Goheen. I found his biography on a geneology site and was so impressed by his life. He moved to India as a young missionary in 1878 and within that first year he had a child that was stillborn, and a few months later his wife passed away as well. Shorlty after that his 20 months old daughter also died from typhoid fever. He remarried a woman named Amanda who now, after getting to know about her life, has began to inspire me.

Here is an excerpt form what I found on her life....

"India needed' her. Her home was a model for Indian women to copy. She was a woman of compassion and love. When she saw the lamentable condition of young widows in India, she longed to gather them where they could be protected while earning their support, and also be taught, to be living stones in the temple of the Lord.  Together with gifts from friends at home she was able to build a small hostel, where childless widows and motherless orphans found love and cheer and food and clothing.

The little orphans ran with open arms to the gentle "Mother," who played games with them, sang with them, and took them, when naughty, into the " little room " to Help them to be good.

This friend of all was never too busy to receive calls from the ladies of the Maharaja's family, or to call upon them. Her presence was solicited in times .of joy or sorrow. When the son of the late Maharaja was dying, it was she who held the hand of the Queen Mother, and gave her sympathy in full measure to her.
 

As for Mr. Goheen, he had the charge of a large and needy village district. Those villagers as they came to him for advice, and for spiritual and material help, were all as children to Mother Goheen. She knew the name and age of each child and the needs of each mother. They were blessed, indeed, who shared the largeness of her love.

 

Mr. Goheen literally gave his life for India. Worn and jaded, in looks older than his own father, he returned to the States after the stress of the famine that lead sapped his strength, and he died in 1907. Mrs. Goheen lived in India another ten years and later returned to the States where she died and was laid to rest with her husband."

There is alot more in the biography that I found about this family. But I was inspried to hear about their 40 years of service as missionaries in India. I believe God has brought this Bible into our hands at this time as an encouragment to read about these pillars in the faith just before we leave. I feel like I am holding a little bit of history in my hands and a treasure of some of God's servants that have gone on before us...