June 2011 Amazwi Magazine
Read about how God is working in a wonderful way in Angola. Click here to read the story Read more…
Dinner Theaters with Joanne Shetler
Mary Gardner
Mary Jean Gardner Memorial
Yad Hashmona, Israel
March 27, 2011
I was so pleased that Charlotte and I were able to attend this very touching and meaningful memorial service conducted in the new log cabin of the Home for Bible Translators located in the beautiful Moshav of Yad Hashmona 10 miles west of Jerusalem. This was not
only a memorial service for Mary Gardner, but also a dedication of the new Rock Chapel in the lower part of the log cabin. Volunteers from Finland worked hard in the morning to finish laying the tile floor of the chapel just in time for the students in the Home for Bible Translators program to work hard cleaning up the tile so that the chairs could be set up for the memorial service scheduled for 6:00 PM.
It was a simple setting with a table in front with candles and a nice photo of Mary. Small candles were lit and placed on various levels of the rock wall which added to the atmosphere. It was such a comforting atmosphere with the candles and music being played as folks entered and took their seats. It reminded me a little of how the early believers met in the catacombs during the time of the Roman persecution.
Halvor Ronning the founder and director of the Home for Bible Translators (HBT) led the memorial service. The students in the program formed a choir singing several songs during the service including: O God you search me and you know me, Grace and Peace to you, Great is Thy Faithfulness, and Avinu sheba Shamayim.
Two Jewish professors from Hebrew University where the HBT students study Hebrew and Bible Translation had timely comments during the service. First, Shimon Lipsky, shared a lovely tribute to Mary referring to her as his student and that she was a person of peace who wanted to translate Bible into the Ife language of Togo, Africa. He spoke of how they try their best to protect the students who come here to study, but because of terror there is always the possibility of such tragedies happening. He encouraged others to continue to come and study to understand the Bible and the Land as well as the situation for the Jewish people here. He is sure that there will continue to be a very warm relationship between the University and the HBT. He read from the Bible in closing.
Then Yoel Nesson, their main lecturer, had the most contact with the HBT students at Rothberg International School of Hebrew University. He is also the director of the special programs of the Rothberg school where the HBT students study. He spoke of how tragedy had struck in again in this little piece of real estate on the earth. He said that although we do not understand why, we still praise God and he said he knows that this is a difficult dichotomy. He said, “There is not a household in Israel that does not have a loss due to an act of terrorism.” He went on to say the King of Kings cares for each life in contrast with world leaders who send their armies into battle and only think about numbers killed rather than individuals. He spoke to Mary telling her that her life to all who knew her will continue to be a blessing.
The most moving part of the service was how Mary’s long time friend of 37 years shared, Mercia Malcolm from Ireland. She told how that she didn’t see Mary as often as she would have liked and that it had been years since she had seen her due to each living in different parts of the world. It just so happened that while Mary was a student in Israel that Mercia came to Israel on a tour at the same time. So that is the reason that Mary had made plans to come in to Jerusalem by bus to meet with Mercia. Of course due to Mary’s tragic death the longed for and expected reunion never took place as planned. We could tell that Mercia was having a hard time dealing with what happened. She is trying not to blame herself for what happened. She shared so many beautiful things about Mary and is trusting in God in spite of the grieving. Mary loved the outdoors enjoying the flowers and all of God’s creation. She shared that Mary’s artistic ability came from a grandmother who is quite an accomplished artist. She mentioned that Mary was ever so humble about her abilities and was concerned about not succeeding in learning Hebrew, but she had a great ability with language and with words. She also told of her experience in Ireland of being not that far from some of the bombings there, but in all the years of bombings in Ireland she never knew anyone personally who was killed or injured by the bombs. But now here in Israel her best friend’s life was taken by a terrorist bomb explosion.
Also her current roommate up to a few days ago, Kathryn Crawford, a Wycliffe translator at HBT wrote and shared a 
wonderful tribute to her roommate whom she had only known for two months. She shared about how much Mary enjoyed the flowers and had just completed a field trip in the northern part of Israel enthralled by the beauty of the spring flowers there. She leaves a hole in the small student body of HTB, but all are looking forward to seeing her again one day.
One of the final items was a reading by Miriam Ronning, wife of Halvor Ronning. She presented a reading of what Mary might possibly have wanted to share from Heaven. It too was very moving. The program and the music was very special and meaningful to all of us. There were five members of Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL International who were present for the memorial. Two are students with HTB.
At the close of the service the son of Halvor and Miriam Ronning, Daniel, took the microphone to share another astounding miracle in connection with the death of Mary. He said that Mary was standing the closest to the bomb of anyone in the area. Her body took most of the blow of the bomb although there were others who were injured. It just happened that three young people from the community of Yad Hashomona were not that far from Mary. They probably had taken the same bus into Jerusalem. After analyzing the situation it is felt that Mary’s death actually spared the three young people from injury or worse yet death. He then asked those young people to stand up as a testimony. We were all in awe and amazement of what God did.
Again a summary of Mary Gardner’s life is that she served in Togo, Africa with Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL International on the New Testament translation project for the Ife people. She is from Scotland and was in Jerusalem in a six month program under the Home for Bible Translators which includes courses in Hebrew and Bible Translation at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her desire was to return to Togo to help with the translation of the Tanakh (Old Testament) for the Ife people who received the New Testament in 2009.
She was born in Nairobi, Kenya and was the eldest of five children. She at the age of 15 with her family moved to Aberdeenshire, Scotland where her parents still reside. She earned an MA in English and French from St Andrews University before returning to Kenya where she volunteered as a teacher for two years. After some time working in England she joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1988. After the New Testament in the Ife language was completed she joint-edited the Ife-French dictionary. She also served as a Bible Translation consultant for other translation projects.
Sadly, but by divine appointment her life was taken in Jerusalem by a terrorist 2 kg bomb placed in a phone booth near the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. She will be long remembered for her devotion to Bible Translation.
In the 1950s when five young men gave their lives to reach the Waodani tribe in Ecuador, it impacted me and many others in the direction of serving God in the third world cultures of the world. The five were multiplied like the fishes and the loaves. I believe that the church and all believers with a written copy of the Scriptures in their own language will now have a renewed concern for getting the job completed of making sure that every language has the entire Bible in their own language. I believe that God will use the death of Mary Gardner to give a shot in the arm to the entire Bible Translation movement. It is totally unfair that some 2400 languages have no Scriptures translated into their languages, but it is also a shame that so many languages (1700) that have the New Testament still do not have all the Tanakh (Old Testament) translated. There are only 457 languages with a complete translation of the Bible out of 6,900 languages in the world. God has given airplanes, computers, solar power, and many other helps, but it will be take believers called by God to complete the task. So now is the time to pray and believe that it will be done. The founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Cameron Townsend, loved to sing, “Faith mighty faith the promise sees and shouts it shall be done. Laughs at impossibilities and shouts it shall be done.” Let all of us begin to sing that with him.
Frank Mecklenburg, Retired Wycliffe Member
March 29, 2011
Here are some links to some videos from the memorial service and to some websites you might enjoy visiting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh8WC3ocGbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ernKuK90-GM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAl9OCQR0Rg
Prayer and Praise April – May 2011
Prayer and Praise February / March 2011
Wycliffe SA got off to a good start in 2011, with God giving us the opportunity to gather together the children of Wycliffe SA members (teens and older) for their very own time of sharing their common experiences. The event took place on 4-5 Jan, with 8 missionaries’ kids attending. This was possible because of the arrival of Tyrone and Esther, and it’s a privilege to introduce them to you!
Tyrone and Esther are a young couple, engaged to be married, who are joining us from Wycliffe UK’s short-termer’s programme. Their vision is to come alongside young people and help them connect with God and His plan for their lives. They also hope to lead the way in sharing the Wycliffe vision with the youth of SA. Esther grew up as a child of Wycliffe parents. We commend Tyrone and Esther to you for prayer as they make preparations for launching a youth network, called Wynet SA, as well as preparing for their wedding later this year!
God also blessed us with a visit from Congolese evangelist, Pastor Kiluba, on 6 Jan. Pastor Kiluba, with several Congolese students in tow, came to bring us a word of encouragement for the work of Bible translation in Africa. What an encouragement for Wycliffe SA’s vision for southern Africa, led by Sebastian! The visit culminated in an invitation for Sebastian to visit the Congo to meet with other pastors to explore what can be done to translate God’s Word into the many Bibleless languages in southern Congo!
December-January Prayer and Praise
Our December 2010 newsletter
German student Ruth Strunt gets to know children at a mishNcounter workshop
Click here to download the latest newsletter: December 2010 Amazwi Newsletter
