Emma and Anna's Story

A few days ago, I posted a prayer request for my friends Emma and Anna. Their mother was diagnosed with cancer almost six years ago - she fought it like a trooper. Well, she recently passed away, and the girls are really hurting. I wanted to share their story, because it's such a tribute to the love and mercy of God.

Emma and Anna are twins, and were born in 1988 in Ghana, Africa. Shortly after they were born, their birth mother contracted AIDS through the poor sanitation in their country. Their father struggled to feed the family. After their mother died (when the girls were toddlers), the girls and their father moved to the capital city, where their father was blessed to find a government job (janitor-type...he's moved up since then:D). Shortly after that, a couple from the United States came to the capital city with Wycliff Bible Translators. Their names were Bill and Penny, and they had three sons. They witnessed to the young African man and he believed on Jesus and was saved. He began taking the girls to church. Still, he struggled to provide for them, and was weighed down by guilt. Finally, he asked the missionaries to take his daughters and adopt them. "I want them to have more than this," he explained. It broke his heart. Bill and Penny agreed to adopt the girls (who were almost four), and after a few years, moved back to America, having adopted two other orphans, Kessia and Angela.
They raised the girls to love the Lord, and in 2003 Emma and Anna went on missions trips with Teen Missions International (check my favorite sites for a link). That's when Emma met my sister Deb - they went to Cuba together. I met Emma, Anna, and Angela the following year when I went to Poland. Anna went to Zambia and Emma to India. Angela went to Uganda. Their parents came for our candlelight commissioning service, and Emma introduced me. She came walking up to me under the big top (where we have all evening services at Bootcamp) with a tall man and said, "Hey Leah, this is my dad, Bill." And I just sort of looked at him.

He was white.

Yeah, it was a little weird. I guess I just didn't think about that before. But there's no doubt this was her daddy. And then later I met Penny, and immediately thought, "She is quite a woman. I can't really explain it other than that. She was. Is, in fact. Now the Lord gets to enjoy having her in heaven, instead of us having her here.
After we returned home after that summer, I found out that Penny had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was very upbeat about it and fully expected to beat it. For a while, everyone thought she would. She was getting better. But then it came back. Stronger. And Penny couldn't beat it this time.
A few days ago, Penny died. She is now with her Savior, waiting for Bill and her kids to get there too.
I guess the best way I can describe her is precious. She just was. I didn't spend a lot of time with her, but she just was. She loved Jesus Christ so very much. She loved Bill and her sons and daughters. And when I read this:

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

I think of Penny. She truly was quite a woman. I hope to be like her someday.




Leah