Back in 1995, when Lucy, Grace and I were newly arrived in India, we lived in a small town in the foothills of the Himalayas called Mussoorie. There's a Hindi language school there on top of a mountain, and we spent several months immersed in Indian culture, surrounded by incredible beauty. I still remember the clouds rolling though our open windows and passing right through the house.
We lived in a 100-year-old house, dating back to the days of the British Raj, and one of our neighbor's was a veteran missionary named Rosslyn Robinson. When we met Ros, she was near the end of a four-decade career in India. Ros had never married, and had devoted her entire life to serving the people of India. She had spent many years at a remote mission outpost in the state of Bihar.
Ros personified the word, "jolly." She had a smile that would stretch from ear to ear. Ros didn't grin--she smiled! She also had a contagious laughter that sounded like a cross between a crow and a hyena. You couldn't help but smile when Ros was around.
For whatever reason, Ros took a liking to us. I still remember countless knocks at the door, answered to find Ros with a plate of cookies in hand. She had learned to improvise and make a pretty tasty cookie from limited ingredients. Her friendship was a real gift to us in those early days when we were still adjusting to a very new place and ministry.
I hadn't talked to Ros in a long time, then a few weeks back I received an e-mail announcing that she had passed away. Ros had retired to Kentucky, and lived alone in a mobile home in the country. Recent years had brought a stroke and limited mobility, as well as impaired speech. She depended on the kindness of her church and neighbors to manage. She passed away alone in her home. They didn't find her until a concerned friend came to check on her.
I've thought a lot about Ros and the life she lived. Like many missionaries of her generation that are passing from the scene, her life is unheralded. She didn't write any books or build an empire. She didn't promote herself. She simply lived a life of sacrificial obedience, one day at a time, for a lifetime. She impacted the lives of countless people with a smile, a laugh or a plate of cookies.
The world didn't notice when Ros went away, but in heaven there was a hero's welcome as Ros entered the city, smiling from ear to ear.
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