"Privileged" - Dr Helen Roseveare - goes to be with her Lord

This week Dr Helen Roseveare went to be with her Lord aged 91

Famous for her books and speaking at conferences around the world, she served the Lord as a missionary medical Doctor in the Congo (which became Zaire and is now the DRC-Democratic Republic of Congo just a couple of countries to our north.)

Her unwavering faith and commitment to serve her Lord and His faithfulness to her in the midst of some of the most horrifying of circumstances including rape by rebel soldiers, has been a great example to me from long before I ever became a fellow missionary in Africa.

I remember hearing/seeing her speak at a Keswick Convention I attended with my parents when I was young. She shared our lunch table on one of the days too, and her name and stories were firmly etched into my memory. They played a part in the picture I formed of a 'missionary' as a child.  I read some of her books that my mum had on her bookshelf and have some on my own bookshelf now too. Probably the two main things that impacted me from her life was that there is a cost to serving the Lord but that at the same time God is totally faithful and able to do above and beyond what we ask or think.

In more recent days one of the stories from her life went viral on the internet - the story of the prayed for hot water bottle and little doll.

As she would speak in various places she would emphasise that God's grace is sufficient.  She would also repeatedly emphasise that she felt her walk with Christ including suffering for His sake, was just an amazing privilege....another word for privilege is 'honour'....she is such a wonderful example of the great peace, joy, contentment and thankfulness that comes into a person's life when they feel the great undeserved favour and honour of God in being His child.

A tribute on The Gospel Coalition website posted this quote of Dr Roseveare's

God never uses a person greatly until He has wounded him deeply.
The privilege He offers you is greater than the price you have to pay.
The privilege is greater than the price.”
—Helen Roseveare

Here is an interview she had on 100 Huntley Street (its in four parts so you have to click on each part to watch it) - and if you click across to watch them on YouTube directly many other videos will come up of her sharing in one-on-one interviews or with hundreds in large audiences.