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I cannot recall my earliest memory of Mother, but I am quite certain it is associated with joy. Her joy did not stem from perfect or ideal circumstances but from a deep, abiding love affair with the Lord Jesus.

Mother was born in China during a time of warlords and bandits. She grew up hearing gunfire in the distance at night and could recall seeing bombs in their berths as planes flew low over their compound, but she doesn't remember fear being part of her childhood. She lost a brother to dysentery when he was 18 months old but remembers no lingering shadow of sorrow.

Her mother, Virginia Bell, was a talented and creative homemaker. She was single-mindedly supportive of her husband. Her philosophy of child rearing was simple: Her job was not to make them happy but to make them good. She succeeded in doing both well. Her life's commitment was to serve Christ, her husband, and her family.

My mother's father, Nelson Bell, a busy surgeon, created a secure, loving home filled with music, quality family experiences, and humor. His fidelity to Christ and his service never wavered. It was his life's purpose.

These were Mother's role models. Her parents exercised a profound effect upon the development of her character and laid the foundations for who she was. I observed traits in her that I knew were formed long ago by these two godly people who were committed to Christ and their family.

Mother was greatly saddened when she had to leave the shelter of her home and go away to northern Korea for high school. She often said that God was then preparing her for a lifetime of goodbyes. A young 13-year-old girl whose heart was heavy with homesickness, and had no idea what God's purpose was, she turned to the one who promised to always be with her—her heavenly Father. Early in her life, she made Christ her home.

What she witnessed in her family's home, she practiced for herself—dependence on God in every circumstance, love for his Word, concern for others above self, and an indomitable spirit displayed with a smile. Self-sacrifice was a way of life.

Although Mother left China at age eighteen to go to Wheaton College and did not return until 1980, she never forgot China—the land and people of her happy childhood. She read, studied, and interviewed those who might afford any clue about her homeland and how the Christian church was faring under intense persecution. China was in her blood. It became a passion that bore fruit when she stood with my Father as he proclaimed the gospel in the land of her birth.

In 1989, my two sisters and I were privileged to accompany our mother back to China to visit her hometown. As we toured the grounds of the old hospital, Chinese officials told us their plans for a new hospital they were building. When it was Mother's turn to speak, she presented the gospel simply and clearly. She had the heart of an evangelist, though her gift was often overshadowed by that of my father's. At her deepest core was the desire for individuals to know Christ in a personal and intimate way. Early in life spreading the Gospel became her purpose.

One word that never applied to Mother was condemnation. She had a marvelous capacity to accept people where and as they were. However, she did have difficulty with anyone who attacked those she loved. She was fiercely loyal.

Mother had a strong sense of family. She was happiest when in her home in the mountains of North Carolina surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and well-worn books. (Her grandchildren—all 19 of them—adored her.)

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August (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51