Eighteen years ago last February, I met Tom Sachs, a man who was to have a profound impact on my life. What impressed me most about Tom was how he used every opportunity to share Christ. In Guntersville, Alabama, Tom settled with his wife Milla, a true Southern Belle. Along with their two children, Cord and Tegan, Tom and Milla built a rich life together on the pristine banks of the Tennessee River.
Milla, an industrious woman of many talents, had become indispensable working for the city mayor. In time, she came to run much of City Hall. Tom worked hard as a general contractor, custom building many of the grand homes that now dot the lush landscape of dense pine forest. But it was Tom's steadfast devotion to winning people to faith in Christ that inspired and challenged me most. His deep, simple faith impelled him to be a true tent-making missionary.
On the spur of the moment, I asked Tom to accompany me to Romania on a trip I had planned in September of 1989. To my utter astonishment, he accepted. The adventure that we shared together on that Eastern European escapade was to indelibly bond us as brothers in Christ. On that early December morning in 1989, the clarion call that I received in California was from Tom, heralding the news that revolution had broken out in Romania.
After we moved to Romania, Tom organized a clothing drive at his church for our thrift stores in Iasi. When in 1995 the Lord gave me the vision for a restaurant, over a lunch at Reid's Diner on the Tennessee River, Tom took a paper napkin and sketched out the structural design that would become Little Texas. To help us build, Tom went to all of his suppliers and got them to donate a host of building tools that were shipped over and put to work on our project.
Later, in 1997, Little Texas opened. Both Tom and Milla visited us that September in Iasi. It was how they chose to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary! Tom flipped tortillas with our kitchen crew. Milla, herself a gourmet cook, was a guest on our radio program and introduced Iasi to a new recipe. This became the "Little Texas House Cake," which remains a favorite to this day. Over the years, our ministry has often taken us to Birmingham, Alabama, where we have three supporting churches. Tom would never fail to make the drive down to see us. He was a tireless source of support and encouragement for our ministry. Tom had long since become my hero for how he made a difference in the lives of so many, using his business as a forum on the toughest mission field on the planet-America.
More than a year ago, Tom was diagnosed with cancer for the third time. Perhaps sensing that the end was in sight, he refused chemical treatment. He was a man at peace with His Lord. On the one hand, Tom was ready to go Home, yet on the other he knew how much his extended family would miss him.
I saw Tom for the last time on a lazy July afternoon as he lounged at home under gently rustling pine trees. We chatted together, remembering, looking back, and cherishing the moment. Tom's son Cord (a son to make any father burst with pride) sat with us. We watched Tom's grandchildren splash and play in the rippling waves that lapped upon the tiny crescent beach. I had intruded on their family reverie too long; it was time to leave. In the emotional goodbye we lingered, perhaps in the knowledge that this would be our last riverside chat together this side of heaven.
Surrounded by his entire extended family, on September 9th, Tom finished his course. He had fought the good fight, had run his race and now the victory crown awaits my dear friend and hero of the faith. Praise God that there is another river, one whose cooling waters soothe the fevered brow, refreshes the soul, and offers its green grassy banks to the weary faithful. It is there that I will enter His rest with Tom. Together we will watch the river roll on.
A tender Moldova Christmas
The Christmas season is always a time of love and joy. I know of no more poignant expression of these Christ-like virtues that in the life of Valerica. You may remember her as the young girl we saved last year from the domestic horror of her home in Tirnova, Moldova. Paralyzed, partially retarded and suffering from extreme malnourishment, Valerica was legally moved to a special clinic in the capitol of Chisiniev where she received tender care each day from the attentive staff.
Valerica continued to long for home, asking everyday about her father, Valeriu, whom she loves in spite of everything. Valerica always has a smile and joyous laugh for all who encounter her. She has chosen joy amid severe physical limits that deny her many of life's simple pleasures. There at the clinic, Valerica befriended a younger girl, Irina, who suffers from Down Syndrome. For Valerica, Irina's diminished capacity and somewhat deformed features were no deterrent to reaching out with compassionate love.
With professional care and much prayer, Valerica has improved. Her speech is more fluid, her vocabulary expanded. Recently she was moved along with Irina to a different facility outside the Capitol, a special hospital funded by western donations. Valerica is stronger and improving, although there remains a long and uncertain road ahead. But this is the season of hope and goodwill of love and joy. These virtues Valerica has in abundance.
Recently Argentin and Jana (our missionary leaders) visited Valerica in her new facility. As always, they bring love, joy, affection, and the good news that Jesus loves her and is ever with her. They also brought Valerica a special present. She is a delightful little girl who had never really known any of the joys of Christmas, given the miserable childhood she had endured.
Not surprisingly, Valerica was overjoyed with their gift. Noting that her dear friend had no present, Valerica kindly asked that her only present, her one possession, be given to Irina. Christ IS with Valerica, teaching her that the spirit of Christmas really is in the giving, not receiving. Valerica gave everything she had to brighten the dim world of a little girl for whom Christ also gave His life.
Merry Christmas from Moldova, from the heart of a little girl that beats to share the love and joy that is hers in Christ Jesus.