I was so touched and honoured to share a short tribute at the memorial service for Sue Martens Kehler. This is a somewhat longer version that includes some additional details.

Twenty years ago—more or less—when I was still serving as a pastor at Emmanuel Mennonite Church, I remember more than one conversation with several of us middle-aged and younger women in the church. As we thought about the years ahead of us, we all agreed, when we grew up, we wanted to be Sue Kehler. She was a vibrant example to all of us who knew her—women and men—with her energetic faith, her lively engagement in the church and with people of all ages, and from all walks of life.

I knew Sue by reputation even before I met her in person. I knew of her many years serving in Taiwan, with her groundbreaking work to establish a school of nursing and playing a key role in the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Haulien, Taiwan. She would later be recognized for her excellent service and received many awards, including Taiwan’s National Distinguished Senior Nurse award, National Model Citizen award, and the keys to the city of Hualein.

When I got to know Sue as a member of my congregation, she had officially retired from her work in Hualein, although continued as a wonderful  support and inspiration especially for the nursing school. I came to know her as a tireless servant of God and a great encouragement to me and to many.

Over the years, we had many conversations, and I received many handwritten notes and cards from Sue. She would often include Scripture verses or small jokes or words of blessing, thoughts about one of my sermons or concerns to include in prayer. In one card, she wrote:

Make your plans in pencil,
and give God the eraser.

In another, she said that years earlier when she and her husband, Peter, had lived in Switzerland for three months, they had been given a small booklet written by the German theologian Johannes Kuhn. She said it was “most thought provoking . . . only trouble is that it’s all in German, else I’d give you a copy.” Instead, she took the time to translate portions of the booklet from German into English, wrote them on a separate piece of paper, and tucked it into my card.

Sometimes she would leave a note saying that she had left food in the church fridge or freezer for me. “Enjoy the ever differing recipe of sausage roll,” she wrote in one note. In another:

Dear April and Gary,
Enjoy the lunch (you’ll need to supply the rice).
No need for a thank you—we know you both are grateful.
from Sue (and also for Peter)

When I left my role as a full-time pastor to focus on the writing side of my ministry, Sue continued to follow my writing and teaching. She would often respond to one of my blog posts, sent Christmas and Easter greetings, and continued to encourage me. Last fall, she emailed to let me know that she planned to register for an online course that I was teaching for Canadian Mennonite University. It was a course on dreams—both the dreams that we have when we’re asleep and the dreams—the cherished aspirations—we have when we’re awake.

Sue seemed especially interested in our sessions on discerning when to let go of a dream, how to let go in a healthy way, and learn to dream again. When I asked if anyone had an example to share, Sue immediately volunteered, but her audio wasn’t working that day, and we couldn’t hear her.

So I called her after the class, and we had a wonderful conversation. Sue had just celebrated her 97^th birthday, and told me how much she had enjoyed her family gathering to celebrate. She also told me that she would need to miss our next class, but gave me permission to share her story.

Sue said that when she was a young adult, she felt convicted to serve in overseas mission, but she wondered, in what capacity? She thought there must be a need for medical doctors, so she sent letters to a number of universities inquiring about the possibility, but none of them would accept her.

Then one day at the post office, she ran into a medical student that she knew, and he said, “Have you heard? There’s a special program for nurses, fast tracking them so the training would be two years instead of three.” But he didn’t have the details.

So Sue wrote to the Minister of National Health and Welfare, Paul Martin Sr. She shared that with me so matter-of-factly, but I thought, how bold that she would contact such a senior member of the government. But that’s how she got the information she needed, and as it turned out, she was the last person accepted into the program.

Sue finished her nurses training and followed her dream of overseas mission—not as a doctor as she had thought, but as a nurse. Truly, she had written her plans in pencil and given God the eraser. She had given up her first dream as a doctor, and made way for a new one as a nurse and teacher of nursing. I can’t help but think that this turned out to be the better path—that she had more impact as a nurse than she might have had as a doctor, for she went on to train two hundred nurses at the school, many from among indigenous peoples, as the school recruited students from many different language groups and customs.

I know from my conversations with Sue, that at the age of 97, she was still dreaming about how she might best love and serve others: her family, the church, and the wide circle of people that she knew locally and around the world. She was still a vibrant example of faith and hope—and I still want to be like her when I grow up. She ended her last email to me: “More later. Thank you.”

After my Gary died unexpectedly, Sue sent me a card with this quote from Max Lucado:

My prayer is that you will find some word, some verse, or some thought
that will convince you that God is very near.
I pray that as you read, you will be reminded
that the same voice that stilled the rage on the Sea of Galilee
can still the storm in your world.
Be assured—God is closer than you’ve ever dreamed.

I imagine that Sue would want to offer that encouragement to each of us here today. Whatever storm we face in our personal lives and in the wider world, God is closer than we’ve ever dreamed. But keep dreaming—and know that God is near.

Writing/Reflection Prompt: Who encourages and inspires you? Who can you encourage today?