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God Chooses the Weak Things of this World

The seed for Pattern Education (formerly know as Pattern Life)

development was planted in a small, darkly-lit chapel in Weimar,

California, in 1994, when Elisabeth was ten.

It was there, at chapel, that a group of smiling and eager college students

stood on the broad carpeted platform, sharing about their recent

experiences as student missionaries in India.

During the presentation, a “Mission Spotlight” featuring India was also played.

As Elisabeth sat almost breathlessly listening and watching, a sense of

calm came over her. More and more often she found herself thinking,

This is where I belong. This is what I came into this world to do, to help

these needy people.

Elisabeth shared her new-found heart longing with her parents. Yet, being young in years and easily animated over what often seemed to end in fruitless pursuits, Elisabeth had a difficult time persuading her parents that this new calling -- to help underprivileged people of Asia -- was actually real.

In fact, it was not until five years later, when Elisabeth’s dad had his own “Mission Spotlight” conviction, that her parents finally relented.

Elisabeth, her father began, today I saw you in India. We watched a “Mission Spotlight” on India this morning before church, and yes, as I saw the Indian women working in such difficult conditions, I really saw you there, right beside them, helping as you could. If you would like to go to India, as you have been saying, I will help you.

The Lord was working, and just as quickly as the words had passed through his mouth, sister Ruth responded to the call.

I will also go, she said. Furthermore, continued Ruth, I suggest we work with Indian children.

So it was that the seed that had been planted that Friday night in Elisabeth’s heart then began to germinate and sprout into something tangible.

For the next several months, Ruth and Elisabeth worked at a taco place intown, saving as much as possible toward their anticipated trip. During this time, several emails and phone calls were exchanged between the Seventh-day Adventist Church Conference office, Adventist people and organizations in India and the University of Iowa’s Health Department. Through the Lord’s guidance, and after receiving the necessary vaccinations, it was decided that the sisters would volunteer for an orphanage in Hyderabad (south-central), India. Ruth was 19 and Elisabeth 17 when they first landed in India in 2002.

For three months, Ruth and Elisabeth strove to educate, mold, help, and love

the 60 orphans. In the mornings, they helped the children perform their

chores; they made sure the children ate their breakfast and assisted with

homework. Sometimes in the afternoon, Ruth and Elisabeth taught music,

tutored and labored with the students to memorize scripture. Then in the

evenings, they held worship, played and talked with the sweet and vivacious

children. It was a wonderful life.

But this wonderful phase of life would soon come to a close. The orphans

had now grown to 82 in number and the sisters were left to care for the

children while the matron left for a much-needed few months trip to visit

her sister. Elim Home Student practicing her viola skills

It was during that time, that Ruth and Elisabeth received an unexpected call from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Hello, Ruth answered as she picked up the receiver. Elisabeth stood nearby, attentively listening to Ruth’s side of the conversation. After moments of long silence, Ruth finally continued, Oh, really? Thank you for letting us know, but we will stay with the children.

Apparently India and Pakistan were threatening war, and it was considered extremely dangerous for foreigners to remain in India. The conference had called to notify the sisters of the situation and questioned whether they would like to return to America for safety.

Remembering how the Lord had blessed in the past, the sisters knew that the Lord would be with them during this difficult time as well. There would be no turning back. In their mind, their decision was made.

Little thought, therefore, was given to the

call, until three days later when Ruth and

Elisabeth again received a phone call from

the conference office. This time, they were

told to leave India, a ticket being booked for

them to depart that same day. So, that

evening, it was with almost broken hearts

that “Goodbyes” and admonitions were

given. But truly the Lord’s ways are beyond

human ways and His actions past finding

out. It was at this point, during this crisis,

that their love for India was strengthened,

and a broader vision for service developed.

Although we constantly longed to be with

the orphan children again and wrote them,

all 82, almost every month, Jesus caused us Elim Home Children

to look beyond the present to the future,

recalls Elisabeth, and it was with willing hearts that we now stepped out in faith at our father’s guidance to return to India and start our own schools for the Lord, patterned after the Bible and Sister White’s writings.

In 2004 the sisters again returned to India, this time to Spicer College in western India. After sharing their vision of establishing Pattern Schools with several locals, they initially met with stern ridicule, rejection and even a note telling them to return to America where they belonged.

Your dream is impossible. You are too young. It’s downright too dangerous. Ah, those Indian men only want to help you because you are two American ladies.

Ruth and Elisabeth did have seemingly little to offer, little college education, little financial backing, little knowledge of Indian culture – but they had their God. . .

Often we would repair to our little room

with dark, burdened hearts. We remember

crying, wrestling for hours in prayer and

Bible study, asking the Lord to open a way

for service. But God in His infinite wisdom

was teaching us to wait peacefully, to rely

totally upon Him, because with Him “all

things are possible,” and conversely,

without Him nothing is possible.

Ruth teaching in the “Village” cultivating soil for the school garden

Further complicating matters, Elisabeth became sick several times during this trip and Ruth often had to bravely visit different places alone. Finally, Ruth had a breakthrough. She had met up with a group of Indians who had the same vision.

The sisters soon after had personal translators and were biking along a 45 minute somewhat precarious route to and from a “village” church, teaching the children Bible stories, agriculture, reading, writing and arithmetic. It was hot, sticky and crowded in that little tin church, but a calm peace rested upon it because the Lord was there at work, leading and guiding His children.

Months later, after this initial breakthrough, another door was opened for

service. Ruth and Elisabeth began working with a group of people who were

considered, among the majority of Indians, to be of the lowest caste, the

outcasts of society, the “untouchables.” These Namani people were often

referred to as “The Mirror People” because the women wore large mirrors

all over their bodies. They believed these mirrors were gods and by wearing

them they would be blessed.

Possessing almost nothing in materialistic goods, sometimes not even

having a dry place to lay their tired heads, Ruth and Elisabeth found these

people to be especially grateful for any service offered and surprisingly

open to hearing about the true God.

“Mirror Children” learning how to draw

The Lord had impressed it upon several organizations and people, while the sisters were still in the States, to donate to Pattern Life. Ruth and Elisabeth were sent free material, told to shop through stores and choose what they needed for the children for free, and given free toothbrushes and toothpaste. It was now with happy hearts that these items were dispersed.

As the children’s tangled and matted hair was washed and combed, wounds treated, and new clothes placed upon their thin, shivering bodies, the “Mirror People” were speechless and overwhelmed. They were amazed by the love.

And yet, how much more remarkable and important was it for

them to realize the love of God. At a fearful risk, God had given

His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure

and happier for their little ones. Therein is love. “Wonder,

O heavens! And be astonished, O earth!” It wasn’t the mere act

of changing the outside of a person that mattered, but what

God was willing to do in the inside of a person that counted.

And that’s exactly what Ruth and Elisabeth longed to convey.

Not long after, as Ruth and Elisabeth had begun preparing

the children for church, an elderly woman approached them

with tears in her eyes. Shampooing hair and treating a leg wound

I have prayed for these people for years, that someone would come and help them. God has finally answered my prayer. Praise God!