A dream leads to transformation in South Asia

The couple’s real names are being withheld to protect them from possible persecution where they are serving, where there has been persecution of Christians for more than three decades of service for the couple.

For Ben and Darlene, the call to mission work in Asia began with a dream, one that painted a vivid path for the couple to follow.

In September 1992, Darlene had what she terms as her “Asia Dream,” which sent her on a path that took her from a Bible school to serving in missions, where she met her husband Ben, and all the way to Southern Asia, where they have served in mission work together for three decades.

“God leads us in all kinds of ways, and the great commission tells us to go serve in the name of God, but knowing which place to go is always a question,” Darlene said.

In her dream Darlene was driving, then suddenly careened down a steep embankment stopping short before a terrifying chasm. Suddenly, she was back up on the road and encountered an opening in the woods. There she saw a row of poor, skinny, unclothed South Asian children looking at her expectantly.

“I was baffled as to what I could do for them,” Darlene said.

Suddenly, a person she describes as a mummy without the cloth wrapping — something she pictures as someone from the Holocaust, like a skeleton with charred skin stretched over it and dreaded hair — fell into her arms.

That’s when there was what Darlene describes as a volcanic eruption of God’s love, power and compassion.

“The mouth was trying to make a sound,” Darlene said of the person in her arms. One of the truths Darlene has sensed since then is God wants Christians to be a voice for the voiceless.

Behind Darlene was a group of people trying to persuade her to leave it alone because the work would be too hard.

She was suddenly transported to a typical poor village with mud huts, which is exemplary of Southern Asia.

“I knew immediately that God was asking me to go somewhere to help these children and people in need,” Darlene said. “How do you say no to something that vivid?”

She felt that if God would enable her with that much of his love, power and compassion, how could she not go?

Once married, the couple began exploring mission options and sent out letters. One response came back from a southern location in South Asia.

The follow-up phone call response was an answer to prayer and to the dream.

“I’ll never forget this,” Ben said. “The leader said, ‘Brother, pack your bags, trust God and come.’"

That led them to complete Darlene’s dream scenario in a decisive whirlwind of action and response to where God was calling them.

God brought Ben and Darlene together, where Ben and Darlene met in Arkansas through a mutual friend while Darlene was in volunteer service as a nurse.

The two quickly developed a relationship built around faith, and together they dedicated their lives to serving others in a land far away in South Asia, where they trained in 1995.

They have dedicated their lives to the people there ever since, going back and forth between there and the United States.

The outreach ministry in Southern Asia includes several facets: church planting, church growth and discipling believers.

Other facets are the small handcrafts and bakery business where they train and employ ostracized widows to bake goods at the Widows’ Home God helped them build against huge odds.

According to the couple, widows are often considered a burden. There are more than 10,000 widows in the city, many of them destitute on the streets. Even though it was outlawed, there may still be widows who get burned alive on the cremation pyre of their late husbands.

In addition, they are hoping to create a rescue and protection home for victims of human trafficking, abused women, men and children who have been traumatized.

They’ve also helped create Carpentry Training Schools and hope to eventually add a staffing home and a training center, as well as possibly a self-sustaining school for children.

Because of multiple difficulties, it took 10 years from the vision until completion. Ongoing provision is needed to support the staff and to operate the Widows’ Home.

Microgrants have been used to start multiple small businesses for widows and some other needy people, training for believers, multiple jail ministries, and the Comfort Team, which ministers to children at risk and women at risk in a government protection home for victims of trauma.

The stories arising from devastation to show God’s hand at work are many, from helping trafficked women find a renewed faith in life through the love of God to reuniting young, trafficked women with their families and teaching people to not just survive but thrive through building skills. The past three decades have been both heartbreaking and inspiring as Ben and Darlene have witnessed God changing lives one life at a time.

The good works they have experienced have been amazing, but the couple recognizes their journey and calling continues.

“Our Comfort Team has been doing intermittent prayer walks and ministering to the victims of human trafficking in the red-light district,” Ben said. “We invite others to join us in prayer in seeking God’s wisdom as we consider expanding our ministry in that area, where if it is God’s will, we will build a Rescue Home.”

The cost of doing so is expensive, which is why they are currently seeking to raise funds for the complex.

Darlene loves the quote: “There are three stages to every great work of God: First it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”

Faith can move mountains, and Ben and Darlene are set on buildings that will help people in South Asia thrive through faith.

With all the work being invested in creating housing, buildings and projects, the main theme remains the same for the couple: reaching out to provide eternal hope to unreached people including victims of human trafficking, widows, children and the poor — something that has been instilled in their hearts since day one.

“Above all, we have a heart for missions, for serving others and integrating the Gospel into everything we do there,” Ben said. “We teach about Jesus in everything we do. There is a lot of controversy in the government in South Asia because they are very leery about us turning the majority religion into Christians.”

He said all they have helped achieve isn’t through them but is from God’s grace and love, and they want God to receive all the glory.

Anyone who feels called to support this mission should call 330-698-7985 or email hopeforthehopeless2@gmail.com.