The Ohio Independent Baptist, June/July 1967

ll·r .,utt r f I i111"'t' \t ,, \t .,r, lhon,p,l,n. 1, ruc,cntl} l'f11 ill d t·, Hn1 u,t Pl ht" \ltlln, l)"n,cr (oto,.,do \he 1, ,\ )!r,,dll,lll' , Bn ,, ,1 1 it ll " n r, ,r, "1th ., ll I{ C ue~rcc he .1..,,1,tcc.J t\ ti , .... 'lh 11'-' ''- 111 ·,l \\riling llf ht.•r bOl).._ " \\l' T,,o •\ lone" \\1t h 11 , .... 1 1 l ,'t ' lt.Jl · ., trip t() \ t'tl\.'/ltt.·l.1 It ,,.,, \\htlt• there that the e Jc l'O\.' l 1'''-'lll "IH\.h ,ht• "rttt•, 1n t111, .1rttclc. " \ cnc,uclan .,lor" t >) , • "'-' \ ti,, rh'-,111p,'-ln cl.1,,1fic, he, elf ..,, .1 "T\ pc, r,tcr ll ...,,,on · .,r ' hl' tr I h "' '"' ' her t, pc\\ rltt'r ''-' the.· ult.H, or the l ord 1 ,,1: 1,1 the \Cr\ la t pe\, )f a Bapti t httrch 1n . an Felt,. 1n 1nt~r1or \ 'enez11cla. \\ l1ere l c t1ld ()11 ervc tin– " btrti..._,, el the n1e111 rt,ll er\ ice ft r the wif of a national f),1,tt r. Fdt1.1rdl'' l ~")rrc,. l nttl the holi} arrived there were nl, a fc\, L1th""r p pl in the building. hildren fr 111 the l h ri tit1r1 Li,1~ "cho 11 tidJOtni ng the church. leaned inqt1i ~it1\el} thr t1gh the lo\v. open window . Workmen, c n trttcting , building aero \ the treet. ca t inquiring glan e, )llr \.\ a\ until the t1rr1\ al of the hear e an werecl - J their tina ked que tion . In 1de. th~ pl,1ce \t1ddenl~ can1e to life. Pastor Fran– ci \\ illian1\ and e\eral ot her men began quickly re– arranging bench lo n1ake room f r the in1ple dark hr \\O ca ket \\hich wa to re t on tw .. mall ~ tra ight chair tn the ai le to\i\ard the front. There wa no pede tal, n hank of expen ive flower , or potted paln1 , no re onant pipe organ. padded carpeting, or f law less pe\\ to in pire or to encourage the family and friend of the one Vt ho v. a in the pre ence of her aviour. But there v..a ometh1ng in abundance here that o ften e ludes n1ore beautiful funeral er\ ice~ - that fragrant, but fragile \Ometh1ng that make the difference between \\ armth c1nd coldne ·. de pair and hope - real hr i tian lo\e and c ncern. I aw it and I felt it as the ca ket lid \\ a~ lifted and friend and l ved one. warn1ed arou n(i ro ta1'.e their la t glin1p e of that fan1iliar face. Glorious Hope! Pa tor Jo e Herrera t pped to the pu lpit to a. k e\er\one to be ·eated. In a matter of eco nd a ll move- - ment topped and ever) available seat wa fi ll ed. till there v..a\ a 1zeable ove:f lo'N of people. mo tl y n1en. tanding aero the hack. The imple er'vice for idia T orre began with the congregational 1nging of ' 'Face to Face.' ' Each of the belie\er appeared to forget that anyone el e wa there. It \\.~ a though each Vvere tanding alone in the pre ence of Ht Lord a king...Face to face ... oh. what hall it be?" There wa ju. t a hint of envy of the one in who e memory we met. The older ones and even a few younger bru hed away the tear that had prung quietly unbidden to the e)·e and spilled dO\\' n their tanned cheek . i\ fte r a reminder in ong from Betty GiMon that idi a \\ as ·· afe in the Arm of Je u ." Ruth Hege. eated to ffi)' right. leaned over to \A.ihi per ,n utter amazemen t~ '"Torres ha the ervice:· This remark wa the a n wer to her own que t1on a!-ked of fellow mis 1onaries jt1st a JUNE-JULY 1967 PAGE 10 enezue an a or By Miss Mary Thompson rcw 111 () 111Cnt\ ear li e r l : VCl'yC1 11 C aSSlll11Cll that J> ,\'ill \Villian1\ W()ttld preach. I-l e \.\a\ carrying his bricJ cas a) he e nt ered the c hurch. 1 hi \ wa"i ht"i clc) n1 ain ,tn<.I th ...v )f k pac; torc(l by Eduardo and id1a I C)rrcs in ()a ll ( ..o c;; t a h ,l grown o t I t t) I thi"i . an F c I i x ch tt r ch, so h c \.Va a like ly pro. peel. I f Willi an, didn't preach. then certain ! Jo~c Herrera would . But quietly. co nftdentl y, '"f c)rre c;tcpped to the pt1 lpi t and begc1n hi ~,n1pl e te<;t imon y o ,od ' faithfulne . He read I fhc sc..a lon1a n\ 4 a<; thougl the word~ were indelibly engravec.l ttpon hi\ heart an(I h t Id o f the c mfort ing baln1 the Wor(t of (,od wa~ t, him a nd hi family in their lose;. Wh at T rre did no t n1enti o n were the fiery trial<.. h had e ndured above and beyond the u ual difficultiec;; en cot1nt ered in the homegoi ng of one's life companion. Le n1e fill in -ome of the detail and you will underc;tan< the amaze n,en t of the mi <;ionariec; ac;; they beheld one o their own nal ional worker finding the l ore.I 10 he utlerl ti ff i c i en t . Sudden Death ! Mo nd ay. oven1ber 28, T orres left the h u e t<.) gt on an e rra nd and idi a began he r wa hing. he had ~ coffee bag in her hand to hang o n the wire me h o , the porch . h e t od barefoot in water. The me. h wa charged \V ith e lectricity from a nearby live wire. Sh< sc reamed, but neighbor were too la te to help. Pa to Willi an1 live immediately in back of the Torre home 'v\' hen he h·eard the children crying, he went to investigate idia' body had a lread y been removed to the ho piral Willi an1 hurrie d to ee her. then went to find Torre\ l-Iow doe one gently. kind ly tell a man that hi wift whom he left a li ve mi ntt te before. i" now ah ent f ron the hody? Satanic Opposition! The new wa a terri f ic hock. but the two preach er, we nt to clai111 the body. Here the real te ting began idia' body wa in the hand o f the government and i1 wou ld not be relea ed to Torre until thorough inve t iga· tion wa comple ted . He was told that an autop y wa re· quired and that the b dy would have to go to the sta te capit a l, C itidad Bolivar. ·· o!" he could not go wit h the body. He watched a they thot1ght le ly hand led the bod ~ of hi dear \A.iife, putting it in the an1bu lance on a dirt ~ piece of zinc. T he di traught hu band plead for a bee! to wrap her. He even offered to go get o ne h im e lf. More to appea e him than anythi ng e l e, after they unhurriedl y completed a long page of qtie tio ns, they wrapped Nidi a· body in a heet and drove off without Torre . Late r on that ame Monday a Ch r i. tian couple went \V ith Torre to the capital to c lain1 the body . It was no t ready. After nt1merous delay the autopsy wac; po tponed until T Lie day. Iore de lay. It wa. Tuesday aft erinoon. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST