Brought This Far

God's faithfulness was the constant that brought us through the difficulties and uncertainties . . .

In 1959, a year into their marriage, Sharon Meisenheimer and her husband, Lester, experienced a steep learning curve when they moved with their nine-month-old son, Timmy, to the tropical rainforest of northwestern Ecuador. Called by God to serve as missionaries in that unknown-to-them primitive area, they brought Western medicine and a love of Jesus to the two distinct cultures and languages of the native Chachi Indians and Afro-Ecuadorians, whose lives had not changed for centuries.

As she showed God's love through solving medical dilemmas and physical mysteries and discovering new treatments, the Almighty One used that wedge to widen the hearts and minds of the locals, allowing the penetration of the Gospel's good news and the transformation of lives.

During thirty-seven years as a missionary, Sharon had harrowing experiences; an unexpected childbirth; frustrations, hardships, and tragedies; and she cared for two daughters through thirteen years of their spiraling, fatal diseases. She learned to fully trust God for strength, faithfulness, joy, and victory in whatever life brought her way. She also witnessed the maturing of an infant church, the development of leaders, and a medical miracle that involved the entire local population. Her exciting recompense was all planned by the One who weaves together the story of every life.