Here we are in south India and our friends tell us a teacher at their children’s school passed away suddenly. It is a tragedy. He left a wife and three teenage children, two of whom were still in the school he and his wife taught at.

We had been asked to help facilitate a prayer room in the school and we thought it would be good to attend the celebration service to get a sense of where the pupils were in processing their grief and to learn a little about the man they were grieving.

Let me take you back a few years to when Angie and I were getting married; we thought that as we both had had homes before we got together we had precious little need for another kettle or companion set or set of pots (I had an unopened box of those in the roof space from my first wedding*).

We had a wonderful idea of just asking our guests for money in lieu of gifts, that would be donated to make a lasting difference in the lives of others, rather than us simply accumulating more stuff. Mostly, our guests thought it was a great idea but some were not so sure. Anyway, we were married and a shed load of money came in with which we were able to bless others.

Present: Angie and I were given the little folded A4 program with a photo on front typically associated with these solemn events. Angie read the name above the rather cheery photo:

MR IAN ANDREW McCABE.

Ian ANDREW McCabe…She played the name over and over and then asked our friends did they know if his father Andrew was from Scotland. “Not sure” the reply.

The remembrance continued and a slide show rolled of the teacher’s life, from when he was pedalling a little car in his back garden in early 70’s, (I had one just like it) to shots of his family and pupils. One of his parents was there too. Angie nudged me…”That’s Andrew McCabe!” She exclaimed quietly.

When picking a cause to make a donation to; we didn’t have much discussion as Angie had been at the church in Scotland where this man attended, he served as a missionary in India rescuing girls from trafficking and prostitution. It seemed like a ‘no-brainer’. He was Andrew McCabe. The father of Ian.

God seems to have been joining the dots for us as we have circumnavigating the globe. We often say how amazing it is to be part of God’s family and share the same Heavenly Father.

*ah you didn’t know, we’ll tell you about that later…