God Is Sufficient in All CircumstancesĪfter receiving the news of her husband’s death, Darlene was falsely accused of being a spy and taken to a maximum-security prison where she was kept in solitary confinement. Through it all, Darlene was sustained by God, who never left her nor forsook her, just as he promised. The brutal conditions of a WWII Japanese internment camp included near-starvation, forced labor, inhumane conditions, false accusations of espionage, serious illnesses, solitary confinement, and torture.
During the next four years, Darlene endured separation from her husband and, eventually, widowhood. Later, Japanese soldiers herded all foreigners into prisoner-of-war camps, separating the men from the women and children. And when the Japanese soon took control of the area, the Deiblers were put under house arrest. When World War II broke out in that part of the world, the Dieblers chose to stay. Darlene, the first white woman any of them had ever seen, grew to deeply love the local people. Darlene accompanied Russell into the jungle to establish a new mission station near a previously unevangelized, primitive tribe that had only been discovered just a few years earlier. The Deiblers eagerly returned to Russell’s pioneer missionary work in the interior of New Guinea. He remained her light and salvation.”ĭarlene married a pioneer missionary to Southeast Asia named Russell Deibler on August 18, 1937. “Through it all, Darlene was sustained by God, who never left her nor forsook her, just as he promised. How could that little girl know what the Savior had planned for her in the not too distant future? On that night she promised Jesus, “Lord, I will go anywhere with you, no matter what it costs” (46). One year later, during a revival service, she sensed God’s calling to give her life to missions. At age nine she put her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as her light and salvation. Obedience to God’s Call in All Circumstancesĭarlene Mae McIntosh was born on May 17, 1917. Never for a moment are you out of my sight” ( Evidence Not Seen, 46). Deep in my heart he whispered, “I’m here. I was to discover, however, that when I took my eyes off the circumstances that were overwhelming me, over which I had no control, and looked up, my Lord was there, standing on the parapet of heaven looking down.
Russell had said, “He will never leave us nor forsake us.” No? What about now, Lord? This was one of the times when I thought God had left me, that he had forsaken me. Consider her own reflection on that heartbreaking day:Įverything had happened so fast and without the slightest warning. She did not even have a chance to say goodbye.
She was a missionary in her early twenties. “Remember one thing, dear: God said he would never leave us nor forsake us.” Those words were spoken on March 13, 1942, and were the last words Darlene Diebler would ever hear from her husband, Russell, as they were permanently separated in Japanese prison camps during World War II. This week, as we look toward Mother’s Day, we’d like to celebrate the lives and work of a few spiritual mothers that have deeply impacted many in the work of missions. She, however, is far from the only woman whose influence has cast a long shadow on the world of missions. Her legacy lives on as the impetus for generations of missionary engagement among peoples and places around the world. Editor’s Note: Lottie Moon gets a lot of press here at imb.org, and rightfully so.
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