Dear Sister Letter

July 2024

Dear Sister,

It’s now two months since my dear husband and our beloved Metropolitan of blessed memory went to be with the Lord. It was so unexpected for us as a family, our bishops and our entire church. Together we have mourned his departure from us; witnessed his burial with tears; and remembered his life, years of faithful service, and all he did to make Christ known, and to help the needy and lead the church.

I am sure you attended or watched some of the services on live streaming. It was amazing how many people—great and small—came to say farewell to Metropolitan. His life had touched theirs with the gospel and the love of Christ. I imagine you also saw our family on that big screen during the services. It was not easy, but God gave us grace to be seen so publicly at such a sorrowful time. Thank you so much for your prayers that helped carry us through.

I stayed with Sarah (our daughter) and her family until the 40 days of mourning were over and our new metropolitan was installed before I came home. There are lots of things I need to take care of after my husband’s departure, and I am grateful for all the help and love of my family.

Since I came home, I have been thinking about all the sisters in our churches who love us and have been praying for us. I imagine you must be wondering if I will be alright after the loss of my husband.

Dear sister, I am writing this letter to you to let you know how I am doing and about the grace God has given me for this difficult time. Since we live in a fallen world, all of us will experience struggles and some sort of loss in our lifetime. Perhaps what I write to you today will someday be of some help to you.

Everyone in our family, including our grandchildren, misses Metropolitan very much. We were used to him travelling a lot, but he always came home. Now we have to wait until we reach heaven to see him again. As for me, Metropolitan and I were married nearly 50 years (12 days short), and I had hoped we could spend this final stretch of our lives together, while serving the Lord. It all turned out different, and the sudden accident and death did not allow us to even have a last conversation or say goodbye to each other on this earth.

There are many things I don’t understand, and I have questions that will have to wait until eternity to receive an answer. Until then, I have decided to trust our sovereign Lord, because His Word says that He is good, and He is love and He does not make a single mistake.

Does Jesus care about my tears, the loss I feel and the sorrow and grief I experience? God’s Word assures me He does because He lived on this earth, and He tasted everything I go through. Moreover, at the cross He carried all my grief, pain and sorrows. He understands when I weep, feel alone and wonder about my future.

When will my heart get beyond the sadness I feel right now? God created us in such a way that we need time to grieve so our soul (with all its emotions) can recover and experience healing after a loss.

David who went through so many trials testified from his own experience in Psalm 23:3, “He restores my soul.” These days I pray through Psalm 23 and two other psalms several times a day, and I believe with all my heart that He is faithful to fulfill this promise of restoration to me and to all who put their faith in Him.

I am trusting the Lord one day at a time. That’s all I can manage right now, otherwise I feel overwhelmed. And He is faithful to walk with me each day and give me the strength I need.

My to-do list for the day is shorter than it used to be, and sometimes I have to just stop and rest or spend time with my sweet grandchildren.

What helps me the most is that I can put my trust in God’s Word and cling to it. I had to learn and practice this during the challenging times of my own life and in the many struggles we faced in the ministry. My dear sister, I encourage you to learn this before you face a major trial in your life.

One of the scriptures I am putting my trust in is the promise of Jesus: “I will never desert (leave) you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). It takes my fear away of what will happen to me in the future.

Let me tell you about God’s love and grace toward me. From the day my husband went to be with the Lord till now, my Heavenly Father has filled my heart and surrounded me with His surpassing peace. Though I shed tears, this peace allows me to sleep well at night, and there is no fear in my heart. I am very much aware of God’s care and mercy toward me.

I am thankful to God that my husband was faithful to his calling, that he kept the vision to reach the lost and that he served the Lord till the last moments of his life on earth. I believe if we could see him now, he would tell us that all his years of labor, endless travel, struggles and trials were worth it all when he met our Savior face to face.

Metropolitan often talked about the great cloud of witnesses from Hebrews 12:1that surround us.

I imagine he has joined this cloud, and he is eagerly watching as we continue following his example and fulfill the vision and direction he left for us as a church.

Dear sister, we will bring the most honor and joy to Jesus, our Lord, and to our spiritual father if we choose to live for eternity and invest our lives in taking the Gospel to those who never heard it before. Let us faithfully pray for our Metropolitan Theophilus and all our bishops and leaders that God will guide them with His wisdom as they lead our church forward. As sisters, we should seek to be a blessing and encouragement to them and to our church.

Let us live in hope.

My dear sister, in this letter I have shared my last two-month journey with you. The promise of the resurrection will one day turn all our mourning into joy. We will be together with Metropolitan and all those who have gone before us. This time it will be forever and in the presence of our Savior.

Please know I love you in Jesus and I pray for you.

Your sister in Christ,

Gisela Yohannan