"But I don't want anyone to kill Cain!"

I'm much more of a country girl, so moving to Shell with its several thousand inhabitants (and a couple thousand of those were on the military base) was an appealing idea. Germán still had to get out every now and then to the pollution and noise of the city. I was reared in the coastal jungle; he was reared in Quito. Big difference! (I still vaguely remember when they got their first traffic light. Not that people paid much attention to it!)

When we arrived in Shell the HCJB missionaries were in the first stages of a game of "musical houses". So for the first month we lived in the guest apartment I mentioned in the last post.  Germán began learning his duties as he supervised the maintenance crew, kitchen and laundry staff, etc. He also helped with things like picking up blood at the blood bank in the next larger town, or transporting patients flown in from the jungle by the MAF pilots. We started getting to know the other families. Fast friendships developed over time, and we still keep in touch with other "Shell-mates".

One night when we had just recently moved into the apartment that would be our home for the next eight years, I was reading Dan a Bible story before he went to bed. That night it was about Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel and is then banished by God, who says, "Now you are under a curse". Cain is dismayed and responds, "My punishment is more than I can bear...whoever finds me will kill me."

As soon as I read that part, Dan's eyes filled with tears and he protested, "But I don't WANT anyone to kill Cain!"  I was speechless for a couple of seconds. The normal human reaction would be "he got what he deserved". I doubt Dan even realized that he was mirroring God's feelings. In spite of his horrible crime, God loved Cain and didn't want anyone to kill him either!

 I continued with the story. Hearing that God had put a protective mark on Cain so that anyone who killed him would be severely punished, Dan was very relieved! This happened 32 years ago, but it still makes me think. In pleading with God, Cain also said, "I will be hidden from your presence", and I think that may have been far and away the worst part of his banishment. Leaving his homeland and wandering the earth was hard, but having to leave God's presence must have been soul-wrenching.

I'm sure you've all wondered what Hell is like. We read of  fire and "weeping and gnashing of teeth", but I believe the most excruciating aspect of it will be separation from God, with no hope of reconciliation. Those who reject Him in this life reject the chance of reconciliation He provides for them. So many people in this world face the same punishment as Cain did: banishment from God's presence...only theirs will be forever. As we settled down in Shell, we wanted to continue the kind of  work we had done in Australia: helping others find the only way a person can avoid this awful ending...and helping others understand that the God who provided The Way to do this is loving, compassionate, powerful and fully worth getting to know! Each of us can begin to build a relationship with Him that should continue to grow...and never stop growing, even when we get to Heaven.

I pray that each one of you who reads this has accepted the chance God gives you to be sure that you will never be separated from His presence.