“I surrender all, I surrender all; All to thee,
my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” Last Sunday, all across America,
Christians gathering at church sang this classic hymn, I Surrender All. The
lyrics are familiar and straightforward–yet how many people really think
about what they’re saying?
“We sing that song very easily,” says Gary Witherall. “But then we turn
around and lose the littlest thing and have a fit.” Surrender to Christ is
something that Gary has given a lot of thought lately. He and his wife,
Bonnie, met while they were both students at Moody Bible Institute in the
mid-90s. The couple had a passion for sharing Christ’s hope with the world’s
poor and oppressed and moved to Sidon, Lebanon in early 2001. There they
immersed themselves in the Arabic culture and partnered with the local
church to spread the gospel.
Then, on the morning of November 21, 2002, as Bonnie opened up the prenatal
clinic where she served as a nurse’s aide, an unidentified gunman shot her
three times in the head.
“I was woken up by an hysterical phone call from a friend who said I needed
to rush to the clinic,” remembers Gary. “I ran to the clinic and up the
stairs where I saw two soldiers and a couple of friends. I looked into the
room and saw her legs before the soldiers pushed me into another room.” It
was there, lying on the floor in the room next to his dead wife, that Gary
says the Lord spoke very clearly to him. “He said, ‘Okay Gary, at this
moment you can go from anger to hatred or forgiveness to love. You have to
choose.’ My whole body was shaking and I said okay. I choose forgiveness.”
Throughout their ministry Gary and Bonnie refused to let fear dictate where
they would share God’s love. Four days before the murder, Greg Kernaghan
visited the couple. “The short time I spent with them was given to walking
the streets and visiting people. It seemed that every few hundred meters a
shopkeeper would rush out to greet them with kisses and hospitality. We
spent part of one evening in sidewalk cafes where, in retrospect, all of us
were easy targets. Yet Gary and Bonnie were focused not on their own
security, but on embracing and helping others.”
The months since Bonnie’s death have been a whirlwind for Gary. Global media
attention and an outpouring of support from the Christian community have
given Gary, a gifted speaker, many opportunities to share Bonnie’s story. He
returned to the MBI campus in December to address current students in
chapel. The students’ response to Gary’s message of surrender to God’s will
was overwhelming; they flooded the aisles, kneeling in prayer as a musician
led the group in singing the song “Surrender.” Groups worldwide have
responded in similar ways to the powerful testimony of Bonnie Witherall’s
life. “I think that many are going to respond by going into all the world
(to share the gospel) because of the commitment of this beautiful girl,”
said Gary.
But in the midst of the public appearances, it’s easy to forget that a very
private tragedy occurred–a young husband lost his young wife, with whom he
was very much in love. “There’s no 10-step process for dealing with your
wife’s murder,” he says patiently to questions about “how he’s doing.” “I
just take the days as they come. Some are good. Some are bad.”
Two days after the murder, Gary wrote this about his decision to forgive his
wife’s killer: “This is a forgiveness that seems to cost everything that I
am, but I recognize God’s forgiveness of sin in my life. It was His blood
that was poured out for me.”
And today, Gary still echoes those words. “It’s a privilege to die for
Christ. And I don’t say that easily. It costs a lot. You can only do it
once.”
But would Bonnie also have forgiven the killers? “Based on the way she lived
her life, I have to say ‘yes.’ She would forgive her killer,” says Gary. “We
lived for each moment. We just wanted to put our arms around people and say
‘Hey, you know what? ThereÕs hope.’”
For that, Gary says, he is truly willing to surrender all.
Reprinted from the September 2003 issue of TODAY IN THE WORD
Moody Bible Institute, Stewardship Department,
820 N. LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60610
All material is copyrighted by Moody Bible Institute
and its contributors.
Published by Moody Bible
Institute.