Tragedy in the missionary world

This week there's been a tragedy all over my FB feed. As I know you might not be FB friends with anyone else in Japan or indeed on FB at all, I want to mention it here. A family of five, who were on their way to preparation for coming to Japan as missionaries, were killed in a car crash in the US (see a summary of the story here).

I did not know them, nor were they coming to serve in our mission or near us, however the loss of any missionary coming to this unreached land is a tragedy that touches all of us concerned about Japan. We ask the same question as when a missionary has to leave the field early or who dies young, like our colleague who we lost to cancer last year. Why? It makes no sense from our perspective. Why, when it is a land that doesn't attract many missionaries, is a whole family headed this way struck down?

I was reluctant to engage in this story as it popped up on many people's feeds. Somehow holding myself separate from the pain of yet more deaths seemed better? However today I saw a link that holds the text of the prayer given by John Piper at the funeral this morning. I don't know why this famous man was at the funeral, however his prayer, which contains much that echoes the honest Psalms of the Bible, is beautiful and well worth a few moments of your time to read, especially if you've ever experienced grief and that gut wrenching "Why?".