The Case for a Creator - Lee Strobel [157]
Based on evidence and reasoning independent of the Bible, they were able to answer the first of the three questions that formed the basis of their investigation: “Is there a God who created the universe?” They surprised themselves with their verdict: yes, a personal Creator-God does exist.
With this established, they began exploring their next two broad questions: “Did God reveal himself to humankind through the Bible or other sacred scriptures? And is Jesus the Son of God—deity united with humanity—and can he help us as he claimed?”
The investigation continued into those topics. One day, while Viggo was working at the hospital, he formulated what he thought was a powerful argument against Christianity. “I was really proud of it,” he told me, reliving the scene as if it were last month. “I spent all day mentally honing it. I couldn’t wait to tell Joan!”
At the end of his shift, he walked the three blocks to their small apartment. “To this day I remember the thought that struck me as Joan opened the door and gave me a kiss—what a neat little pregnant wife I’ve got.”
He walked in and closed the door. Standing in the entryway, he explained his new objection to Christianity. Finally, he asked, “What do you think?”
“There was silence for a moment,” he recalled. “Then Joan looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes and said, ‘But, Vic, haven’t you, after all our studies, really come to believe Christ is the Son of God?’
“There was something about the way she said it and the way she looked at me that almost instantaneously knocked down all the barriers remaining in my mind,” he said. “The evidence was no longer obstructed. All we had learned came together into a wonderful, magnificent, glowing, fabulous picture of Jesus.
“I hesitated, and then I said, ‘Yes, I really do. I know it’s true. I do believe!’ I hadn’t believed up until that point—but with the barriers torn down, I knew she was right. We moved into the living room and sat down on the couch. I said, ‘So what about you?’
“She said, “I settled the matter several days ago, but I was afraid to tell you. All the things we studied and learned finally convinced me about the Bible, about Christ, and about my need—our need—for him. A few days ago, I knew I was completely convinced.’ She had already prayed to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life. And that started the biggest adventure of our lives!”
Wanting to maximize the impact they would have, Viggo and Joan prayed a bold prayer in which they asked God to send them to a place devoid of both Christians and medical care. He obliged—and they ended up spending thirty-three years in the poverty-wracked nation of Bangladesh.
There, they founded Memorial Christian Hospital as a center of medical care and spiritual light, where countless people have found healing and hope. They and their colleagues helped establish 120 churches. They were warmly embraced by the people and the government of Bangladesh—in fact, Viggo was honored with Visa #001 in gratitude for his contributions to the country.
“It must have been difficult to live in an underdeveloped nation like that,” I said.
“Actually,” he told me with a smile, “it was the greatest adventure we could ever have. When you’re in a hard place, when you’re over your head again and again, when you’re sinking and beyond yourself and praying your heart out—then you see God reach out, and touch your life, and resolve the situation beyond anything you could have ever hoped.”
His eyes sparkled. “That’s living it up!” he declared. “There’s nothing that can match that. We got to experience that again and again and again. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world. In my opinion, finding the purpose for which God made you—whatever it may be—and then fully pursuing it is simply the very best way to live.”
Viggo eventually wrote three books about his