Serving When It’s Hard

By Melody Dietrich

The Dietrich family serve as missionaries in Chad, the fifth-largest country in Africa. There are five people in their family: Mom, Melody; Dad, Jonathan; and three children,  Gideon, 11, Liliana, 9, and Eliora, 5. Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich are teaching their children to reach out to the world around them—to personally serve others. This story is about when their family was given the opportunity to serve—all five of them.

One day an old man named Andre lost one of his legs because of uncontrolled infection. Several years ago this man helped with the family's missionary work by translating for them. He knew the local language quite well and was more educated than many of the people where the Dietrichs lived. Mr. Dietrich made friends with him and appreciated his help. 

Unfortunately, something happened that they didn’t fully understand, except that the devil was trying to create trouble. And although they had just been trying to help, Andre did something very unkind to them. The Dietrichs forgave him, and through the years Mr. Dietrich treated Andre kindly. For example, if he met Andre on the road, he would greet him kindly. Mr. Dietrich wanted Andre to know he still cared about him.

Recently Andre developed a terrible infection that spread up his leg. He had to have his leg surgically removed to save his life. After this unfortunate event, Mr. Dietrich went to visit him at his home. Mr. Dietrich wanted him to know that the family was not mad at him. They cared about him. Andre told Mr. Dietrich that it was very difficult to get around with only one leg. He had a walker, but the ground was so uneven and the walker so unbending that he often fell.

Without telling Andre, Mr. Dietrich and a man named Beni decided to surprise Andre. Beni lives near the Dietrichs and loves to help people. Beni made a tricycle for handicapped people. It has a seat with three wheels that is pushed forward using your hands instead of your feet. The pedals for the tricycle are up high for the hands (see the picture on page 1).

When everything was ready, Beni, Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich, and their children delivered the surprise to Andre. The children were excited because they could drive the tricycle all the way to Andre's house! They were happy to help their parents serve. One way to help others is to find ways to encourage them. The Dietrich children were helping their parents serve. Gideon and Liliana took turns trying to steer and pedal with their hands. Eliora enjoyed just riding.

Andre was so surprised when the family arrived with Beni. He almost cried when he saw the tricycle. After visiting with Andre, everyone prayed together. When they finished, Andre surprised them when he started praying. They could tell how thankful he was. His prayer was a prayer of thanksgiving for this great blessing that would allow him to move about much easier. Andre was surprised the Dietrich family would do such a nice thing for him even though he had not been nice to them. They were happy to serve! God says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27).

The Dietrich family lives full-time in Chad, Africa, where they founded Desert Tree Ministry in 2013. This story is adapted from their online newsletter: deserttreeministry.org/newsletter_20241106_kids-in-ministry.html.