Jack & Suzy Krumroy
Missionaries to PanamaHow in the world did this happen? (Jack’s story)
The dudes of the village!!!!
Just want to give a little background on how Suzy and I met and how this whole mission came about. Before I met Suzy, I had my life all planned out. I had just completed two years of study at the community college and was set to attend a local university for a degree in Psychology. I was very driven. I had a 4.0 GPA, and had earned a large scholarship which would pay for my next two years in full. My idea of a good life meant making a lot of money, living in a big house, driving a nice car and maybe even having a wife and family later on. Little did I know that God had a bigger plan.
Suzy’s adopted brother (the one who led me to Christ) hooked us up in the Spring of 2002 on a blind date to a demolition derby (awesome, isn’t it?!) It was there that I realized that she was very different from all the other girls I had dated. She was very independent, and knew what she wanted to do with her life, which, quite frankly, didn’t interest me in the least. At that time, I didn’t fully understand the whole concept of world missions. I always thought that these tribes had survived for thousands of years without our help, who are we to tell them how to live. Nonetheless, we had a great time together and got quite serious. Then she had to leave on a mission trip. She was gone for over two months, and during that time, through much prayer and thought I realized she was the one I was to marry, even though I hadn’t a clue how to work out the whole missionary thing. I honestly don’t know how, but she did agree to marry me and we were engaged in September of 2002. It seems that she just had faith in God that He would change my heart and work this whole thing out. During that time, I knew I had a dilemma. Was I supposed to take my scholarship to the university and attend in the next few weeks, or at least try out being a missionary. It was the single hardest decision I had ever made in my entire life, but knew what I had to do. It felt so surreal listening to the admissions office ask me several times if I was sure I wanted to quit the program, but deep down I just knew it was the right thing.
Now my journey didn’t end there, and we didn’t move away to Panama and live happily ever after. God knew HOW he wanted me to serve, but I didn’t. I had always loved flying, and I decided without much in the way of prayer, that I would be a missionary pilot, and soon we moved to Oklahoma for training. Though the training went well, God knew that there was something more that he needed me to do, and being a pilot just wasn’t a priority. As for me, it was all about the flying. Suzy could do the hard stuff like talking to people and evangelizing, I would just fly. Seemed like a great plan to me. But not to God, and in the end, we had to move back home to Michigan where my heart could be refined and re-shaped. So I ended up taking on a job that I absolutely despised, and I sort of got depressed. Why, after all this hard work, did it seem as though God was closing the door? I got my answer a few years later when I suddenly found myself on a plane headed for Panama with Suzy to visit her family in the jungle. It took a lot of convincing on Suzy’s part to get me to go with her, but I decided to give it a try. It was just Suzy, myself and God. I remember lying awake one night in the jungle and it was so dark I couldn’t even see my hand when I held it in front of my face. I was swatting at mosquitoes, convinced I was going to contract malaria or some other deadly tropical disease. It was so dark and uncomfortably hot, that I really just wanted to go home. Then suddenly, I heard the sweet voice of a little girl singing Jesus Loves Me in Spanish. Though I could see absolutely nothing, hearing her sing this song calmed me down and as I focused on the sound of her voice, I finally fell asleep. As I slept, I had a vision which I believe was from God. It was a vision of all the Kunas in the jungle singing Jesus Loves Me, and I could hear a small voice say that one day all the Kunas will be singing this song and they will know the truth. Then I heard the voice say that time is running short, and we should not get caught up in fleshly desires, but just get to work and trust that guidance would come exactly when it was needed. It was at that point when I realized that my heart had not been in the right place. I did not need to fly, nor did I need a degree or certificate to be of use, just willing and obedient to do whatever God wanted. He had a plan all along, but I let my own selfish desires get in the way when all he wanted was for me to lay everything down and be willing. But it sure took a lot to get me to that point. I knew that we had a responsibility to reach these people, and I felt at peace. This was the beginning of the greatest adventure of my life. And I would never look back. Has it all been easy? Not exactly, but I’ve kept this vision in my heart ever since, and it is the one thing that keeps me on track when things get difficult. Now if I had only listened in the first place……
Jack & Suzy
You paint such a vivid picture with your writings. Keep shining for Him!!! And don’t ever forget – You are anointed to minister to the Kunas on a level that the world is unfamiliar with all for the glory of God!!!