In a matter of days, the plans for a lifetime took a stunning turn for Southern Baptist missionaries Jim and Elaine Lay.
A disheveled appearance, a shuffling gait and an inability to remember the much-traveled route home were signs that something was seriously wrong for Jim Lay. By the end of the week, Jim was in a Nairobi hospital and diagnosed with a brain tumor so pervasive it could be seen in scans from across the room.
As Africa’s fourth largest city, “Nairobi has reliable health care,” said Jim’s wife, Elaine, a former oncology nurse at Princeton Baptist Medical Center (BMC), “but it’s limited in scope. It’s certainly not on par with first-world countries when brain surgery is needed.”
While getting her husband admitted to the hospital immediately, Elaine was on the phone to make arrangements for the children Josh, 14; Anna, 13; and Luke, 11. There were numerous calls to the International Mission Board (IMB) about transportation, family and friends, especially medical colleagues from her days at Princeton in Birmingham. “The support from the mission board was wonderful,” said Elaine. But Jim’s condition was deteriorating so quickly that on Sunday they didn’t know if he would make it to the flight out on Tuesday.
The plans the two had made when they met and married at seminary may have been shaken as Jim lay in a hospital bed; but not their faith. “My God is still my God,” said Jim, when Elaine spoke of his request that she read to him from the book of Daniel of the faith of three men tested in a fiery furnace.
As word of Jim’s illness spread across the global missionary network, people worldwide were praying on his behalf. As happened in so many of the challenges that they would face, a prayerful response told of an available midnight flight in a few short hours to The American Hospital in Paris.
Quick exit
“I never went back to our apartment after we left for a doctor’s appointment and tests,” said Elaine. After two years in a coastal fishing village in Tanzania and almost two in urban Nairobi, the missionary couple left Africa with basically the clothes on their back and a quickly packed bag containing jeans, a sweatshirt and a sweater.
Soon after their arrival in Paris, connections were made for travel to Birmingham. Within days, Jim was undergoing major surgery at Princeton BMC.
“After we flew out, our friends and fellow missionaries took care of the children,” she said. Later, fellow missionary Tim Tiddenberg escorted them to the United States.
“People took care of everything,” said Elaine, a Birmingham native who had been commissioned as a missionary at Lakeside Baptist Church, Birmingham.
It was Lakeside that stepped in and provided a home for the Lays. The brick, split-level house, where Elaine had once attended Sunday School, is now used by missionaries on stateside assignments. But it was already reserved when the Lays ended up in Birmingham.
However, there was a sudden cancellation, said Ken Maynard, Lakeside’s minister of administration and senior adults, who has helped to organize resources for the family. “God opened doors so our missionary house was available for the Lay family. You can see God working in all of this.”
A similar house for missionaries was made available by Bessemer Baptist Association to Jim’s parents who traveled from Tulsa and later for friends who visit.
God’s provision
Friends in Nairobi shipped a few things from their apartment, but the needs were great for a family of five. The children arrived just a week before school began this fall. Quickly the congregation from Lakeside and other area churches helped to re-establish the family.
“The church provided a new laptop. One member provided a car … The cabinets were full of food and members shared fresh vegetables. One couple still brings fruit and veggies about every other week,” Elaine said.
In the face of such kindness, Jim, a self-described and well-traveled Army brat, said he now claims Alabama as home. With surgery and radiation therapy completed, Jim is continuing with four more months of chemotherapy. Yet even as he and Elaine struggle with his illness, they haven’t given up their mission to share God’s message.
“As missionaries, the mind-set, the burning desire, the willingness is still there. We don’t know how things will unfold; the prognosis is poor. Or if we do get a miracle of healing, how long it will be before we go back to the field. It’s not easy to be in a situation where you just sit and wait … but God is teaching me,” said Elaine. “I’m beginning to understand in personal ways Scripture I have memorized over the years, such as ‘peace that passes all understanding.’”
Since their arrival in late July, it’s been a tumultuous time. Luke plans to be back in the Boy Scouts soon, Josh plays on the football team and Anna is making new friends.
Life for the Lays changed suddenly, but their faith is steadfast. God is providing through so many avenues, Elaine noted. “I want everyone to know how much we appreciate their support. We left with nothing and everything was given.”
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