Frank and Rachel Roberts

Frank Roberts* was recovering from a heart attack in the last days of his life, when the family received a call from a man they knew during their days in the Middle East. He wanted to visit. What could the man possibly want?

Frank Roberts* was recovering from a heart attack in the last days of his life, when the family received a call from a man they knew during their days in the Middle East. He wanted to visit. What could the man possibly want?

A board-certified surgeon who graduated from Johns Hopkins University, Frank Roberts* dedicated his life to serving the people of the Middle East. His wife Rachel* was a prolific writer and artist, who detailed her experiences in the Middle East in ways that resonated with Southern Baptists. When the couple left the mission field in 1975, Rachel carried with her the manuscript of her first novel. She went on to write six historical novels and one biography before her death in 2010.

The Roberts family served in a volatile region of the world and faced challenges that would cause even the most seasoned missionaries to fear. During a war, Frank and another doctor chose to stay in an area under attack to keep a hospital open while other missionaries and their children evacuated.

Frank and Rachel’s enduring legacy among Middle Eastern peoples is recounted in a story from their son that happened during the last days of Frank’s life on earth. Frank was recovering from a heart attack while struggling through the later stages of Parkinson’s Disease. A man who knew Frank from his years in the Middle East asked to visit. Entering his room, the man sat down next to Frank and quietly thanked him for coming to his people, for serving them and caring for them as no one else could. He prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing.

On the way out he stopped by the nurses’ station. “Do you know who you have in there?” the man said. “He is a highly skilled doctor who graduated from one of the top medical schools in the United States. … He could have taken any job he wanted, earned much money, had houses, yachts, and honor here in his country. But he came to my people … a broken and hopeless people who could not pay him, who could not give back to him what he gave them, a people that the world had given up on — he came, served, blessed and brought his family and children to live among us and love us with the love of God. This man is one of God’s saints.”

*Name(s) changed for security

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