IMB worker dies from bus mishap injuries

IMB

Linda Lipscomb, here with her husband J.P., died Feb. 14 from injuries sustained weeks prior in a bus accident. Prior to going to Thailand the couple had served a number of years in the Philippines.

BANGKOK, Thailand (BP) — Linda Lipscomb, an International Mission Board worker known for her ability to bridge cultural divides, died Feb. 14 in Bangkok, Thailand, from complications following a bus accident. She was 63.

The former nurse and her husband J.P. Lipscomb were spending their retirement years serving God overseas.

Living forgiveness

Four weeks before her death, in another part of Asia, Linda stood just inside the door of a bus, preparing to step off and walk to a coffee shop. Without warning, the brakes released and the bus rolled forward, throwing the 115-pound, 4-foot-11-inch woman to the ground. The fall broke her left femur and wrist.

Hours later in a clinic, the red-faced bus driver hunched over in his seat and squeezed his hands as he and a bus company representative waited to see her.

“He needs to lose his job,” the supervisor said to the Lipscombs. “How much money does he need to pay?”

“Nothing. We forgive you,” the Lipscombs said. “We forgive you because God forgave us. Please do not take his job away from him.”

In tears, the driver could not believe they did not want revenge. The police report noted: “Victim forgave bus driver.”

Linda was medically evacuated to Bangkok the day after the accident. During the next four weeks complications set in and she took a turn for the worse.

“Linda knew she was dying,” J.P. said. “We never had any respect for death. Death is given too much respect. ... The only way you can get to heaven is to die.”

Linda accepted Christ as her Savior at 13. Five years later, she met J.P. at a drive-in. Four weeks later, they were married.

God had called Linda to missions at 16, but she did not go overseas full time until decades later.

The Lipscombs were retirement age and members of James Memorial Baptist Church in Gadsden, Ala., when they responded to a call to serve overseas. They first did medical work in the Philippines, sharing food and water with people while telling them about Jesus.

Over four years, they saw more than 300 Filipinos accept Christ, 39 churches planted, and more than 40 pastors trained.

Friends said it was fitting that Linda died on Valentine’s Day. From her eyes that showed how much she cared to the effort she made to befriend local shopkeepers, she embodied love.

“Her idea was not to sit on the front porch,” McClendon said. “I think many in retirement think, ‘Now it’s my time.’ I don’t think it was about that for her. All of her time would be His, to give it to His service. That is how she lived.”