It has been nearly two years since her husband was slain protecting her and their unborn baby, but Hedwig Lee continues to show how God’s grace, the love of a child and the support of friends and family can carry you through the most painful times.Hedwig, and her husband, Bermudian, Colin Lee, were working in Africa with International Aid Services, where they both had felt the Lord had called them. They were travelling in Southern Sudan on Saturday, November 5, 2005 in the mid-afternoon when their vehicle was ambushed.

Mr. Lee sustained shots to his chest and throat, and died several hours later due to the severity of those wounds in hospital later that night. Colin was 57.

Miraculously, Hedwig, who was three months pregnant, escaped unharmed. The pair met in England while studying at the Ellel Ministry Training School for evangelism, healing and deliverance.

“Colin always said, ‘God has called me to be your protector’,” Hedwig reminisced. “He died for Jesus. He died for a cause. He knew from the first time he came to Africa. He knew, ‘This is what I was born for’.”

As tears came to her eyes, Hedwig recalled the day when she lost the love of her life who was doing exactly what he always promised her — protecting her.

“[The sadness] comes in waves. I had a very deep grieving time when Shekinah was in my womb. Then, we had a very happy year after Shekinah was born.”

Shekinah is now 14 months old and is a beautiful, happy little girl, who is immediately drawn to any man that resembles her father, whom she knows thanks to a wall full of photos in her and Hedwig’s home in Filadelfia, Paraguay, Hedwig’s hometown. Shekinah’s first word was daddy.

After delivering Shekinah here in Bermuda, only six months after Colin’s death, the mother and daughter returned to Paraguay.

“In Paraguay, God gave me a home,” Hedwig said. “The village of my parents gave me a home free as long as I wanted.”

Set in the middle of fields of flowers, it has offered Hedwig the opportunity to heal.

“It was my first year home after almost 15 years in the ministry,” she said.

Her family, of course, were delighted to have her and Shekinah so close to them. However, after a year, it was time to return to Bermuda to see Colin’s family.

“I guess I was afraid [to come back to Bermuda],” she said. “For me, it was like coming back to an empty island because the only one I ever wanted here was Colin.”

Fortunately, Colin’s family and friends have warmly embraced her, allowing her to have a wonderful time back on the Island over the last month.

When she looks back over the last nearly two years, Hedwig says she has learned much about pain, suffering and depending on God, and how they are all intertwined.

“Unknowingly to us, we are wearing masks. We are representing something or someone which we were not created to be.

“Pain unmasks us. Pain brings us to our own zero-level and then we can come closer to God because we have nothing to pretend. Then, it dissolves into love. He [God] has show me His love in so many ways.”

Hedwig will be sharing her testimony and her continuing burden for missions tomorrow at a special meeting to be held at Evening Light Pentecostal Church on Parson’s Road, Pembroke. The meeting begins at 4 p.m.

Tragedy brought me closer to God