Mission work was Chandra’s second career. She was a retired teacher who initially thought, “They wouldn’t want a 60-year-old retired teacher on the mission field.” A call to the mission team in Buenos Aries, Argentina, however, revealed that they needed someone to prepare missionary children for school in the States. Their family would soon be completing its ten-year commitment and returning home.

Chandra left with her daughter, Marilyn, and spent almost all of the last decade of her life working with the Argentine people. She told me those years were some of the happiest of her life. She loved the Argentines and they loved her.

The Spanish language fascinated Chandra. She continued her Spanish studies the entire time she was in Argentina. Many Argentines wanted to learn English, so Chandra taught them using the Bible with a method much like the “Let’s Start Talking” system used today. She translated church songs, articles, and even some books into Spanish.

Chandra reached out to the young people in Argentina. Along with her daughter, she helped in church camps. She encouraged youths with love and hospitality. She and Marilyn opened their home to young people, and many of them stayed there when it was too late to go home on public transportation.

Chandra loved God’s creation. Painting was one of her joys. She shared her artistic eye for color with me. Several times I traveled with Chandra and Marilyn to their ranch in New Mexico. Traveling with Chandra was an adventure. She knew the names of all the wildflowers, the birds, the trees, and the animals. She noticed the different shades of green in the landscape; clouds were not only white ­ they could have a touch of purple, pink, blue, or red. She embroidered and quilted bird quilts for all her grandchildren and made Marilyn a quilt with Argentine birds. A friend of Chandra’s told me she used to sow bluebonnet seeds along the sides of the highway. Her yard in Robert Lee, Texas, was full of flowers, unique rocks, and pieces of wood.

Chandra and Marilyn came back to Texas so that Marilyn could finish a Master’s degree. Their plan was to return to Argentina. I remember Chandra telling me that she didn’t like to sing “Lord, Come Quickly.” She said, “I’m not ready for the Lord to come quickly; there are too many things that I have yet to do.” About a year after their return God called Chandra home at the age of seventy.

I read somewhere that “God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the called.” That’s what he did for Chandra. This talented retired teacher sowed many seeds, both in the ground and in the hearts of people. Only God knows about the harvest.

I won’t be surprised if the streets of heaven are lined with bluebonnets. Chandra has been there a while.