Marilean “Jentje” Rosario

Today is your day. And even though you are not here anymore, I would still love to celebrate it. Celebrate your life. Your light. Your love. Your example.

“Tashmynesss!”

I can still clearly hear how you call my name. Holding on a millisecond longer on those final ss’. With your slightly raspy, full of love, huggably warm and brightly joyful voice. I imagined hearing it a couple of times this summer. I would be at your house and wait for you to call me from the hallway. For you to welcome me. And for me to loudly call out your name back to you. Why do we like to be so loud, huh?

I’ve been postponing writing this piece to you. It has been intense. Time just keeps running. And I let it. It’s been hard processing you not being here anymore. I couldn’t even let the information in when I heard about your last doctor’s visit. I refused to believe that there was nothing else to do. And I refused to believe even more that you had believed, even for just the slightest second. Between that news and the phone call I received, hearing you are not here anymore, was just one long hold of breath. I remember the morning before receiving the call; I somehow woke up at peace. Peace about you. I had mentally placed you in God’s hands. Trusting Him, that He is still sovereign. That He will remove your suffering, in whatever way He chooses. So when they called, my heart was at peace, but everything else still froze. Frozenly falling apart. Painfully calculating and concluding that there is no way for me to personally be at your final farewell. Thank God for the internet and live streams, but of course, it was not the same. And I beat myself up for it. But God is so good that He sent me your favourite type of angels to comfort me. Children. So many children. In the middle of rural Guinea-Bissau, where we don’t speak the same language, we understood two universal ones. The language of Mourning, and the language of Love. Totally nearly 50 children or more, no joke, came to me the first few days after receiving that call. Sitting with me in silence, gifting me mangoes and bringing both tears to my eyes and a smile on my face. I don’t know how it works when we go to heaven, but if it were possible to request things from God, I’m pretty sure you would have requested this for me. If so, then thank you. And I love you.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11 about all the heroes of faith. Lovingly and surely, I add you to this list. To me, and I know to so many more- heck, I’m sure to all that have crossed your path- you are a Hero of Faith. Because it is by faith that you lived out every day fully. By faith you raised your beautiful two children to be beautiful in and out. By faith you loved your parents, your brother, your every family member and friend deeply and warmly. By faith you led mothers and fathers to believe and work on better parenthood days and stronger families. By faith you dreamed and built towards better futures for children and children living out their purposes. By faith you exemplified being a missionary for our own people and our own island. By faith you battled breast cancer as if you were already healed from it. By faith you allowed everyone who met you to see the reflection of Christ. By faith you served, loved, gave, shared, brought, and lived wholeheartedly and faithfully, believing that one day you will meet Christ face to face. And I’m excited to one day hear from you how it was.

What great example you are. You have been. A true Hero of Faith.

Lastly, not in the Old Testament or the New Testament, but now in the Current Testament, I invite everyone to read some of my favourite verses in The Book of Jentje.

“Pidi Dios ‘Sabiduria i Amor’ pa bo por pensa, papia i aktua manera Hesus. Kiko Hesus lo a pensa, bisa i hasi den e situashon aki?” // “Ask God for ‘Wisdom and Love’ so that you can think, speak and act like Jesus. What would Jesus think, say, and do in this situation?”

“Tene Fe, konfia, kere sin mira, ni maske kiko ku pasa. Ku Dios ke, Dios por i Dios lo hasié.” // “Have faith, trust, and believe without seeing, no matter what happens. If God wills, then He can, and will do it.”

“Sea semper agradesido, positivo, alegre i yená ku e amor di Dios. Ora bo ta yená ku tur esaki bo por kompartí i kontagiá bo próhimo ku e vibra di Dios pa e tambe hasi mesun kos.” // “Always be grateful, positive, happy and full of God’s love. When you are filled with this, then you can be contagious and share God’s vibration with the people around you so that He can do the same with them.”

“Ban respetá otro mas, ban stimá otro mas, ban pordoná otro, ban kuida otro mas i di kurason.” // “Let’s respect one another more, let’s love more, let’s forgive one another, let’s take care of each other more and from the heart.”

“Danki, nos tremendo Dios, ku nos a haña otro oportunidat pa selebrá nasementu di nos ‘Rolemodel’ Hesus ku a bin pa mustra nos kon nos mester biba.” // “Thank You, our amazing God, that we got another opportunity to celebrate our Rolemodel Jesus Christ, Who came to show us how to live.”

“Gradisí i selebrá otro aña mas, pero esaki… mas serka di Dios.” // “Be grateful for and celebrate a new year, but this one… a bit closer to God.”

Danki Jentje, pa bo ehempel; bo kurason, bo bida, bo fe, i tur bo bunita palabranan. Pa semper lo bo ta mi fotomodel favorito.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭38‬ [‭HCSB] — “The world was not worthy of them. …”

‭‭Hebreonan‬ ‭11‬:‭38‬ — “Nan tabata muchu bon pa e mundu akí! …”

Love you very much mi prima stimá,
Tashmynesss