Shirley Jipping Sneller was welcomed into the presence of our Lord earlier this month, congestive heart failure claiming her life here on earth.

My friendship with Shirley – and Karen’s and Sheri’s – goes back over 50 years. It was one of those friendships that although you don’t often connect (we lived in four different states), when you do, you pick up where you left off. And you are always blessed!

Sheri, Karen, and I all knew Shirley in the context of our involvement with The Navigators, a Christian ministry on campus, during our years at Hope College.

Sheri knew Shirley the longest, having grown up in the same town.  In Sheri’s words …

“Shirley and I grew up in the same small town, Hamilton, Michigan. Although we attended different high schools, we went to the same church.
Shirley and I both got involved with The Navigators during our college years. Shirley was in the nursing program at Hope College.
She was such a joy to be around.
She loved to laugh and her heart showed love toward others.
Her commitment to minister Christ’s love to international students was always inspiring!”

 

Karen’s friendship with Shirley: “I was introduced to Jesus at a Youth for Christ meeting during my sophomore year at Hope College. The stories I knew about Jesus finally made sense. That was a very significant night as it was also the night I met Shirley.

Shirley and I became friends. She took me with her to a chapel serving the migrant community on Sunday mornings. Maybe it was there that God planted the seed in both our hearts for international ministry.

I asked for help with my devotional life, and Shirley taught me to ask a few simple questions as I read the scriptures that caused them to come alive for me. Shirley taught me how to share my faith story with others. It was through Shirley’s life that a vision was birthed in my heart of reaching others for Jesus.

After Shirley married, she and her husband came on staff with The Navigators ministering to international students. After I married, for 13 years, my husband pastored a church in a town in Iowa with a large Japanese population. During our time there I taught English classes  for the Japanese ladies using the Bible.

As I write these words, I can see her smile and almost hear her laugh.

I thank God for meeting Shirley and for her influence on my life.”

 

Shirley and me. I so concur with both Sheri and Karen. As my mind swirls with memories of my friendship with Shirley, I remember the sound of her voice, I almost see her smile, and I hear her laugh.

Hamilton is a brief 10 miles from Holland, Michigan, the home of Hope College. I loved when Shirley invited us out to her parent’s home in the country. As a young Christian, I watched her family closely and always left with new ideas and  new encouragement. Her mom practiced hospitality well and as students we benefited.

The gift of hospitality was passed down to Shirley. She and her husband Dave purposed to invite others into their home for dinner weekly. Bill and I picked up on that habit as well. But it’s been lagging the last few years. Remembering the hospitality I experienced at her parent’s home and learning how Shirley and Dave made hospitality a priority in their marriage has lit the fire under me to re-start that practice in our home.

Just a few years ago, Shirley and I sat across from each other in a coffee shop  wondering out loud why we had been invited to the Navigator senior staff meeting. Really were we that old? We were. The small table against the wall allowed our noses to almost touch as she leaned forward with her first question.

“Sue, how is it having daughter-in-laws?” No small talk. Lets jump into the deep end right away. Bill and I have two delightful daughter-in-laws. I don’t remember the specific circumstance of that moment, but a few tears escaped my eyes.

Shirley was living out her heart for ministry. She was reaching out to me in my real life and she loved me well that day. I breathed more easily and our conversation left me not only encouraged but with a conviction to be more bold with the women God allows me to sit across tables from, sipping coffee, and talking about real life. I will forever remember Shirley’s question.

“Well done, good and faithful servant.
Enter into the joy of your master.”
Matthew 25:21

I’m sure Shirley heard those words as she stepped into heaven earlier this month.

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, April 2022