Jeanna Combs, Part 2

[00:00:04] Welcome to Women Worth Knowing, the radio program and podcast hosted by Cheryl Brodersen and Robin Jones Gunn. We know from scripture that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, and He has authored

[00:00:17] some amazing stories in many lives of Christian women that Cheryl and I love to discover. These women are either missionaries, musicians, reformers, authors, wives, mothers, and we love learning from the examples that they give us. That's right, and today is no exception.

[00:00:36] We have Gina Coombs, who I have known since she was a young girl, and if you didn't listen to the first session, part one, please do because you will love it. Because I think it's so exciting how the Lord grabbed Gina's heart as a young teenager.

[00:00:54] She had been in church. She had been a church-going girl. She comes from a mother who was a single mom, supporting Gina and her three younger brothers. Gina had to be a mom in that household too. I know that.

[00:01:12] And just how the church was just so instrumental in helping her to be raised and to not feel the vacuum of no father because the church was that to her, which I find just fascinating.

[00:01:26] And then she went to Yugoslavia as a young girl on a missions trip, went back as a full-time missionary, which that is absolutely crazy. And that's kind of how we ended. I mean, she had lived with this family that she didn't know for six months, got to know

[00:01:41] them really well, and now you're in a house all by yourself, and you said you would tell us at least one story. Oh, but wait, Cheryl, 18 years old. Eighteen years old, that's right. And you're in your own house in Yugoslavia. Yes. Yes.

[00:01:56] So one thing I was very concerned about was because I was single, I was young. Blonde. I'm living in my, yeah, living in a foreign country. I was afraid that maybe something bad would happen to me on my way home.

[00:02:13] And one night as I was coming home from church, someone attacked me. And I screamed out, Mom! And I don't know why I screamed out Mom and not Jesus, but I think I was missing my mom at that time, and I was scared.

[00:02:36] And this guy wrestled me on the ground, and all of a sudden he stopped, and he got up and he left. And I was just kind of traumatized. I ran in the house and locked my door, and I cried out to Jesus and said, I'm so sorry

[00:02:56] I didn't call out your name, Jesus. But thank you for protecting me. And it was reassuring to me that God had his hand on my life. And perhaps you called out Mom.

[00:03:13] The Lord did that as a subterfuge, so he thought your mom was in the house and would come running out. You know, God has his ways. And I just, I knew that his hand was upon my life, you know, that he would protect me.

[00:03:31] And it was like God said that was enough, you know, let her go. And yeah, he just, he continued to keep me safe. I never had anything so traumatic happen after that. But yeah, after Yugoslavia, I went back home after that year commitment, and I spent a

[00:03:51] couple more years in Vista working at the church. I helped out with the Christian school that they had, and was involved with the high school group and praying about going back on the mission field.

[00:04:07] My mom really wanted to have me around for a couple years until I turned 21. And during that time, I had to learn how to be a missionary in Vista. And my heart was really in Yugoslavia. I wanted to go back so bad.

[00:04:23] But God knew I needed to learn how to just be a missionary, right where I was at. And when I turned 21, I remember saying, Lord, I could live in Vista for the rest of my life. I see you working in people's lives. I see people getting saved.

[00:04:42] I'm growing in my faith, all those things, you know. And it was nice for me to be able to see that in my own life. But then also at that same time, one of the pastors came to me and said, there's an opportunity

[00:04:56] for you to go to Hungary as a missionary. Would you be willing to go? And I knew it was the right time, and I went. And so that began a time in Hungary. Now where did you go in Hungary first?

[00:05:10] So I went to Estragom initially, but then just as I got there, they were starting a Bible study in Budapest. And so they asked me to move to Budapest. Now was that with Greg Opin? That was with Greg Opin was there, yes.

[00:05:26] And he was the one that was teaching the Bible study in Budapest. And they had Armando Garcia who was in Estragom. Now he's covering Chapel Fallbrook. Is that so fun? So now when you're in Hungary, now where did you live then? Is that when you moved in with?

[00:05:44] So there was another girl missionary, Janice Setter, and she was from Vista. We both went to Hungary together. And so we had committed to a year. I stayed longer. Just didn't feel like it was time for me to leave.

[00:06:03] And then I had the opportunity to go back home and took a break just for a couple months. I was really hoping I was going to meet my husband in California during that break. I had it planned out.

[00:06:19] And I remember getting back on the plane to return to Hungary, and I thought, Lord, here I am going back all alone. Not really alone because Jesus was my husband. But I was a bit disappointed.

[00:06:39] But little did I know that once I got back, he was going to bring my husband to me. Okay, tell us a little bit about that. So Lauren is from Hemet, California, 45 minutes away from where I grew up in Vista.

[00:06:57] And he was a new missionary that came over, and we met and liked each other and got to know each other and spent almost a year before we got married just getting to know each other.

[00:07:09] And that was an amazing thing because I didn't think I would meet my husband on the mission field. But God, I think, just wanted to show me that he was bigger. To meet somebody from California all the way over in Hungary.

[00:07:29] But then too, you realize that you have the same heart. And it's just such a God story. So did you get married in Vista? So we went back, got married in Vista, and then a week after we were married, we were back in Hungary. A week later? Yes.

[00:07:49] And then we both moved to Estorgo and lived there for about a year and a half. And then from there, we went to Austria. And lived in Austria for about a year and a half. And Austria is a training place.

[00:08:07] And at that point, did we have the Bible college? There was a Bible college there. So my husband committed to like an internship there. What year is this? This was 1988 and 89. Okay, interesting. Yeah. That was just new. And working with a lot of other missionaries.

[00:08:25] So we had the Bible school. We had probably 50 to 60 students. It was also a conference center. So we did jobs to help with conferences as well. It was a great season of our life. I didn't realize that you were... So what year did you get married? So 96. 96.

[00:08:54] Okay, so wait, you were in... 96, so 97, 98. 97, 98, right. And then after that... So our time in Austria, we knew we weren't going to stay there long term, but we began praying about where we would go next. We really loved Hungary. Didn't want to leave Hungary.

[00:09:14] And we thought we'd just live in Austria for a short time, return to Hungary. But as soon as we got out of Hungary, we realized that there were so many needs in other places, we couldn't go back to Hungary.

[00:09:29] And at the same time, one of the conferences during the summer, you met Dave and Nancy Sylvester, who are in York, England. And they had started this church in York, England. And their story is fantastic. Well, we've got to get Nancy on here. We haven't had her yet.

[00:09:49] We will. But they're just this really wonderful couple that God has used tremendously. And so he is just such a man of faith. And he was able to start a Bible college. So he started... We had started the Bible college down in London.

[00:10:07] Actually, Dave Shirley started it at our church Calvary Chapel, Westminster, London. And we had, I think, four or five students. I mean, a big college. And Dave said, can I take it over since you're leaving? We left in 2000. And so the college went up there.

[00:10:23] So now Dave needs a lot of help because he's got this college and he's got a facility. And so he was recruiting like crazy, he and Nancy. And they met you guys. We came to England just to take a break from Austria. To see some of our friends.

[00:10:42] We stayed with you. We went to a conference. We stayed with the Howards up in the north. We saw Dave and Nancy. When I first arrived in England for the first time, I thought, oh my goodness, I love this place.

[00:11:00] It would be a dream to live here and serve the Lord here. But God probably doesn't have that plan for my life. Why do we do that? The will of the Lord is so good, so much better.

[00:11:14] He knows it desires my heart, but he wouldn't give them to me, would he? Well, Gina loves tea. You know, to do teas, she loves to bake, all of it. So anyways, it took some time, but we realized that God was actually calling us to England.

[00:11:36] And we took that step and God just supported us with everything we needed to get there. And we worked with Dave and Nancy. And that was a great season. We initially started there and then from that first year and a half, we went out and

[00:11:56] went to a small town on the coast of England called Bridlington for 13 years. It's freezing cold, but it has got the most circuitous little cobblestone streets. I mean, that kind of hides some of the darkness.

[00:12:15] It is a little dangerous, but it is a really quaint little village on the water. So that's where you had your three children. So yes, our kids were born and raised in the UK. They love the UK. They feel very British, even though their parents are American.

[00:12:35] They identify as British. And it was a hard 13 years starting a church there, but it was beautiful at the same time. And it was a time of learning and growing. After that season, the Lord called us back to York for a couple years, for a few years.

[00:13:00] And we knew that that wasn't going to be long-term, but we knew that it was perfect for the time. And we were able to work with Dave and Nancy again. We understood them a little bit better because we had been, you know, my husband was pastoring

[00:13:14] in Bridlington and he knew what it was like to be a pastor. And he just... It makes such a difference. It's like when your daughters have children and finally, or daughters and sons have children, they're like, Oh, Mom, you actually were a good mom. Like, thank you.

[00:13:28] It's true. Same thing with ministry. Oh, you were a good pastor. So during that time, we just poured into the church. We also were involved with the Bible college, my husband more so. I was more involved with the church and with the ladies, with Sunday school.

[00:13:51] It was a time of praying about the future as well. We knew our kids who were attending school, they were going to be finished, two of them anyways. And we started praying about what God might have for us in the days to come because we

[00:14:08] knew York wasn't a long term. It was a big transition time in life, I mean, for your kids, but also the what's next for you with all that experience. It's almost like, you know too much, but you know too much to not use it, but you also

[00:14:30] can see where you fit. How did God show you what the next step was in the next place? Well, we had some open doors. We really were praying about 10 different places. Oh my goodness. That's quite a list. What are some of those places?

[00:14:48] It was all over the world. Of course, one of them was to come back to California to be around family. We were thinking about Hungary, of course, because we loved Hungary. We were thinking about the UK. Now, was this when your mom was ill? Was she ill yet?

[00:15:07] No, she wasn't at the time. And we just continued to pray and the Lord just closed doors. There were a lot of other areas. Which is sometimes the way He does it. And Cyprus wasn't even really on our list. It was...

[00:15:30] Cyprus the island, not the city in California. Cyprus the island off the coast of Egypt, like we said in part one. Yes. But the Lord just set things up. We went there for a conference and we met Tim and Darlene Maddox who were there.

[00:15:50] And we just... one step at a time. You know, you just go through life and the Lord just... You keep praying and praying and praying and the Lord just sets things up. And one by one, those other places kind of closed up and this opened up.

[00:16:05] Now, Tim and Darlene, who you went to work with, I think we should mention this. He's got an incredible testimony, but they were missionaries in Russia for years. And so they both speak Russian. And this is important as we get into this next part. So you meet them.

[00:16:27] They're a precious couple. You go to work with them. Yes. So, you know, before we even got there, we had this long list of impossibilities. How are we actually going to move from England to Cyprus? I know. From England. Well, one island to another. Island hop.

[00:16:48] For me, England was home. For my kids, it was home. We were comfortable, but we did have this urge to step out into something new, but not necessarily far into Cyprus. But the long list just made it seem like an impossibility.

[00:17:11] And then COVID hit and that just kind of added to it. So we were in lockdown, but we continued to pray and make plans. And one by one, everything on our list got checked off. And that was encouraging to see. One of my daughters stayed behind.

[00:17:33] She was 22, 21 at the time, and she wanted to just stay in the UK. And so she stayed behind. My middle daughter, Ashley, she went with us and Cayman also to Cyprus. And they were excited for this new venture. Especially probably the warmth.

[00:17:55] Did you know ahead of time what you would be focused on when you got there? Or you just knew that was where you needed to be next and figured out as you went along? We just took one step at a time.

[00:18:05] People were asking us what our plans were. We really didn't know. We didn't even know if we would get residency. You know, it was just a big step of faith all along and it wasn't clear. So as we took steps, I mean, we were there for a month.

[00:18:23] We got residency. Oh my goodness. That doesn't normally happen. And that day that we got residency was just, it was a shock for me because I didn't really think it was going to happen. And quite an affirmation, I would guess.

[00:18:38] It confirmed that this really is what God is doing with our family. And yeah, it was amazing. So one of the interesting things about Cyprus is there's very few Cypriots. So most of the people that you meet are usually Turkish, Scottish or Russian. Really? So it's...

[00:19:05] Aha, this is where the Russian comes in. Cyprus is definitely a Russian destination for vacations. Oh, interesting. And so when you're walking in along the beach, there's a little boardwalk. You will hear so many people speaking Russian and you're just like, oh, that's interesting.

[00:19:24] And so for Tim and Darlene, they had no idea when they moved there that there would be so many Russians. And so their church has quite a few Russians and quite a few English, which is your connection. So it used to be a British colony.

[00:19:41] It does have this British feel to it, but it also feels like you're in California. But also Hawaii. Yes. Because it's very tropical as well. Yeah, it's a very interesting place, but you meet people from all over the world.

[00:19:58] And as you know, Cheryl, you've been to our church. That's right. Very international. Very international. I love it. You have people from all over the world. It's just a very interesting place. For me, it's very special because I started in Hungary.

[00:20:14] God moved me to Austria, then the UK and then Cyprus. And here I can see a mixture of all these different cultures and people. I have a good friend that's Hungarian in the church. There's Americans, there's Germans, there's Swedish.

[00:20:38] Well, even your very early days in Yugoslavia and just all those cultural mixes. And to be so much more understanding than someone who had just come from the U.S. was trying to adapt and understand how everything's done so differently.

[00:20:53] I love how God does that in our lives, that He prepares us and we don't see it at the time and then we get to whatever He has for us and we look back and go, ah, that's why.

[00:21:05] That's why you allowed that or that's why you walked me through that. And when we're so ready to just let Him lead, then there's no roadblocks to it. We just keep, like I love how you're saying, it's just step of faith.

[00:21:20] We didn't know what we were going to do or if it would happen and every step of faith He met you there and He confirmed and led you. But how many different cultures too? I mean, Yugoslavia again was very backward when you went there.

[00:21:34] Hungary was a little bit more, but still I remember the greatest thing about Hungary when I was there is they had a Marriott Hotel and they said they've got a dessert bar for ten dollars. And we're like, we don't have ten dollars.

[00:21:45] I mean, I have four kids, but thank you very much. And the food is different in each of these. And then you go to England and it's enough where you can be like, oh, I can adjust to this. They speak my language. It's quaint.

[00:22:00] And then you have to go from there to Cyprus, which you would think because they've been an English colony, even though it's got some similarities, it's a very different lifestyle and very different food. Gina and I were talking about just even the marketing, right?

[00:22:15] Yeah, it took me a good year to get used to food there and cooking again, because you have to make a lot of things from scratch. And sometimes, you know, you have this idea in your mind, OK, I'm going to cook this for

[00:22:30] dinner and you go to the shop and they don't really have it. And yeah, it's you're learning. And I think you said you cook a lot of your things on an outdoor. Yes, because it's a Mediterranean climate. It's warm half the year you're outside.

[00:22:51] So we have a barbecue that we use half the year, if not all year long. Right, where in England you say barbecue, but you don't really mean it. It just means they'll probably serve you something on a paper plate. And you can be indoors.

[00:23:03] It doesn't mean anything but paper plate. So I have a dining room table in the house that we use for a few months. But most of the time we're eating outside. So now what are you doing now? I know you just have Cadman now, your youngest son.

[00:23:19] What are you and Lauren doing in Cyprus? What is Lord stirring in you? Well, we're just helping Tim and Darlene the best we can with whatever they need help with. I do Sunday school most Sundays. I have kids from six years old up to 14.

[00:23:43] And some of them do speak English, but not all of them. So you're trying to teach them the Bible, teach them about Jesus the best you can. That can be quite challenging. I work with the women in the church. I hang out with people.

[00:23:59] I have people from my house all the time. So that's kind of what my life looks like. Cadman is being homeschooled. So of course that's also added. Lauren is an assistant pastor. He's teaching a lot, but they also started a discipleship school recently.

[00:24:25] And so he's teaching a couple classes with that as well. So I've been attending classes. I've been going to women's Bible study, doing Sunday school. So that's what my life looks like at the moment.

[00:24:40] And then you and Lauren really help us with the refresh conferences that we have for all the missionaries in the Mediterranean area, which is just a really exciting time. Gina, thank you so much for your willingness. Brian said, Gina's in town.

[00:24:54] You need to have her on the podcast. I said, absolutely. So thank you, Brian, for setting this up. Brian is my husband, of course. Thank you. And thank you, Gina, again, for taking the time out of your break to come and share with the women your story.

[00:25:10] Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to Women Worth Knowing with Cheryl Brodersen and Robin Jones Gunn. For more information on Cheryl, visit CherylBrodersen.com or follow her on Instagram or Facebook. For more information on Robin, visit RobinGunn.com or follow her on Instagram or Facebook.

[00:25:28] Join us each week for a lively conversation as we explore the lives of well-known and not so well-known historical and contemporary Christian women. If you think there is a woman worth knowing, we'd love to hear from you. Email us at WWK at CCCM.com.

[00:25:45] We hope you've enjoyed today's episode. Make sure you rate us on your podcast app, subscribe and share it with a friend. Thank you again for listening to Women Worth Knowing with Cheryl Brodersen and Robin Jones Gunn. Women Worth Knowing is a production of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.