As a personal note, no one, aside from my parents, more deeply affected the way I see God, his universe, his people and all people than did the Schaeffers. Their deep and sincere belief that Jesus Christ was Lord of all—all, all—carried me along throughout all my life. It was a deep and gracious thing that the Lord did to all me and mine to know these two great saints personally.
Edith Schaeffer passed into the presence of her Lord and Savior, whom she had served well and tirelessly for many years, on March 30th. Born Edith Rachel Merritt Seville on November 3, 1914, the fourth child of George and Jessie Seville, while her parents were serving in China with the China Inland Mission, her life began and ended as a missionary. She attended Beaver College in Glenside PA. After meeting in a church youth group, the Schaeffers married in 1935. Mrs. Schaeffer has four children, Priscilla, Susan, Deborah, and Frank; fifteen grandchildren, thirty-four great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.

She was possessed of a love of and zest for life. As a child she saw her father accommodate himself to the local Chinese culture rather than expecting it to accommodate itself to Western ways. This marked her life as the Schaeffers later defended and demonstrated their belief in the dignity of the lives of all human beings. Both firmly believed that all human beings were created in the image of God and were more like God than any other creature or thing in the entire universe.

Mealtimes were not cafeteria style, but served on finely set tables with folded napkins. There is a direct line from this treatment of people to the later controversies over human lives being taken in the horror of abortion. All death was seen as a horror, but hardly ever more so than in abortion.

She gave her life in service to God and all those created in his image. Schedules were never as important as the needs of the people in front of her. Planes missed, dignitaries kept waiting, and artificial imperatives all quailed before the dignity of the person with her at the moment.

Thousands were led to belief in the importance of prayer by her weekly prayer times with students. Prayer, public or private, convenient or inconvenient, came first. She truly believed that she was communicating with her Lord and God. Dr. and Mrs. Schaeffer were “constant in prayer” beyond anyone the writer has known.

Mealtimes were long and full of discussion. While the students were served elegantly, they were expected after the meals to clean up the mess that was made in the work of those who had prepared these feasts. We live after the Fall and before the coming of the Lord. In this time, work has to be done. She saw all godly work was as dignified and necessary. People were always to be treated well.

The ministry of L’Abri, cofounded by the Schaeffers, was the result of conflicts with a mission agency. This led the Schaeffers to begin L’Abri, a residential Christian community, that began in 1955 in a remote Swiss village and became one of the most important Christian works of our time. Beginning without a commitment to an American style growth mentality, the Schaeffers employed prayer for their needs in order to demonstrate to a watching world that the God they served was able to supply all their needs.

Honest answers to honest questions became a by-word at L’Abri. Men and women, young and old, flocked to an obscure Swiss village to find answers to their questions. A hard fought determination to the very concept of Truth and that the Bible was “breathed out by God,” led the Schaeffers to be dogged in their beliefs, and to demonstrate by word and deed that the God of the Bible “is there and is not silent.” All this work was permeated by loving patience for the difficult ones in their midst that they might be won.

Edith Schaeffer wrote nineteen books, many bestsellers, including L’Abri, and her Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Gold Medallion winners, Affliction (This was used by the writer as an important tool in graduate school.) and The Tapestry: the Life and Times of Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

As a personal note, no one, aside from my parents, more deeply affected the way I see God, his universe, his people and all people than did the Schaeffers. Their deep and sincere belief that Jesus Christ was Lord of all—all, all—carried me along throughout all my life. It was a deep and gracious thing that the Lord did to all me and mine to know
these two great saints personally. SDG!

Marvin Padgett is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the Acting Executive Director of Great Commission Publications.