Faithful Heroes: Darlene Deibler Rose, stayed in jungles of Asia to great peril

Darlene Rose showed unwavering and remarkable faith under circumstances that many of us would falter under.

Russell and Darlene Diebler

She was born as Darlene Mae McIntosh on May 17, 1917.

At the age of nine, she gave her heart to the Lord. A year later, she felt God was calling her to a life in missions. That night she promised Jesus, “Lord, I will go anywhere with you, no matter what it costs”.

She married Russell Deibler, a missionary to Southeast Asia, on August 18, 1937. She was nineteen and he was thirty one years old.

Darlene accompanied her new husband into the Asian jungle to establish a new mission. She was the first white woman many of the primitive tribe members had ever seen.

Then World War II broke out. Yet, the Deiblers chose to stay. When the Japanese seized control of the area, the Deiblers were initially put under house arrest. Later they were taken to internment camps. When they arrived they were separated.

Russell and Darlene Diebler wedding

She later wrote that her husbands last words to her, as they were being separated, were “Remember one thing, dear: God said he would never leave us nor forsake us.”

In her book, Evidence Not Seen, she wrote “This was one of the times when I thought God had left me, that he had forsaken me. I was to discover, however, that when I took my eyes off the circumstances that were overwhelming me, over which I had no control, and looked up, my Lord was there, standing on the parapet of heaven looking down. Deep in my heart he whispered, “I’m here. Even when you don’t see me, I’m here. Never for a moment are you out of my sight”.

Darlene was accused of being a spy and placed in solitary confinement after receiving word of her husband’s death. She was frequently interrogate and beaten. Upon being returned to her cell she poured her heart out to the Lord and wrote that he would whisper “But my child, my grace is sufficient for thee. Not was or shall be, but it is sufficient”.

Russell and Darlene Diebler

While in prison she often ate runny oatmeal, maggots, dogs, rats and tadpoles and “other unimaginable foods”. She overcame dysentery, rabid dog attacks, malaria, beriberi and other illnesses and tortures.

She was moments from being beheaded as a spy, when she was unexpectedly returned to the original prison camp she had been taken to.

She was finally freed from prison and returned home.

In 1948, she married another missionary, Gerald Rose. They would go to New Guinea the following year to serve the Lord. For over forty years she served as a missionary.

Her life verse was Deuteronomy 33:12, “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover (overshadow) him all the day long and he shall dwell between His shoulders”.

They would move to the Outback of Australia in 1978.

Darlene eventually published her story in the book Evidence Not Seen.

On February 24, 2004, Darlene Rose entered into the presence of the Lord at the age of eighty-seven. Her husband of over fifty years, followed her to his eternal reward five months later.