Posted By Guest on Mar 6, 2017 | 4 comments

by Jessica Folsom

“We are all amateurs. Even our sending board has no experienced missionary on it. They are all very dedicated and gifted men, but they don’t know anything about cross cultural missions.” These were the words penned by Dan Cronk, a Free Will Baptist pioneer missionary to India, after having been in the field six years with his wife Trula.[1]

When we think of pioneer missionaries answering the call of taking the Gospel to the unreached, we don’t immediately imagine foster children being chosen to fulfill the task. Nor do we imagine the backstory of God using “all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). But God revels in using amateurs, and such was Trula Gunter Cronk.

Childhood

On June 7, 1924, a few years before the Great Depression, Trula “Trulie” Gunter was born in rural East Tennessee. When she was just three-years-old, Trula’s mother passed away due to tuberculosis. At the time, the only remedy for tuberculosis called for patients to rest, sit outside in fresh air, and pray for recovery. In her autobiography, Cronk recounts finding out her mother had passed away,

I remember the day she died. My paternal grandfather, an ancient man with a long white beard, took me in his arms and explained that Mommy had gone to sleep and that I should kiss her good night. I don’t know why this euphemism should have upset me so, but I refused to kiss her. “She’s dead,” I stormed, and I wriggled out of his arms. I ran out to the back porch, wrapped my arms around a post, looked up at the sky, and pleaded, “God, please let me talk to my Mommy.”[2]

When Trula was four-years-old, her father, unable to personally care for his children, took her and her brother to live with their aunt and uncle in South Carolina. But, as unemployment continued to ravage rural areas during the Depression, the family eventually headed back to Greene County, Tennessee. As she continued to grow, Trula yearned for affection yet was rejected by her aunt and uncle due to their blossoming family additions and dire financial strain: “I liked getting my hair washed when I was little because it was the only time I felt close to anyone.”[3]

Religion was not openly expressed in Trula’s aunt and uncle’s house, yet hard work ethic and integrity were. The family did not attend church, as “religion, as such was rarely mentioned at home, but what I was learning in school about ethics and behavior was enforced by the way my aunt and uncle lived.”[4] Unhappy with her surroundings, a teenage Trula pledged to set high goals for herself, to dream big dreams, and to work tirelessly to achieve them. Her hunger for knowledge became insatiable, much to the chagrin of her family who mistook it as arrogance.

Trula lacked the home support to pursue her education; thus her aunt and uncle proposed the idea of Trula dropping out of middle school to stay home and assist with domestic responsibilities. After receiving this devastating news, Trula set off to what would be her last school day, and with tear-filled eyes revealed the news to her teacher, Mrs. Campbell. Thankfully, due to her tireless efforts, Mrs. Campbell personally secured Trula’s housing for the next year at her own house. However, even though Trula was accustomed to temporary living arrangements as a young teen, God was working to ensure stability in her life.

On May 10, 1939, the doors of the Free Will Baptist Children’s Home opened in Greeneville, Tennessee. Trula was the first youth admitted to the Children’s Home under the care of Iris and Mary Stanley. The Stanleys were instrumental in providing her with the basis for her Christian faith: “Mother and Daddy Stanley wanted us to be whole people, healthy physically, supplied with life-coping skills, and spiritually fed and grounded in the Christian Scriptures.”[5] However, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Daddy Stanley volunteered to join the Army.

Again, Trula was left without a set of parents, but God worked to provide her with the perfect parents to continue the good work that He began in her. Paul and Nelle Woolsey became the new house parents for the Children’s Home. Trula would refer to them as her “special Mom and Dad” until her dying day. The Woolseys played an extraordinary part in her Christian life and ministry.

Free Will Baptist Bible College, Columbia Bible College, and Pastoring

Upon graduating from high school, Trula traded the tranquility of the Tennessee hills for the hustle and bustle of Music City. Free Will Baptist Bible College had recently opened its doors, allowing Trula to meet the love her life, Dan Cronk. The pair had a deep desire for missionary service. On June 7, 1945, immediately after walking the graduation aisle, Dr. L. C. Johnson invited all in attendance to remain and celebrate the wedding of Trula Gunter to Dan Cronk sans cap and gown.

Feeling the call to serve as missionaries, the Cronks packed up and left for Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University). At the time, Free Will Baptist Bible College (now Welch College) did not offer a missions degree program. Though Trula had, at one time, felt called to Africa, both she and Dan felt God leading them to India. Their time at Columbia was priceless preparation for their life’s ministry.

Dan accepted a pastorate at a small country church near Lake City, South Carolina. Due to the rural environment, the congregation was not able to pay him a salary. Both Trula and Dan worked tirelessly to support their young family. They did everything from working janitorial jobs to selling their high school rings to a pawn shop and even to selling blood to the point of malnourishment. Once, unable to take Dan’s blood donation, the nurse sent him home with a supply of vitamins and iron supplements, an unspoken answer to a prayer.

Realizing how dire circumstances had gotten, Trula and Dan desperately prayed for God’s divine provision. While they were still kneeing, a knock came on the door with unexpected guests bringing them bags of groceries! In awe and deep gratitude, Trula remembered, “We looked at each other with our eyes and said, ‘The Lord has provided by the hand of His people, and we were on the right track to trust Him.’”[6]

Missions

After graduating from Columbia Bible College, the Cronks returned to Nashville for a brief stint. In the spring of 1948, Winfred Davis, the chairman of the Free Will Baptist Mission Board, revealed that funds had come through, and both Trula and Dan were approved to begin their seven-year term in India. On August 8, 1948, in the New York Harbor, the Cronks boarded a ship to India by way of Indonesia. It took them twenty-eight days via boat to get to Sri Lanka and an extra day to get to India.

Once they arrived, they met with Miss Laura Belle Barnard, who was the Free Will Baptist Director of Missions in India. The goal was for Miss Barnard to orient the Cronks to Indian culture and missions so that Dan and Trula could transition to North India, while Laura Belle stayed ministering in the southern parts. By this time, the Woolseys, Trula’s “special Mom and Dad,” had answered the call to India as well and were already in Hindi language school by the time of Trula’s arrival.

Conclusion

For over twenty-four years, the Cronks labored in India, seeing many come to Christ. At the end of their overseas tenure, Trula and Dan returned to teach missions classes at Free Will Baptist Bible College. Their thirty years of field experience blended with their Biblical teaching and wisdom proved indispensable in preparing the next generation. While Dan continued teaching, Trula secured a case manager position with the Social Security Administration until her retirement.

Sadly, Dan passed away in 1997. At the end of her life, Trula reflected, “Frankly, I get all ‘trembly’ when I think of what I would have missed if I had never been willing to say yes when the Lord impressed on my mind in my early teens that I ought to be a missionary.”[7] So why does God use amateurs and foster kids for His Kingdom? Because they are crazy enough to simply say yes. May we all have the same spunk in saying yes to His opportunities.

____________________

[1] Trula Cronk, Over Mountain or Plain or Sea (Nashville: Randall House, 2003).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

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