Who Makes It Grow?

Hello from a different spot on the globe! 

We finally made it to Hawaii!  I don't know if it's age or circumstance, but we seemed to have more dramas than usual.  Maybe it’s post CoVid but it seems that every plane these days is now jam packed. Since we fly standby, we were thankful to get the last two seats on the flight we wanted, but we were separated from each other back in the “hang onto the wing”section. Fortunately, a nice Japanese man was willing to juggle around seats so that Tony could be the one shoved up against me. 

Our two pieces of luggage took two entirely different routes, but again, fortunately, they managed to arrive together in Honolulu about the same time we did. And best of all, we were met by our dear friends, Bob and Gail who took us to their place for a couple of days of recovery before getting to work. Things kick off tomorrow morning with a chance to preach at a nearby church. Technically they’re Chinese, but they speak English so that’s a relief!  We visited them when we were there last year, so it will be good to catch up with them again. 

After church, we head over to pick up our rental car, then make our way to Olivet Baptist, who will be providing us with a guest apartment during most of our stay. We’ll have a few days to settle in, then start teaching! First class is a look at the “Biblical basis for effective communication”, then on Saturday mornings Tony begins his “Anagaion” (UpperRoom) course. In between times, we’ll be preparing for the big writer’s workshop in October. 

One of the most exciting things this week has been enrolling a couple of students from Zambia, Africa. Let me give you the back story: A long time ago, we left Zambia after two years doing"student work" in a program sponsored by our mission agency.. It was the spring of 1975. At the time, we really couldn't say if we'd made any difference in Zambia at all, but Zambia had certainly made a difference inus.  We came away convinced that we wanted to spread the Gospel to the world. And for the last 50 years, that has been what’s defined us.   

During our two years in Zambia, we made some of our closest connections with a little gaggle of neighbourhood kids.  Two boys who stood out the most were Claridge and Noah, both about 8 years old. Because they lived close, they found themselves hanging around us practically every day.  They even offered to teach us the local tribal language called Chibemba, and they were excellent teachers.  I remember one conversation,  

"But why can't I say it this way?” I whined to them when they corrected me. 

"Because it's wrong." 

Powerful teaching, especially to Americans who think they deserve explanations for everything. But I digress. About 12 years after leaving Zambia, we got a tattered letter addressed to the International Mission Board in the USA, who had kindly directed it to us.  By then we were in Japan. It was from Noah, who said, “Claridge and I grew up when you left, and became what we liked to call ourselves, ‘The Bad Boys’. Every weekend we spent drunk, most happy if we could have been involved in a brawl or other worthless activities. 

“And then one Sunday, I was lying passed out in a ditch when someone walked by.  They were whistling "Jesus Loves Me". I remembered you and Mr. Tony. I got up, staggered into church, and became a Christian.  I told my friend Claridge, and after a while he came to his senses and decided to follow Christ too!" 

That rocked our world.  Believe it or not, we missionaries sometimes wonder if we have done anything at all to make a difference. (Reference to my blog last week). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:7, "So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God Who causes the growth." 

We are nothing, but when used by God, amazing things happen. Noah is now a respected pastor.  His "Bad boy" friend Claridge is a strong Christian business leader. Now here's the next blessing, again given to us by God who causes the growth. Those two boys(who by now are in their 50’s) will be taking Tony's Anagion class!  (ByZoom, of course, as will several others from around here and there) We're excited.  God hasn't for one minute forgotten what He's doing in each of our lives! 

Have a good week and stay tuned! 

Marsha