The march of time put a wonderful Christian lady to the test and she emerged triumphant.
It was around 1978 that I last saw Dr Helen Roseveare in action. She had been a missionary in the Congo. She had been captured by soldiers while there and had suffered outrageous treatment at their hands.
Yet there she was, the appointed speaker at a special Christian Union evening in Cambridge to encourage the students to consider missionary service. Her total dedication came across like a clear shining light. Whatever she had endured, she remained convinced that the great mission field of the world needed more people to go and reach out to the lost.
She spoke with love, power and passion. For all she knew, some she was persuading to go abroad might suffer the way she did, but it was all worth it because of Jesus' sacrifice for us.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I had not seen her again. Some kind friends from my new church offered to take me up to the Keswick Convention to hear her once more. She is now in her mid-eighties. It was a remarkable experience. Despite the passage of some 33 years, her enthusiasm for recruiting missionaries was undiminished. The audience, of mixed ages, took her into their hearts immediately. Keswick staff were surprised by the numbers coming forward to dedicate their lives wholly to God's service in response to her message. An appeal went out for more pastors and counsellors to help.
There is something very moving about a Christian worker still fighting the good fight in the eventide of life. I see Helen Roseveare as a role model. My long career in the ministry may not have been crowned with obvious success, and I have often felt discouraged. But it remains my ambition to keep going and, God helping me, simply to finish well.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Sunday 31 July 2011
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Tumbledown Landmarks
Owing to some blind spot I can't explain, I struggle to find my way anywhere. Even helpful maps or patient people giving directions don't ensure that I will head the right way, however simple the route is. And even if I succeed once in getting to my destination I may still get lost the next time ... and the next ... and the next. It is very frustrating. It is something I just have to live with.
One thing I find helpful is a landmark. If there is some outstanding feature along the road near where I am going, I home in on that, and it stops me overshooting and having to turn back. Even though the last couple of turns before I reach home are now familiar to me, the old red telephone box at the corner is a big help.
It was obviously a survivor from the days when they introduced the new style phone boxes. I remember the controversy that surrounded these. People in many towns and villages campaigned hard to keep the old red ones. They said they were a familiar sight and part of the English landscape and should not be changed. At the time I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. To me, it made sense to have the new type, as they blended in better where the red ones stuck out like sore thumbs.
Now, I'm glad of our cheery local red box. It reminds me of passages in the Bible which talk about landmarks. Deuteronomy 19:14 says, "Do not move your neighbour's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess." Boundary markers were sacred because they defined the allotted portion belonging to God's people in God's land. If they were stolen or neglected or misused, a serious situation arose. Someone might no longer know where his God-given stretch of land ended and another's began.
I say our local box is red. In fact it has faded to a pink colour and looks much the worse for wear. If it continues to be neglected it may in the end no longer be of any use in pointing the way.
Jesus is the landmark for all those who want to know the way to the Father. In fact, He is the way to the Father (John 14:6). Beware of thinking you know the way so well you no longer need the landmark!
One thing I find helpful is a landmark. If there is some outstanding feature along the road near where I am going, I home in on that, and it stops me overshooting and having to turn back. Even though the last couple of turns before I reach home are now familiar to me, the old red telephone box at the corner is a big help.
It was obviously a survivor from the days when they introduced the new style phone boxes. I remember the controversy that surrounded these. People in many towns and villages campaigned hard to keep the old red ones. They said they were a familiar sight and part of the English landscape and should not be changed. At the time I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. To me, it made sense to have the new type, as they blended in better where the red ones stuck out like sore thumbs.
Now, I'm glad of our cheery local red box. It reminds me of passages in the Bible which talk about landmarks. Deuteronomy 19:14 says, "Do not move your neighbour's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess." Boundary markers were sacred because they defined the allotted portion belonging to God's people in God's land. If they were stolen or neglected or misused, a serious situation arose. Someone might no longer know where his God-given stretch of land ended and another's began.
I say our local box is red. In fact it has faded to a pink colour and looks much the worse for wear. If it continues to be neglected it may in the end no longer be of any use in pointing the way.
Jesus is the landmark for all those who want to know the way to the Father. In fact, He is the way to the Father (John 14:6). Beware of thinking you know the way so well you no longer need the landmark!
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