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Wednesday, February 15, 2006
(Note: Today's message is a bit longer than normal due to the story
and the joy of sharing the Scripture text.)
"God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them" (Hebrews 6:10).
One of the dominant sources of difficulty in ministry is discouragement. All we who seek to serve the Lord by ministering to others are aware of this. We may not see the results we would like. We may see little or no evidence that our work is making any difference. Perhaps we sense no receptiveness and in some cases people fall away from the truth.
When
I was in New England several weeks ago I met a fellow pastor who now
serves in Boston. Pastor Christo Kamara is from Sierra Leone, a small
country in West Africa. He was with another pastor friend of mine
helping to prepare the church for the wedding I was to officiate. We
visited for a few minutes and he shared with me a common association we
have.
George
Hemminger went to Africa on a steam ship as a young single man in 1928
with a call of God to reach the lost. He arrived in Sierra Leone and
preached the gospel of Christ. He mailed a proposal for marriage back
to the states which took one month to reach his future wife and another
month for him to get her affirmative answer! He returned to the states
for his marriage and both he and his new wife went back to Africa in
1935. They faithfully served the people of Sierra Leone most of their adult lives until their retirement in the mid seventies. My brother, who also pastors, is married to their only child, Laverne.
They never lost their burden and love they had for the African people. I remember their home full of all kinds of neat stuff from Africa. I'm quite sure there are several on this list who recall meeting Bro. Hemminger. He's the kind of person that, if you ever met him and heard any of his stories and witnessed his passion, you are unlikely to forget him! He went to be with the Lord in 1984 and I recall the powerful sense of his life's purpose at his funeral, conducted by my brother. They also had a memorial service in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone.
When I shared with Christo Kamara several weeks ago I found that he is among those who Pastor Hemminger impacted for Christ. His last association with Pastor Hemminger goes back over thirty years ago when he was a young man. Yet the fruit of his faithful service for God goes on.
"God is not unjust; He will not forget." Isn't that a powerful verse that bolsters our assurance of ministry impact?
"Your work." Pastor Hemminger is now in the great cloud of witnesses but God has not forgotten his work. That which is done for Christ goes on. It has lasting, eternal impact. And God does not forget about it.
"And the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them." We show our love for God as we help His people. Readers in this encouragement series are involved in scores of different ministries. Even among the several hundred on this list that I know personally I consider the variety of ways we serve the Lord. We all have spiritual descendents; those we lead to faith and disciple. Pastor Kamara and the church in Boston is actually a continuance of the faithful work of Bro. Hemminger.
I consider the sense of the phrase "continue to help them." It surely speaks of faithfulness and steadfastness in our service. My goal, as much as I am able, is to continue to help God's people whether it is those I have personally met or the many who know me only through this internet ministry.
But there's another sense that we continue to help God's people. We do so through our spiritual descendents. Those whom we help in turn help others. That is a tremendous source of joy! 2 Timothy 2:2 expresses this principle: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." In this sense our ministry impact continues through those we have helped and may very well do so long after we have left this earthly home.
I wonder if Pastor Hemminger saw in the life of a very young Christo Kamara a future warrior for the Kingdom of God? Did he imagine that Christo would reach the lost, not in the Timba Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone, but in Boston Massachusetts?
What about you? We often thankfully see the fruit of our labors, but only in part. I firmly believe that what we see only represents the tip of the iceberg of our spiritual impact!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen C. Weber
Brooksyne's prayer: Jesus, I thank you for the diligence and passion of great missionaries, pastors, evangelists, song writers and others who reach the lost in this world. Sometimes I feel that my impact on others is so insignificant in comparison but you've called me to make a difference in the circle of influence where You strategically placed me. I'm reminded by Scripture today that You will be the One who evaluates my effectiveness. It is not the visible fruit of my labors that determines the validity of my calling, but it is obedience to Your Word that helps me to continue in the work You've called me to do. Help me to be faithful!
Last October I spoke for two weeks at a church about 25 miles away that was between pastors. The former pastor, who is long retired and now in his nineties, still attends the church. When I introduced myself to him he mistook me for my brother who is married to the Hemminger's daughter. As we shared he still recalled the visits that the Hemmingers would make to his church during their itineration and specifically how that the burden for souls was so great that Pastor Hemminger would weep as he shared the stories of his mission work and was apparently known as the weeping missionary.
Here's an article that expounds on this topic that I wrote back in the nineties.
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version.
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