Go Ye Means Me

  Have you ever been to “Car School”? That’s the “school” where the Lord has taught us many lessons over the years. And I keep thinking we should be getting a diploma anytime now, but the Lord still has other lessons for us to learn. Most of those lessons were teaching us how to trust God and develop our character and patience. Our first car in Brazil was a 1968 Land Rover Series 2. How I had always longed to have a Land Rover. I remembered an ad I saw in National Geographic magazine in the early 70’s: “There are three ways to get to South America; boat, air and Land Rover!” I had learned to drive in my cousin’s Jeep in Virginia. My friend Tommy and I had built two dune buggies when we were in college. I never cared for beautiful, sleek, or fast cars; for me it was always 4WD, off road utilitarian vehicles. The muddier the better and the Land Rover was ideal for that! It got us the 200 kilometers from Manaus to where we were trying to contact the hostile Waimiri Atroari tribe in...

  I was into doing things I had never done so I joined a Bible study led by another student. I was a Freshman at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and although I had been to church most Sundays as I was growing up, I really couldn't tell you what the "gospel" was. Oh, I'm sure I had some vague ideas. Jesus dying on the cross. Good news, etc. But I had only heard Bible stories and parables, but never a clear presentation based on the Bible of why Jesus came to earth and why he had to die on a cross. As we went through the Bible study, I was more and more fascinated by what I was learning. The hardest concept for me to understand and accept was the idea that I was a "sinner." Of course I knew I wasn't perfect but I really did consider myself to be a good person. But then I came across verses like Romans 3:23: "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And I realized that I was included in the "all" and that meant ...

Matt. 28:19-20 I’ll never forget the old missionary leader at that mission’s conference for collegians in the late 1960’s. Well, at least he seemed old to me, a 20 year old junior in college. He spoke with a strong Texas accent. When he started explaining Matthew 28:19 and 20 to us, he said, “Now y’all know whut that means? That word ‘Go Ye’ is the same word the farmer’s wife uses when she sends her husband down to the barn to fetch some eggs, and she says ‘bein’ how’s yer goin’ take along a bucket and fetch some water as well.’ ” “In other words,” he continued, “while you’re a goin’ you should be making disciples, teachin’, baptizin’. You shouldn’t wait ‘til you git to the mission field, but start right now wherever you are. Going to a foreign country doesn’t make you a missionary. Being a maker of disciples does.” I went away from that conference with a new zeal and vision. I was already trying to be a “missionary” on my campus but had never thought about it as such. Before ...

God put missions on my heart when I was in 1st grade! Yes, really! Our teacher went around the room asking each child what they wanted to be when they grew up. I was one of the last ones. Most said things like teacher, nurse, doctor, fireman, etc. What came out of my mouth surprised even me.  "I want to be a missionary." Where in the world did that come from?! It surprised me as much as it surprised anyone. I had never met a missionary in my life and I had no idea what a missionary did. I did have the vague idea that missionaries preached "the gospel." But I certainly had no idea what that meant. As I grew older, I remembered thinking that I couldn't be a missionary because I didn't know what the gospel was, nor did I have a clue about how to find out. So I contemplated joining the Peace Corps instead. But college was first. I was given the amazing gift of a scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison and with a little bit of work on the si...