 By Linda Hokit “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord” Isaiah 55:8 (NIV) When I served as a missionary in Georgia, I was out and about in the community so much that I literally carried my office on my shoulder in the form of a backpack. I became so well know by that practice that I was asked to create a presentation using my pack. There was to be a very large Saturday program for girls in elementary school from all over the region. They were going to rotate hundreds of wiggly little girls around from one conference activity to another all morning long. Usually, I am asked what I could offer the group. However, this time the event organizer told me just she wanted me to do during the 30 minutes I had each group. Her idea was for me to pull items out of my bag that described activities I did as a Resort Ministries Missionary. I did just that. It wasn’t long until I got requests to do the very same presentation for adult groups. So, let me share with you a few stories, we fondly called God Stories because of the obvious ways God made Himself known. One of the first things I pulled out of my bag was a bar of soap because we were able to start a campground worship service when a church went to the campground to dump greywater. For two years I tried my best to get permission to do a service for campers on Sunday mornings without success. Normally this is not a difficult thing to do. But it was! Then one day a church called the campground to ask if they could write one check a month for the dump fee. At that moment the new campground manager happened to walk behind the person on the phone. He stopped and asked the worker if she was speaking with a church. When she said, “yes”, he said, then tell them if they will do a campground worship service, they can dump the bus for free! A few weeks later we had out first service. We got off to a slow start but soon had more than 100 worshipers. Oh, by the way, we were not allowed to invite anyone in person to come. That was left up to the camp staff. Things went do well that the next year we were asked to also do VBS. After suggesting that the park put fliers up at the bath houses our attendance jumped to 200 attenders. That’s when we became the fastest growing church start in the area. Then we discovered that cancer patients were staying at the campground while they received treatment. We were able to find a retired pastor who also had cancer who agreed to serve as the campground chaplain. He was in place just before planes flew into the towers in NY. A park staff person requested a park-wide service be done. Our chaplain worked with him the service. It turned out to be the first time park staff gathered together all at once and it was a religious service. I continued to pull items out of my bag telling short stories children might related to. The last thing I pulled out was a loaf of bread. A lady in my sponsoring church made a request for a mothers’ walking group in the small town when the work was centered. We talked and I planned exactly what she requested. We were going to meet four weeks for a walk and talk activity. Nobody came any of the four weeks. However, I went just in case someone showed up. I could not let go of the fact that I was firmly convinced that God had something store. On the last day I discovered what He had planned for us! Over the course of about a year, refugees from a war-torn European country. The town is quite small, but within the first month more than 60 people had arrived. Our church a building for resettlement meeting and a child program and was one of the first groups to help them settle in. One that fourth week, one of the mother’s from our day camp program drove up right in front of the spot where I was waiting for walkers. Her question was, “Do you know anyone who needs bread?” I though for a quick minute and realized that there was a group across the street in the gym parking lot waiting on a bus to take families to a movie. However, the bus was late, so they just happened to still be there when the lady with bread pulled up. Likewise, the people our church who was working when the families also happened to be there. We gathered the bread and was able to arrange for each family to receive bread. They came to American because people who said they were Christians were killing them. And, yet God gave us an opportunity to flip that scribe. We were able to show them that there were Christians who cared for them and provided for them. They looked on bread as the staff of life but we were able to use the gift as a way for describe to them God’s love for them as the Bread of Life. Months went on as people continued to serve. Many other groups came. So many came we were able to start an international Sunday School Class. They teachers of that class discussed new church starts being created by other churches. Soon, people from our town where attending and came Christians. I see in these stories God working in His ways according to His timeframe. He uses people and resources in ways that show His hand at work in our lives! HE works in ways that show us His is the source of success and not just our skills. In short, “God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform”. (from the song “God Moves in Mysterious Ways” by William Cowper in 1773) Picture Note: The picture shows the gym parking lot where families waited for the activity bus. I was sitting about 20 feet away in front of the church main entrance when the lady drove up with a car full of bread Comments are closed.
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