Our hearts go out to all the men and women serving our country in Iraq and surrounding areas. I was in earnest about getting over there to be with our soldiers as well as our missionaries. On the Friday in December, before I was to leave on the following Tuesday, they called and said it was not looking good and many areas were shutting down with no planes available.
We would have to cross open land and towns from Jordan into Iraq, and it was not secure enough right now for civilians. They could give us no guarantee of safety. The missionaries were also being put at risk by having us come — which we certainly did not want.
So what do we do? How do we encourage Christ in the lives of our loved ones? Below is how one life was encouraged.
Last night, one of our evangelism teams did a follow-up visit in a home where the fifteen-year-old daughter had given her heart to the Lord the week before. Her mom told us that she had read the gospel tract that we had left behind to her husband over the telephone. He is in the Army and stationed in Iraq. It became very clear to him how to have eternal life and the hope of heaven. He told her he really wanted to be saved and prayed to receive Christ!
As she was she sharing this wonderful news with us, her husband called from Iraq and thanked the team for caring enough to come by and share the gospel. He said he has a peace that he has never experienced before!
Isn't that just like our Lord; to encourage us for being faithful while we were just trying to encourage this family toward Him? Now, mom and daughter are coming Sunday and meeting our team before Sunday School. We'll be able to wrap our arms around them and encourage them through these challenging days.
We serve an awesome God who creates "divine appointments" that surpass oceans and mountains and allows us to see the fruit of His Word in ways that are almost incomprehensible! He is truly worthy of our worship. ~ Ronnie Hendricks, associate pastor/worship and media, Highland Baptist Church, Florence, Alabama
Praise the Lord for hearts that love our Lord and want to share Him with the world. Now this man will share with his friends, and possibly, others will know the peace and security of the eternal life he has received. May our hearts and ears always be open to share our Lord. Let's reach out to families that have loved ones overseas and ask if we can write them and send a gospel tract. The Lord will bless our efforts.
