Decades ago when our children were young, Bob and I hosted seven men who had come to Sacramento for Bible training. They were from Canada, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Indonesia, and two from the USA. One spoke very little English. One did not bathe regularly, as that was “unmanly” in his culture. A couple had no idea what was being served to them at mealtime since they had nothing like that in their own country.
All loved the Lord, however, and were enthusiastic about serving God. They danced and sang with our children in the evenings. It was a great experience for them and for us.
I was reminded of the young man from Nigeria today, John Okoriko, as I read an article that reported more Christians are killed in Nigeria than anywhere else. As I was reading, I wondered about John and about all our young men. Are they still alive, are they still serving the Lord? What happened to them when they returned to their native lands.
At times we only have a short while to make an impact on people for the Lord. We scatter our seed; we water the seeds already scattered. We may or may not see the harvest. That does not negate the command to scatter our seed to everyone in courageous humility. We invested a few weeks into seven young men. They took our love and God’s love back to their homelands. I pray they were able to reap a harvest there.
Mark 4:3-20: “Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Then [Jesus] said, ‘Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.’” [vs 8-9 NLT]