Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

A pastor and lifelongmissionaryenthusiastgets his eyes opened to ..Your Missionaries'A few months ago I had an experience I shallnever forget. As a result of the profound impressionand conviction I received from that experience, myown missionary outlook has been almost revolutionized. In turn, those in my church have been affectedand their reactions have had untold results on ourmissionaries. But to get back to my story.As I sat back in the big plane that was takingme to the jungles of Brazil, I anticipated the visitwith our young missionaries. It would be good to seethem, see their work, where they lived, and how theywere coming along. It would arouse enthusiasmamong the folks back home to be able to give themfirsthand information about their own missionaries.I don't know exactly what I expected to find. Itseems that I have always been familiar with missionaries and their fields. Some of my earliest recollections are of my parents inviting missionaries hometo dinner and listening intently as they told of theirproblems and victories. As I grew up and preparedfor the ministry, I felt that the primary business ofthe church was to further the carrying of the gospel to the ends of the earth. In recent years I havehad contact through camp and radio ministry withyoung people going out to the mission fields. I'veknown something of the curriculum of Bible institutes ... of the varied courses designed to meet themissionary's needs when he reaches his field of service. I was certain that when a young person completed such a course he was ready to meet the difficultiesof the mission field. Thus, I had no misgivings aboutthe young people I was about to visit.Some time back, these four young Bible institutestudents and their families entered the communityin southern California where I pastor a church.They were sincere, earnest and of very high caliber.Gladly and willingly they took up the tasks whichcame their way, and theysoon endeared themselvesto all with whom they came in contact.When they finished their courses of study, theyapplied and were accepted for service deep in theAmazonian jungles of Brazil. It was the privilege ofour church to aid in providing their equipment and toundertake to send them a monthlytheir support.gift to help inFrom time to time, letters arrived telling oftheir problems and their victories. In one letter theysuggested that the pastor pay them a visit. The ideaseemed to strike fire, and one after another of themembers of the church decided it would be a goodthin* to do. The result was that,after a few months,accompanied by a good friend, I began the swiftflight over thousands of miles to visit our missionaries.276I repeat, as I sat on the plane, there was anticipation and thrill as I thought of my visit ; but therewas not much real concern. I was sure that the youngpeople were well equipped to meet every problem.When we arrived, the change seemed almostunbelievable. We were in another world. Before usflowed that "mighty Amazon," which was threemiles wide even at the place where we stood, sometwo thousand miles from its mouth! At our backswas the mass of profuse vegetation known as thejungle. Someone has called it a "green hell," and thatis what it appeared to us. Around us were the natives, with curiosity showing clearly in their eyes. Atour sides were the friends whom we had come toeagerfacedchildren, anxious to show us the mysteries ofvisit, and tugging at our hands were theirtheir new home.Here is what I had come to see. How did themissionaries fare ? What were their greatest needs ?How could the folks at home best help them ? Thesewere the things I had come to find out.At this particular mission station our friendswere exceedingly well off. Both of the families hadbrand-new wooden houses with bright and shiningaluminum roofs over their heads. The houses werecomfortable and commodious, although they were notto be compared to the luxury of even the simplesthomes in America.In order to build these homes, the young menhad been obliged to take a trip of five hundred longweary miles up the river.There, at a saw mill, theypurchased the finished boards, fashioned them into araft, and for three days and nights of danger and toilthey floated the house lumber down the river. Withnot too much experience in building houses and withnative helpers who knew much less, they cleared theland and completed the erection of their homes.As I stayed in the home of one of these friendsand talked with them hour after hour, as I openedmy eyes and watched all the proceedings, and as webared our hearts to one another around the fellowship board, I came to see that the large task of building a home, even though dug out of the jungle, was asmall thing in comparison to the more perplexing andalmost insurmountable difficulties that daily boredown upon these people.There was at the outset the never ending problem of the missionary's health. The native has beenthere for centuries and has built up an immunity tothe thousand and one possible diseases and annoyances that beset any jungle dweller. Not so the missionary. He is fresh prey to diseases, parasites andthe vociferous insects that almost overwhelm himdaily.COVENANTER WITNESS