BOYHOOD MEMORIES OF A MISSION MINDED CHURCH

My brothers and I grew up in a Christian family living on an 80 acre farm in a rural community in Minnesota some fifty five miles NW of Minneapolis. I recall how our family attended those special nights when missionaries from overseas shared visuals of their overseas work and spoke in our small church.

Bill Mol, a member of the church, owned his own filling station and garage. He always parked his Ford coupe beside the church in which he had brought a noisy gasoline powered generator to provide power for the pictures. Our family looked forward to this special night.

Our small church had an active Women’s Missionary Prayer Band. These women met every Thursday afternoon. I believe there were only two women in our church who drove a car. I still remember how I’d be crawling on my hands and knees weeding in the garden when Nellie Mol drove by on the road just up the hill from me. She always blew the horn and the women waved vigorously. I knew they were going to their weekly missionary prayer band meeting, because my mother attended too.

I recall hearing how these women shared information about our church’s missionaries. Someone would be asksing, “Has anyone heard from the Scudders in India?” Or it might be, “Has anyone heard from Dr. Zwemer in Arabia?” etc. Anyone who had a letter from a missionary read it. They had a time to prayer for their missionaries. And before this band of ladies closed their meeting, they took an offering to send to the World Mission Board in New York to help fund their missionaries.

Ours was a Mission Minded Church. Reflecting on those boyhood memories, I’m sure God used them to plant a seed in the heart of a young boy which one day flowered into his becoming a missionary himself. God swings His doors on small hinges. Those women in that car, blowing the horn and waving at a farm kid on his knees pulling weeds in the garden went into the making of this missionary. How I thank and praise God for our small mission minded church and those faithful women and their weekly mission meetings.

As I write I’m praying that God will create a similar interest and passion in the hearts of His people for our wonderful Talking Bible Ministry. I’m praying for hundreds, even thousands, of churches to become passionately mission minded to pray for and help fund Talking Bibles of the translated Scriptures for the multitude of non-reading people who have become Christians but need God’s Word in audio to grow close to Christ and strong in their faith and witness to others.

I’m praying God will raise up generous, praying people in all our churches. I pray that our churches will truly become MISSION MINDED CHURCHES.

Because they need to hear,
Harvey Hoekstra – harvey@talkingbibles.org
www.talkingbibles.org

Goal: MISSION MINDED CHURCHES OBSERVING A TALKING BIBLE SUNDAY TO LEARN MORE AND TO HAVE A SPECIAL OFFERING TO HELP PROVIDE TALKING BIBLES FOR NON-READERS AND THE BLIND.