I Was There

“Were you at Kibao village one time?”

“Let me think.  Kibao.  When?  Six or seven years ago?”

“Yes, it was several years ago.  I think you came and held some meetings with some other white people.  Was that you?”  

“Yes, it probably was.  We were there one weekend.  It is amazing that you remember me.”

“Oh, I remember you.  I was not an Adventist at that time.  I was wondering about whether or not I should be baptized and join the church.  Some of the things that you said in your sermon helped me make the decision, and you gave me a book that day that helped to seal my decision forever.”

I stared in wonder at the man who was talking with me.  He remembered me so well, and he told me that I had made a big difference in his life at a time he was in a valley of decision.  I couldn’t remember him at all, but I was sure he was telling me the truth.  

His story is one of several I could tell.  People came to me years later and told me I had made a difference in their lives.  I had said something in a sermon, or given them a book which had helped them during a hard time.  All the praise for this goes to God, who had led me to Tanzania in the first place, and had given me something to say, and money to buy Bibles and books to give away.  God chose to use me, not because I was a super Christian or some sinless saint, but because I was available.  We are not all-important or indispensable, but God choses to use us if we are willing to go where He calls.  

Tanzania is a different place today than it would have been if I had not been there.  Not in any big way, not in a way that is easy to measure, but in some small, significant ways for those who are today closer to Jesus because of contact with me.  I don’t think this is pride, just a fact.  I am positive that there will be people in heaven eternally because I chose to go to Tanzania, people who would not be there if I had not gone.  

The difference was made, not because I was there, but because I was THERE.   Somebody else could have been there and been a blessing as well.  

There are thousands of places in the world that need to have a Christian present.  There are millions of lives that could be changed for eternity if a Christian will come to them and seek to help them in some way.  “Lord of the harvest, send forth laborers into Your harvest.”