I want to share this excerpt with you from a recent prayer letter written by Avant recruiter, John Leusink…
Can you imagine what might happen 107 years from now, based on the way you serve Jesus this week? Recently I was visiting some retired Avant missionaries on my travels through Alberta. We were celebrating God's power to weave tapestries beyond our ability to conceive them, and this story bubbled to the surface.
The year is 1910. Little Leslie Harwood was a lad growing up in London, England. Though he was from a good home, he didn't understand the gospel of Jesus until this year when he turned eight - through the leaders of the Crusaders Boys' Club. These volunteers discipled him, trained him and mentored him as he went on to serve and lead in that same ministry.
They were thrilled to become his lifelong supporters when Leslie decided in 1927 to head out with the South American Mission Society. After a year in northern Argentina, he headed up to southern Bolivia on a team of four men. By the time 1936 rolled around, Leslie married a Spanish rancher's daughter named Modesta. They were both first generation believers in their respective families.
Through the years they primarily planted churches and ministered among the Guarani people, travelling together on horseback until 1947 when they got their first power wagon for travel. Though much more could be said of their life work, a beautiful effect was when their daughter Jan and her husband Don Clements came down in 1964 to continue the Guarani ministry in Bolivia.
Don and Jan's two daughters also become missionaries. Corina founded the renowned El Jordan ministry to the poor in Santa Cruz. Her older sister Carolyn married Mike Reimer and they came down in 1995 to forward the church planting ministry among the Guarani. They saw to the completion of the Bible's translation into the Guarani language which grandpa Harwood began in the previous century. Years later, they even got to see Guarani believers organizing mission trips to nearby villages and countries to share with other Guarani what they had discovered in God's grace.
Our family benefited from this legacy in 2006 when I was part of leading a short term team from our church to Bolivia. During this trip, inspired by what God was doing through Mike and Carolyn with their children, the Lord clearly asked me and our family to consider becoming missionaries as well. From this you know the story of how a church in Prague was planted. Now I am responsible to help find the next generation of missionaries to be sent out from Canada to unreached people groups. Some of those very ones I watch deploy will likely be the great grandchildren of Leslie and Modesta, the fourth generation of missionaries!
Back in 1910, I bet those boys club leaders weren't imagining a worldwide impact like this. They were simply being faithful servants for Jesus. I wonder what stories will be told of what the Lord accomplished through you, a hundred and seven years from now?
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Marco and I have the privilege of being parents to Leslie and Modesta´s great grandchildren! Beyond the reflection of grandma Modesta´s Bolivian beauty in my little girl, I hope that we will, year by year, see more of their great-grandparents’ hearts in both of them.… and that maybe they can be the ones to also follow in their footsteps…
A week or so ago, on the way home from picking Keiden up from school, we stopped to fill up the car with gas… As we are waiting, a skinny guy puts his head through the window… shows some pictures and papers… and goes on to explain that he is 27 years old, has AIDS… he was diagnosed with HIV in 2012 and now in the last year, has developed AIDS… He showed the sores on his arms… on his face… He works half day cleaning and because his wage is minimal, he makes a bit of extra money by begging at the gas station…
Usually I prefer to give a snack or other practical gift rather than money… but because there was nothing on hand, I gave him a bit of money… then paid for my gas… and was driving off…
A small voice came from the back seat… “Mom, what is more important… helping that sick man get better? …or buying gas?” Little eyes, always watching, observing… a mind always wondering, questioning, learning… A heart that tries to be so correct… That is Keiden…
So what is more important? Buying gas? …or helping a person in need? Is it one or another? …or do the two have to be bound together? If we help someone, but don´t have money for gas we are going to be in trouble… …but… if we buy all the gas we need and want, but forget about those in need around us, we also are in trouble!
Last week, on my way home from picking Marlee up at school, we saw a street man sitting on the sidewalk, going through a pile of books that had been thrown away in the garbage… It was such a hot and sticky day… Marlee had an extra slushy drink in her lunch… and she was quite willing to share… She didn´t seem to be disturbed at all by the dirt…smells… nor by the overgrown, bushy hair… I asked him if he liked to read… yes… but he didn´t have anywhere to keep them…so he was choosing the ones that interested him… he´d read them… and then sell them for a couple cents…
Marlee gave him the juice… Claudio smiled… He rummaged through his special pile of books and handed Marlee one on philosophy… I thought it might be a bit over her head…so he went back to his pile and pulled out two notebooks that still had some clean sheets in them… Marlee, very pleased with her gift, said goodbye to Claudio… shook his hand… and we continued on our way… That is Marlee… overflowing, generous heart… fearless… sees beyond dirt and grime at the same time she loves sparkles… “the warrior princess”, her auntie Heidi calls her…
Please keep our family in your prayers, asking God for strength and wisdom… as we try to raise our children with a love for ministry and service – not with resentment or feelings of abandonment… I´m so thankful that my kids have the opportunity to be exposed to realities in life… and wonder how God will use all of this for His glory…
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Less than a week until Christmas on the Streets!!!!!!! Wow… because we have cut back so much on our numbers, to focus better on our purpose, everything seems quite painless… although there always seems to be something that goes a little crazy…
Last week I bumped into Noemi, who I hadn´t seen for 14 or 15 years… she and her husband participated in Christmas on the Streets when our numbers soared to over 5000 plates of food handed out – to street people… and to extreme poor… (compared to cooking for 500 – 700 now…)
It is easy to look back at those years, shake our heads and wonder if it was worth it or not… …but God was good… and allowed Noemi to share a story with me… She is a high school teacher in a town about 8 hours away… When she was asked to do a program for “Seniors Day”, she remembered her experience with El Jordán… and decided to do something different than the normal “song and dance”… She decided to get her high schoolers to bring groceries… and they would go and give them to some needy seniors…
She didn't really know where to take them… but off they went to some neighbourhood in the outskirts…and they saw a little, old lady walking towards the little corner store… They asked her where she was going… to the corner store to ask that they give her a little piece of chicken for her to cook with even though she didn´t have money… The students got their coins together, bought the grandma some chicken… and asked if they could visit her house… where they filled her empty shelves with the groceries they collected… and they helped fill her sad heart with their kindness… A whole relationship developed between them… the kids call them “Abuelo” and “Abuela”… and they call the kids “nietos” (grandkids)… They have been back numerous times to visit… and even helped build a wooden fence around their little shack…
Hearts being touched - all around… seeds being planted, opportunities blooming… Christian people shining, making a difference in their towns… Lord, thank you for the way you use our simple expressions of service… we have no idea where or how YOU will use them for Your Glory…
Thank you to each and every one of you who has made it possible for us to serve here… and an extra thanks for the specific gifts towards Christmas… only God knows what fruit might come from those tiny seeds planted…
Please pray for this week of activities… for our hearts… and the hearts of the people we want to reach out to this Saturday…
Have a wonderful week… preparing your hearts to celebrate Jesus, the greatest gift of all…
Because HE is faithful…
Corina… for Marco, Keiden and Marlee…