Chapter 3 - Lord, My Wife Will Never Go

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom

shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I,
Here am I; send me.”

—Isaiah 6:8

Attending Tennessee Temple University was
no easy task, but a real challenge. After the
first year students could work as pastors in the
chapel ministry. We worked in a chapel in Benton,
Tennessee, until my wife was expecting our third
child, Alicia Joy. Because of the pregnancy, we
could no longer continue traveling to the distant
chapel. However, a closer chapel opened up in
Rankin’s Cove, Tennessee and we began working
there. With the help of the Lord and other couples
attending Tennessee Temple Schools, we had a great
ministry at both of these chapels.
    It was wonderful how the Lord supplied our
needs while we were in school. To bring in a little
money yet still have time for school, I worked a
paper route. Every week on Friday, we could also
expect forty dollars in cash in the mail from my
mom, which was a real blessing to us. Also, my
dad had a telephone installed for us and paid the
bill every month. He also paid most of the school
account for the three years I was in school.
    As the end of school drew near, I was praying
about what the Lord would have us to do next. I was
praying down by the river one night when the Lord
impressed upon my heart that He wanted us to go to
Africa as missionaries. At first, I dismissed the idea,
thinking, “This can’t be the Lord. Africa is a long
way off. Africa is very hot. Africa has many diseases.
You must fly in an airplane to get there. We
had never seen the inside of an airplane, let alone fly
in one! My wife and children will never go, Lord.”
After giving all the excuses I could think of, nothing
worked. The impression to be a missionary in Africa
would not go away, I finally said, “Yes, Lord, I will
go. You open the doors, supply all the needs, and we
will go.”
    I went to bed early that night and said nothing
to my wife about what I thought the Lord wanted
us to do. The next morning I prepared a delicious
breakfast for the family. There were homemade biscuits,
brown gravy, bacon, eggs, sausage, and grits.
On the table was a breakfast fixed for a queen, who
I prepared to awake. I’m sure she must have suspected
something, since it was unusual for me to be
cooking this early in the morning and cooking such
large amounts of food. Well, there was something
very important to tell her, and one doesn’t tell your
wife something like this on an empty stomach!
    We enjoyed a quiet breakfast. I knew what I was
going to say, and Linda was wondering what was
going on. We finished our meal, and then I began
to tell my wife—not knowing what to expect from
her—that the Lord had called us to be missionaries
in Africa. To my great surprise, she simply
walked over to me, gave me a big hug, and sweetly
said, “Wherever the Lord has called us to go, I am
willing.”

Onward, Christian soldiers!

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)