Chapter 6 - I Cannot Believe It!

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every

purpose under the heaven: . . . a time to weep, and a
time to laugh;...”

—Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

We arrived safely at the mission board in

Chattanooga, went through candidate
school, and were approved as missionaries to Africa.
Needing monthly support, I then phoned some
pastors to set up meetings to present our ministry
in their churches. The Lord blessed us and gave us
several opportunities.
    Our first meeting was in Virginia, and we were
supposed to be there for the next church service. We
piled into our Suburban pulling the travel trailer and
headed for the church, excited but nervous because
this was our first time to do anything like this.
    Finally, we arrived at a church somewhere in
the Virginia mountains, a place that seemed to be in
the middle of nowhere. After entering the church, I
set down our equipment and looked for the pastor.
Finding him, I excitedly announced, “We’re here!”
    The pastor looked at me in a puzzled way and
replied, “You are? And why are you here?” His
remark caught me off guard, since I had called and
set up a meeting for this service.
    The pastor then said, “Let me see your appointment
book,” and after studying it, he remarked,
“The name of the church is right, but the address
you have is wrong.” This did not sit well with me
because this was our first church to visit, and I was
already looking like I did not know what I was
doing—which I did not!
    The pastor continued, “The church you’re
looking for is two hours away.” With that we all
went outside, and the pastor gave us directions;
“You go down that road and over those mountains,
and in about two hours, you’ll be there.”
    I looked at those mountains and then turned and
looked at the Suburban and the twenty-seven–foot
travel trailer and thought to myself, What a way to
start deputation!
    Moreover, I was determined not to let the devil
win. I thanked the pastor, loaded our equipment,
and took off over those mountains as fast as I could
go to find the right church.
    Just as we had been told, it took two hours to get
 there, and we were, of course, two hours late for
the service. The pastor from the first church must
have called and told them the “dumb missionaries”
were on their way, because when we arrived, the
people were waiting for us. I suppose they had a
good laugh at the new missionaries who went to the
wrong church on their very first meeting.
    Surprisingly, the pastor of the church was not
there. But as the speaker, I presented our ministry
and preached a short sermon. Despite all the problems
in getting there, we enjoyed a great time of
food and fellowship. The next day we headed out
for our next meeting, and this time we made it to the
right church at the right time.

I have a song that Jesus gave me!

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)