Epilogue

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ;”

—Titus 2:13

The calling of God to be a missionary is a monumental
challenge to any Christian, his spouse,
and his family. It is life-changing and ongoing—
not a one-day process. One person said it this way:
“You cannot rush the brush.”
    Being a missionary often means going in another
direction from that which had been planned. My
wife and I had planned for a normal working future,
but the Lord planned a future totally dependent upon
Him for the provision of all our needs, financial and
otherwise. At the time of the call, I looked forward
to being in His service, and today I still look forward
to it with all my being because I am totally His.
    Because the call came early in my Christian life
and was distinctly from the Lord, it was not difficult
for me to respond. It did mean, however, that I must
convince my wife that God had called us into His
service (which was not difficult) and that I would
have to give up my job and the security that went
with it. It meant leaving our country, our family,
and our friends. It meant living a life of dependence
upon the Lord, a life of faith rather than a life of
dependence upon our abilities and ourselves. When
we ventured forth on our journey with the Lord, we
burned all bridges so that turning back would never
be an option.
    To be called of the Lord to serve Him for life
is really a wonderful, incredible, and adventurous
experience! To realize, first of all, that God will personally
communicate with you is amazing. To have
faith that God can prepare you to serve Him in a different
nation and tongue is an exceptional blessing.
In the jargon of the day, “It is awesome.”
    As a Christian a person must be willing to die to
self and to be alive unto the Lord. As Isaiah responded,
“...Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8) And as the apostle
Paul said in answering God’s call, “...Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6)
    As missionaries we have learned the real meaning
of living by faith. In times of difficulty and lack,
when our faith begins to falter, God always comes
to the rescue. God has emphatically taught us that
He is still in command and still meets our needs in
response to our prayers. These are times of great
thankfulness and praise to our Lord and Saviour.
    The Savior was clear when He said,

“…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature.”
Mark 16:15

    We must not fail to realize that this command is for
every believer.

“…he that winneth souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30

    It has even been suggested that all Christians
should willingly surrender to the Lord for missions,
unless the Lord specifically directs them elsewhere.
    It has been a special blessing for me to recall
the actual events of our lives as missionaries to
Africa and Belize, Canada and the United States.
Each account recorded in our book "Oh Yes...God Can!"
either met a certain urgent need or caused us to lean
more heavilyupon our Lord. Each praise to the Lord
Jesus Christresulted in our loving Him more with a desire
to serve Him futher. Each soul won to the Lord brought
joy in heaven and joy to those involved.
    Every true Christian, young and old, may be used
of God to reach others. We are called to those who
need to be assured that their sins can be forgiven
and a place reserved for them in Heaven. Let us not
be satisfied until and unless we are reaching souls
for Christ, and let us never forget (Jeremiah 33:3),

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew
thee great and mighty things, which thou knoweth
not.”
  
    My prayer is that these stories in the book "Oh Yes...God Can!"
will be an encouragementand blessing to all who read them.
Together we can look forward to the great and mighty things
God will do in the future, whether here on Earth or
there in Heaven. Let's git er done!