11/28/18 – Pastor Brian’s Blog

People are remembered for many different things. I remember Bob Dyer; he invested a summer of his life to work at a Christian camp as the male counselor supervisor. Little did Bob know that he would give a message at a campfire service on Friday night, where a kid in the 7th grade would come forward to receive Christ as his personal Savior. Very few if any, could ever visualize that 7th grader becoming a pastor.

I remember Harry Bollback; Harry Bollback would later hire that same boy at the age of 30 years old, even though at the time there was a hiring freeze at Word of Life. No one realized how great an influence Harry would have on how that 30 year old man would do ministry.

Harry was recently featured in his local newspaper

I remember Norman, because he was the one that was instrumental in sending that unsaved 7th grader to camp. It was Norman who took that kid on his 1st missions trip to Teen Challenge in NYC as a senior in high school. Norman who would end up being one of the biggest cheerleaders in the life of that high school senior to become involved in full time Christian ministry, no matter where God would take him.

As I was thinking about these men this morning, my mind went to Andrew, the brother of Peter. Take a second and write down 10 things that you remember about Peter’s brother Andrew. OK, that is probably hard, make it 5 things…. 3 things… alright let me tell you one thing that God wanted us to remember about Peter’s brother Andrew… Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). John 1:40-41

There is no record of Andrew preaching sermons; I couldn’t find one miracle that Andrew ever performed and there are no books of the Bible named after Andrew. Matter of fact, after Andrew led Peter to the Messiah, it would be Peter that would become very prominent in the life and ministry of Jesus. Yet God wants us to remember Andrew as the person that brought Peter to Jesus.

So, what will you be remembered for? We need to realize God doesn’t make us all preachers, He doesn’t make us all Sunday School teachers or evangelists, He doesn’t make us all leaders in our local church, nor does God make us all wealthy so that we can make large donations to His work and get buildings named after us. But every one of us should be remembered by someone… for the ministry we have had in their lives.

Judy and I are looking for some “Andrews” to hang with us, March 21-30, 2019. We are looking for a team of 10 people that would be willing to go to Word of Life Hungary for a short terms missions trip with us. We are not necessarily looking for Bible teachers (that is my job that week, teaching students the book of Nehemiah) but we are looking for Sr high students through Sr aged adults to come and serve with us. We are looking for people like Andrew, people that just want to help bring people to Christ, and not care who gets the credit.

Judy and I have been going to Hungary for the past 15 years. Just this past year alone, we were able to teach students from 17 different countries of the world. Many of these students plan to go back into their countries, countries that are either anti-Christian, steeped in “religion” or have very little exposure to Christianity at all. Their desire is to go back into their countries, and expose their families, their friends, the people that God brings into their life to Christ, just like Andrew.

We took a team of ten from our church this past spring and were able to renovate a dorm, so that more campers and students could be reached, because the housing for campers and students was maxed. We had a beautician with us and she gave free haircuts to every student that needed or wanted one. We took teens with us, a few married couples as well as singles, and there was something for everyone to do. There are opportunities in the kitchen, in housekeeping, in general maintenance or specific projects like painting or renovations, there are even things for people to do that aren’t necessarily blessed with working with their hands, like me!!

During the week we had the opportunity to go into the homes of different staff members for dinner at night, as well as have breakfast and lunch with the students. Each evening we would have a student from a different country speak to us during our evening devotions, and a staff member share with us in our morning devotions before we went to work. We took a whole day on Saturday to tour Budapest, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We also were able to worship in a Hungarian church on Sunday.

The mission statement of WOL Hungary, I believe is much like the mission statement Andrew would have had for his part of the world… “The mission of Word of Life Hungary, is the evangelism and discipleship of the Youth of Hungary and Central Europe through means consistent with the Bible, for the building up and strengthening of the Church of Jesus Christ, with excellence, with enthusiasm, with integrity, and with a servants heart.”

If you would like to be remembered for reaching our world for Christ, and you think this might be the means God would like you to consider and pray about, here is a link you can go to get more information on the ministry of Word of Life Hungary… http://en.eletszava.org/

The cost of the trip is $1500 per person which includes round trip tickets from Boston, ground transportation while in Hungary, housing, meals, and money to help with the projects that we will be working on. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at Pastor@Centerbarnsteadcc.org or if God is not calling you to go with us, but would like to give towards funding one of our projects, just drop me an e-mail and let me know and I can give you more information.

Andrew is a great role model for all of us. We need to be looking for opportunities to bring people to Christ and then allow God to do everything else! Each of us will be remembered for something; what a great opportunity to consider leading people to Christ…not only where you are, but throughout the whole world!!


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