A Love Lessons blog entry from a few years ago:
I just came from the Sunday Service here at the Michael Job Center for Orphan Girls. They expect me to preach when I’m here but I’ve been struggling all week to come up with what the Lord would have me say. I had nothing. As I listened to them sing at the start of the service, Uncle John shuffled over and showed me a verse. It was Revelation Chapter 3 Verse 20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Now you need to understand a little bit about Uncle John. John is in his late 70s, with an extremely hunched-over back from osteoporosis and awful sciatica pain. His foot bothers him too so he shuffles along quite slowly when he walks. John and his wife Margarita volunteer here for months at a time. Their paycheck is deposited each week in heaven. Even though they are old and in very deteriorating health, they come to help at the orphanage. He cuts vegetables in the kitchen, and she teaches the little children. So John hobbled up to me, showed me this passage, and asked if he could read it to the church as if it was my decision to make. Of course, I told him Yes!
So after all the singing was over…
I’m sorry I need to explain how the kids worship here at the Center. First, they stand up and start singing, they sing loud and with excitement and spirit. And they keep singing. They will sing like that for an hour sometimes, standing and praising God. Then they will close their eyes and pray. And such prayers they are – real and personal and well… just real. Then with eyes still closed they will start singing again and keep on singing and worshiping God, sometimes for another hour. Then they look to me for preaching and this morning I had nothing to give them except Uncle John and his one verse.
So after the singing was over I helped Uncle John climb up the steps to the top of the stage of the chapel. I helped him stand at the podium so that he could read his old English Bible to these new English-speaking girls. I held the microphone so they could hear HIS words. John started around verse seven and it seems he spoke for a long time. For many of these girls, it was a foreign language. I silently prayed as he was speaking that the Lord would open their ears and touch their hearts. Uncle John missed a lot of words. He lost his place a few times. He slurred his speech. His voice was shaking as he became pretty emotional at the end but verse 20 was loud and clear. “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.” Those words were clear. Crystal clear.
At the end of the reading, John gave a very clear, simple, and understandable Gospel. Billy Graham couldn’t have done better than this Old Englishman. The greatest believers, the wisest theologian, and the most practiced of tongues could not have improved upon the Salvation message from this elderly kitchen helper. He invited all those who wanted to open the door of their heart to Christ, to see him after the service and he would show them how. Then he stepped back from the podium. What could I add to that I asked myself. What could I say?
I had nothing more than my witness. So I told them my story. How I had become a Christian. How I was homeless and hopeless living on the streets of South Florida when these strange people called Christians loved and unlovable me. How they fed me and cared for me, and gave me a place to sleep in their mission. How they showed love to me when I was one of the least lovable beings. And this love of theirs was proof to me that their Gospel was true. That’s why I believed their Good News – because of their love. So I told my story, I gave my witness.
After the service, John and I were sitting next to each other on the steps of the chapel stage waiting. We watched hundreds walk away. I told John not to be discouraged. It was our job to be witnesses; it was the Holy Spirit’s job to call them. After many minutes had passed, most had left and as I was preparing to stand and take my leave, about 12 young women and girls came up to us where we were sitting, knelt down, and asked John to show them how to be Christians. The old vegetable cutter did.
It was a good Sunday Service Love Lesson here at the Michael Job Center for Orphan Girls (where we take care of the daughters of martyred Christians), Near Sular Lake, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Neighbor Tom