John DeFore: How It All Started
Sin
ce the 1950's, World Bible School teachers have been sending Bible correspondence courses to students around the world.These courses were first written to encourage fellow Christians serving in the armed services. These Christian service men and women shared these lessons with others they knew who were not believers. With the passionate leadership of a few good men in the U.S., this ministry has grown to serve over two million students in 141 nations.
Imagine a man, just trying to find a place to serve in the kingdom, who discovers that this simple, low-tech way of teaching the gospel to others exactly fits his personality. He likes to work alone, and enjoys the simplicity of one-on-one correspondence without any church politics or hurry. Life leads him to GCR and he leads the ministry here to this day. But the Holy Spirit has bigger plans for this man.
Over time, his passion for excellence leads him to want to do more with this ministry. A stirring in his heart to break out from the pack and take a new direction overtakes him. He believes that personal contact with students by Christians from their own culture, in addition to the correspondence courses, could make a difference in the numbers of those who were being saved. He listens to the voice and convinces others, and the Kenyan work is transformed.
At the same time, Kenyan students of WBS are growing and maturing in their faith. Students become teachers and follow-up workers. Groups of students organize into churches and meet under mango trees and in mud huts. This is simple evangelism, just as it has been for two-thousand years, just as Christ planned for it to be. But the Holy Spirit had bigger plans for his church.
Looking around, these baby churches see the broken world they live in with new eyes. They see the lost and hurting of their community, the weakest and most fragile literally dying around them. How can they do nothing? But in a third-world nation with few resources and no money, what can they do? They do what they can, and tell the story to everyone they think can help. They tell the American man who felt that stirring in his heart, and he feels it again. He sends some money to help feed a few orphans living in church members homes, and tells the story to others who manage to send some more. But the Holy Spirit had bigger plans.
No one could have predicted the radical growth and impact of this work in the kingdom. If you had to design a growth strategy, it would not start the way this one did. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t think like we do. He doesn’t see limitations because He has none. When you think about what your impact will be in the kingdom, don’t see your limitations. Just serve where He leads you, and do what you can, the Holy Spirit has bigger plans.
Sin
ce the 1950's, World Bible School teachers have been sending Bible correspondence courses to students around the world.These courses were first written to encourage fellow Christians serving in the armed services. These Christian service men and women shared these lessons with others they knew who were not believers. With the passionate leadership of a few good men in the U.S., this ministry has grown to serve over two million students in 141 nations. Imagine a man, just trying to find a place to serve in the kingdom, who discovers that this simple, low-tech way of teaching the gospel to others exactly fits his personality. He likes to work alone, and enjoys the simplicity of one-on-one correspondence without any church politics or hurry. Life leads him to GCR and he leads the ministry here to this day. But the Holy Spirit has bigger plans for this man.
Over time, his passion for excellence leads him to want to do more with this ministry. A stirring in his heart to break out from the pack and take a new direction overtakes him. He believes that personal contact with students by Christians from their own culture, in addition to the correspondence courses, could make a difference in the numbers of those who were being saved. He listens to the voice and convinces others, and the Kenyan work is transformed.
At the same time, Kenyan students of WBS are growing and maturing in their faith. Students become teachers and follow-up workers. Groups of students organize into churches and meet under mango trees and in mud huts. This is simple evangelism, just as it has been for two-thousand years, just as Christ planned for it to be. But the Holy Spirit had bigger plans for his church.
Looking around, these baby churches see the broken world they live in with new eyes. They see the lost and hurting of their community, the weakest and most fragile literally dying around them. How can they do nothing? But in a third-world nation with few resources and no money, what can they do? They do what they can, and tell the story to everyone they think can help. They tell the American man who felt that stirring in his heart, and he feels it again. He sends some money to help feed a few orphans living in church members homes, and tells the story to others who manage to send some more. But the Holy Spirit had bigger plans.
No one could have predicted the radical growth and impact of this work in the kingdom. If you had to design a growth strategy, it would not start the way this one did. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t think like we do. He doesn’t see limitations because He has none. When you think about what your impact will be in the kingdom, don’t see your limitations. Just serve where He leads you, and do what you can, the Holy Spirit has bigger plans.
