As I was pulling into the parking space at my church yesterday, another car was pulling up also. The man in the car called to me and told me his name and why he was there. I knew someone from his group would be coming so we chatted as we walked into the building.
Entering the building I introduced the man and his wife to our pastor and we all settled into the classroom used for the adult Sunday School.. This couple fitted into our group and the conversation that takes place prior to the lesson.
The lesson for that morning was very appropriate as we were hearing more about how the written word was selected to become part of the Bible. Previously we had studied the Apocrypha and learned why it was not a part of most Christian Bibles. The visitor injected one fact which I had not thought of. He said "Jesus did not speak of the books in the Apocrypha", whereas he did speak of other parts of the Old Testament. Our pastor (our teacher) agreed that this indeed was true.
After the class we all gathered in the fellowship hall for coffee, tea and tasty nibbles brought in by one of the ladies. This is a time to catch up with our other members and get acquainted with visitors. Each Sunday a different lady plays hostess to this time of fellowship. Our guests joined in and enjoyed the comradery .
When we all gathered in the sanctuary and after the children's sermon our expected guest was introduced and welcomed to the pulpit. He told a compelling story about how one of the red, new testaments which his group distributes, was used in a prison.
It seems that a man had been sent to prison for murder. He had been given one of the small red, new testaments. He used it to roll into cigarettes. He had been doing this for years. One day as he held the burning cigarette in his hand he noticed some words at the end of the burning paper. What he saw said "be free". That caught his attention. He put out the burning paper and tried to read more, but it was all destroyed by fire. He could not even see what page it was in the little book. He waited eagerly for the little red bibles to be distributed again and when he got his he started at the beginning to read it through looking for how to "be free". By the time he had read it through, he understood the kind of freedom that it was describing. He was overcome with a burning desire to know more. The rest of the story is that he eventually was released and he spent the rest of his life telling others how they too could be free. He did this from the pulpit for the rest of his life.
The gentleman who was telling this story from the pulpit of our church was a member of a different denomination than ours. Also he was a committed member of an international group of men and women whose purpose is to distribute Bibles in every language all over the world.
His purpose in visiting us was to solicit funds to purchase more Bibles. Once a year we have someone from his group, called Gideons, come to speak to us. Any who can help, support these efforts.
Most of the year we are focused on other missions like our Good News at Noon, our Day Care, Food Pantry, Boxes of Love (for down on their luck folks), Change for Children, Joy Gift to retired church leaders, and Santa Express (at Christmas for folks in Presbyterian Homes). But one time a year we change our focus for that day to help fund an international effort to hopefully enlighten someone in life's journey. Each year a different representative is welcomed into our group to remind us that there are many whose burden could be lifted by our small gifts.
We enjoyed this friendly couple who happened in for a few hours. It is interesting how quickly a bond can be forged with strangers who have a common core belief. I do not know if I will ever see them again as they live in a different part of the county, but it gave me an enduring memory and for a brief time an opportunity to reach out to care about some I will never meet. Hopefully those someones will also know about the freedom that we shared this day.
