Words To Live By - February

“Put it in 4 Low. You're going to think: ‘I'm going to get stuck!’"

Missionary Steve Lawrenz spoke those words to me as I sat behind the wheel of my truck. He was standing at my driver's side window. We were chatting a bit before proceeding any further.

“I got stuck here for three hours one time.” Steve reminisced of another trip out to one of our Mission Outreach Congregations which lay ahead, nestled in the hills near the Luangwa River.

We were an the edge of a mire. 1 could see standing water. Bright green grasses stood tall in the soggy black soil. Swarms of insects hovered over the vegetation. It didn't just look like a bog, it smelled like one, too.

All things considered, it added up to the thought: “You're right, Steve, I AM going to get stuck!”

One of three bogs on the way to our mission outreach congregation

John Holtz following Steve Lawrenz to Simunguwo

Steve and I had rendezvoused on a main road location, but now we were off road and “in the bush.” We were on our way to a worship service. It was my first trip to this congregation at Simunguwo. Steve was 2 ½ hours from his home, I was 4 ½ hours from mine.

And still we weren't there.

We still had eight kilometers of rocks and ruts, bogs and bugs, slopes and streams to go over, around and through.

A few days before when we were planning the trip to this congregation, I had asked Steve what to bring. I anticipated an answer like a Nsenga Bible and a Nyanja Hymnal. Perhaps my camera and a notebook. He didn’t say anything about those things. His answer? A shovel, an ax and a tow rope. Now I knew why!

Steve went first. He made it across. Now it was my turn. I honestly did think, “Yep, I 'm going to get stuck.” But I didn't. Put it in 4 low. The advice was good.

I appreciate that. I treasure advice that's good. Not just for getting to congregations but also for serving them. Who wants to bottom out and just spin your wheels?

Come to think of it, who wants to do that with anything? With a marriage? A family? A working relationship? A ministry?

To refuse trustworthy advice is to get bogged down in one's own selfishness. What's worse than being mired in sin? God has a better way. Solomon once wrote: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.” (Proverbs 19:20).

The wise continue to read such books like Proverbs. It's practical. Sound. Realistic. It is truth. It is God's Word.

Especially considering who is the real Author and Inspirer, I wish I would say that I’ve always taken such sound, trustworthy advice. (I would have saved myself a lot of shoveling!)

I thank God that He's given us more than a book of proverbs. More than a book of good practical rules for holy living. I thank Him for His Words of Life!  I can't thank Him enough for the Salvation Plan that pulled us to safety!

Read Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. Read Paul's letters. Read Peter’s, too. Come to think of it, read all sixty-six books while you’re at it! You'll hear for yourself that you are forgiven! You’ll see for yourself that our salvation took much more than a tow rope and an ax. It took a cross, a beloved Son whose name means Savior, and a Plan that you and I would consider to be not much more than foolishness.

But such is the plan of Love. Such are words to live by. And that’s the Gospel Truth! 

By the way, if you're ever in the neighborhood, now that I know how to get there, I'll be glad to take you to Simunguwo.   Bring a shovel.		John Holtz Chipata, Zambia

February 2006 Communiqué

For St. Paul's Members: You can support Mission Partner John Holtz by including a special gift in the monthly offering envelop with the "Mission Partner" box or mail a gift to St. Paul's, labeling it "Mission Partner.