I was home on furlough from Guyana, South America. It was my privilege to be invited back to speak to a church of which I was pastor eleven years earlier. We brought a missionary message and explained that we would use volunteer construction teams to build a new church building in New Amsterdam, Berbice, Guyana when we returned to the field. I was surprised to see Larry in the congregation. I had tried to win Larry to Christ during much of the eleven years I served there as a pastor. During those years, he showed very little interest in attending church, or serving the Lord. We did not make any progress for him, and I left there feeling he would never be involved with the Lord’s work. Now, it was a pleasant surprise to see him in attendance many years later.

After the service, he came up to greet me and said, “I just wanted you to know your time spent on me was not wasted.” Then he explained that, sometime after I left the church field, the Holy Spirit really began to convict him about his need for Christ in his life. He had given his life to Christ and was serving Him. He had been on volunteer mission trips to the Ukraine and Belize. He had also worked with mission volunteer teams in the USA helping disaster teams minister to hurricane victims.

“God willing, I’ll be able to do at least two volunteer trips a year,” he said. “I have a lot of wasted time to make up.” Then he added, “About those volunteer teams for Guyana … God wants me to help you with that!”

The next year, Larry did come to Guyana. He was the leader of a team of Baptists from North Carolina. They not only helped build the building, but they helped everyone in New Amsterdam know about the location of the church. They gave away thousands of balloons, tracts, T-shirts, and Bibles which were distributed throughout the town. A news team, from the local television station, came to document all the excitement. The reporter interviewed Larry and asked why the team had come from the USA to help build a church in Guyana. Larry was able to give a clear testimony about Christ working in his life. What a joy to see him and the others on the evening news. I reflected on his words spoken earlier … “Your time spent on me was not wasted.”

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Co. 15:58

True Story from the book “Not Return Void” Copyright © 2000 H. Warren Rice — All Rights Reserved Used by permission Book Inquiries: warren-bette-rice@juno.com