April 2006
Dear Friends,
In March, I (Glen) had the privilege of attending a retreat for
PC(USA) mission personnel serving in central and west Africa.
These retreats only happen about every five years, so I was especially
excited to be in Ghana in time to participate. So too was I excited
about seeing old missionary friends Barry Almy and Betsy McCormick,
whom I hadn’t seen in 12 years, and Jeff and Christi Boyd,
whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years. It was also a great chance
to get to know other PC(USA) missionaries and WMD Staff in our
new area and to begin to establish some important relationships
with them. I thought I had incredibly high expectations with a
guarantee of fulfillment. I was on top of the world. To my own
shame, what I hadn’t counted on was that even more amazing
“connectional” piece of work that the Lord does so
often for us in mission, which left me and many others tearfully
joyous, stunned into silent reverence, and even more grateful
for the honor of being in a holy place at a holy time.
Here’s how it happened. During the retreat each of us missionaries
and staff were taking turns introducing ourselves and sharing
a bit of our testimony. On this particular afternoon, Gloria Garcia
began by asking permission of Valerie Shepard to tell “the
story they shared.” Gloria was born in Ecuador. She and
her husband Andrés served with the PC(USA) in Latin America
for many years. In 2002 they were reassigned to work in Equatorial
Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa. With tears
in her eyes and a voice cracking with emotion, Gloria pointed
to Valerie and said, “I just found out that her father was
Jim Elliott. He is the one whose death brought me to faith in
the Lord Jesus.”
Jump back to January 8, 1956. All that was left of the small
plane was small portions of the yellow wing cloth covering flapping
in the wind. Ecuadorian Auca machetes had hacked it to pieces.
Missionaries Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint,
and Roger Youderian had paid the ultimate price for their faith.
They were martyred while trying to take the gospel to what was
called the “fiercest people on earth.” A team made
up of military and missionaries later recovered the spear-pierced
bodies downriver. Jim Elliott had just shortly before penned those
immortal words “No fool is he who gives up what he cannot
keep in exchange for what he cannot lose.” These words have
always meant such a great deal to me personally, but to see the
emotion in these two women’s meeting will forever impress
upon me a far greater appreciation for them than I could ever
have thought possible. I was transformed. That’s one of
the things that serving in mission does. It transforms the one
who goes.
If you want to know more about Valerie’s dad’s story,
you can find it in her mother’s (Elizabeth Elliott) book
Through Gates of Splendor, in the award winning documentary
“Beyond The Gates of Splendor,” or in the full-length
dramatic motion picture, “End of the Spear,” which
was released nationwide in the United States in January 2006.
Valerie Shepard and her husband Walt were appointed PC(USA) missionaries
to the Congo in 2005, just in time to be at this once-every-five-years
retreat. How amazing our Lord is to orchestrate such a meeting,
and that I would have the honor of witnessing this. Friends, God
continues to use Presbyterian mission in exciting ways, and this
is why we are so thankful to you that we can be a part of it.
Yes, there is work to be done, and we are busily engaged in that
work to bring the world to Christ and Christ to the world, but
isn’t it good to know that even and sometimes especially
when we are tired and just need some time to relax and enjoy Christian
fellowship that the Lord provides just the encouragement we need?
I feel honored to be serving amongst such giants. I continue
to be impressed with the caliber of people I am meeting in the
PC(USA) mission field. Unfortunately, we are also living in an
age when the funding of international mission is increasingly
difficult. Presbyteries and congregations are either keeping increasing
proportions of their money at home or sending it to mission organizations
and parachurch ministries outside the denominational system. And
that is hurting our precious and godly heritage. When you look
at the history of Presbyterian mission, you are looking at one
of the greatest mission histories in the world. My hope is that
you will continue to read up on the amazing things that are being
done in the name of the Lord by Presbyterian missionaries around
the world and work within your congregation and your presbytery
to turn things around so that someday down the road others will
reflect back on these times, embrace, and recall the great things
the Lord was doing today through PC(USA) mission.
Thanks for the privilege of serving on your behalf and in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Glen Hallead (for the family)
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
121 |
