Opposition or Persecution?
I am starting to write this article on the plane for Chicago to attend the Moody Missions Conference. Prior to this, I attended part of the STEER Conference. We have such an amazing affinity with STEER. Many of the STEER Board members or representatives attend churches we serve. They too are burdened for country churches and many express to me how much they would like to see the money increase given through STEER to Village Missions. Soon I am going to make the STEER DVD available to all our missionaries and encourage you to show it to any farmers or ranchers in your congregation. STEER has money available for what they call “units” but they need farmers and ranchers to take those units. It is up to the farmer where the money for missions goes as long as it is a STEER approved mission. They may want to provide you with support or may want to provide support to Village Missions. It is a fantastic way to provide funding for missions from farmers and ranchers who often don’t have much of a cash flow.
I left the STEER conference early to travel with Tim and Fern Wyrick to Ridgeway, MT to speak at their Fifth Anniversary of being served by Village Missions. Ridgway would be right up there in qualifying for our most remote field. There are no paved roads in any direction for at least twenty miles. All of the roads are on“gumbo” clay that becomes virtually impassable with any kind of rain. Started by a group of ranchers in 1977, the congregation has faithfully persevered through the years. Village Missions turned down their requests for leadership twice in the past but when I became Executive Director and they requested leadership a third time, I felt burdened to provide leadership to them if we could find the right couple. We have! Tim and Fern love it there although they have to travel over 100 miles for groceries. They have done an incredibly good job of building relationships. The church will probably never be able to pay the full salary of their Village Missionary. Nevertheless, the people there are the kind of people that produce missionaries that change the world. I am thrilled that we are a mission that is willing to invest in a small church in a small place like Ridgeway. I am also thrilled that we have young couples like Tim and Fern and many others that are willing to go to the “out-of-the-way” places like Ridgway to “Preach the Word and love the people.”
Well, back to the Moody Missions Conference. The theme of the conference is “Standing for the Truth-Suffering for His Name” and has to do with the persecuted church. For the past few years, the themes have not had much to do with our ministry. Two years ago, I believe the theme was ministry to Muslims and last year the theme was reaching youth across the world. I met with the head of the Missions Department and asked him to include Village Missions, although the theme this year again didn’t really have much to do with our ministry. He very graciously agreed to do so and so, here I am on my way to Chicago.
Yet, in spite of the theme stretch, preparing for the seminars I will teach has been a rewarding experience. I especially appreciated hearing from Village Missionaries on ways in which some were opposed for the stands they took. Some accounts have been actually funny, although they probably weren’t funny at the time. Below is Duane Waite’s account of his arrival at a church:
As we drove into the driveway of parsonage – a neighbor who had been given the key to let us in greeted me. (He didn’t attend church – but he did everything he could to help and encourage us while we were there.) He called a deacon, who was also the treasurer to come and help us move in. When he arrived, he approached me with these greeting words, “We move ‘em in – and we move ‘em out.” I could see quite plainly that I would have a challenge before me. The real crises came when I started preaching on the letters to the churches in Rev. 2-3. At the monthly “Standing Committee Meeting” (which included all the officers of the church), I was asked not to preach any more from the Book of Revelation – there had been lots of revelation since that book was written. The spokesman was the deacon/treasurer. Then he added, “Preach from the Reader’s Digest – or we will write your sermons for you.” At first, I thought he was just “kidding” – but when I looked into his eyes, there was no doubt that he was serious. I didn’t have words to properly respond to this challenge. Right then, the fire whistle blew at the fire station – all the men were “automatically on the fire department” – so we all left abruptly to attend to a fire which consumed a complete set of farm buildings. What a price that farmer had to pay to get me “off the hook.” As I could not comply to their demands, I gave my resignation with full backing from Mr. Duff.
I’m sure glad we didn’t have a missionary that was willing to preach from the Reader’s Digest! I wonder whatever happened to that church. I laughed at the story but it is also tragic as well knowing that a church presumably naming the name of Jesus Christ did not want to hear from Him in the preaching of His Word.
Other stories were much more current and disturbing. One new and young missionary couple graciously but firmly did not allow a couple who was living together to take part in the worship team. They took their stance with full consultation of their District Representative. Unfortunately, this generated a campaign by other family members, creating uproar in the church. We have left that church and reassigned the couple. Interestingly, the church we reassigned the couple to appreciated their courage in taking the stand. I certainly do! I rejoice also that we as a Mission can provide counsel in such a situation and can support the couple if the church turns against them. An independent pastor in a rural church or any church for that matter would be without a job and in immediate need of another position.
I am out of space and the plane is about to land, so I will continue this subject in next month’s article. My seminar will cover two major areas: the opposition we sometimes deserve and the opposition we don’t deserve. I will write about the opposition we sometimes deserve in next month’s article. I Peter 2:19-20 speaks of those who suffer because of their sin and those who suffer because of their godliness. Any discussion of opposition, I believe, must include awareness that we can create problems for ourselves. We must have an awareness of our behavior and motives and ask ourselves if we have contributed unnecessarily to the opposition we face. In a subsequent article, I will consider various examples of how we may experience opposition when we take a godly stance. By the way, I hope I don’t scare any students away from ministry with some of Village Missionary stories!
