Missions. How familiar are you with the history of missions in the Seventh-day Adventist Church? In an Adventist World Mission article, we find the following: the first official Adventist missionary, J. N. Andrews, found his mission field in Europe in 1874. But before him there had been other "unofficial" Adventist missionaries - lay people who, on their own initiative, headed overseas to share the good news about Jesus.
Abram La Rue, a shepherd and wood cutter from California, had a burning ambition to take the good news to China. He wrote to the General Conference but was told that at 65 he was too old. Moreover, they didn't have the money to send him. Not discouraged, La Rue negotiated his way onto a ship where he could work his way to Hong Kong. He arrived there in 1888 and began preparing pamphlets for distribution.
Fourteen years later J. N. Andrews, the first official church missionary to China, arrived in 1902. La Rue witnessed the first six people baptized in that part of Asia, and he died one year later.
Fascinating, isn't it! What lead La Rue and J. N. to dedicate their lives to the mission field? The desire to prepare hearts and minds for the soon return of the coming King! For decades, the same desire has pulsated through the hearts and minds of many a missionary today, especially in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We are blessed and privileged this Sabbath to hear the stories and impact made by Jose and Stephanie Lewis.
May you, this Sabbath, find that missions still beats in the hearts and minds of many . . . maybe even your heart and mind! Yes, you can be a missionary! Perhaps not in a faraway area of the world, but simply around your neighborhood with your own neighbors! You can have an impact on some heart and mind today!
So, until the next time, this is Pastor Tello reminding you that thoughts do change lives!
Pastor Howard Tello