The Tomato Story

Yesterday was one of those days that I don't think I'll ever forget...

Dr. Blessman got a call from Richard at the Pietersburg 100 Rotary Club. Richard shared that he had a lot of tomatoes to donate to Blessman Ministries Inc.

We stopped by last night to pick up the donation, only to find out that there were 20 crates of tomatoes for us! We filled up the entire back end of Dr Blessman's SUV with tubs of tomatoes and loaded about 6 more tubs onto the luggage racks.

After loading them up, we looked at each other and said, "We have a lot of tomatoes to find a home for!"

Dr Blessman had an idea for where quite a few of the tubs would go: a local pastor and his church, the workers at Shikwaru game reserve by our home and the kids at Lighthouse Church. But we had about 4-5 tubs of tomatoes (probably 75 pounds each) that we didn't know where to take them. We wanted them to go where they would be the most beneficial. We were thanking the Lord, and silently asking the Lord to lead us to the exact person (or communities) as we drove around.

We pulled into a Welfare complex and talked with the headmaster. He said they were government funded, and that they had a contract with a food vendor so they weren't actually interested in our tomatoes. They did say that around back, behind their complex, was a facility that housed mentally handicapped males. As we drove around the outside of their fence on a dirt road, my heart sank as we pulled up to the gate of the "other" facility. The facility that no one could see. The forgotten facility. The facility that houses males that people want to forget about. A facility that houses unwanted and undesired people.

There was garbage lining the entrance way, and young men were milling about everywhere. Windows were broken out, and the buildings were in great disarray. We asked one of the residents where the Administration building was at and his reply was that it was the "green building." We didn't see a green building, but we did see a building with a green roof. Close enough.

We drove over and met with the head master. Actually, he came out and met us at our vehicle as we pulled in. He was a truly genuine man and Dr Blessman and I both had instantaneous fellowship with him. He had a huge heart and a warm smile. He greeted us like we were brothers. Dr Blessman shared a little bit about our ministry and explained that our local Rotary Club had donated a lot of tomatoes, and would these tomatoes be beneficial to the residents at this facility? The headmaster's response is something I'm still trying to compute. I'm not sure where to file the following words that came out of his mouth...

You see, all the staff were supposed to leave at 3:00 that afternoon. By this time it was almost 4:30. They should've been home already. They should've been with their families, probably starting to cook dinner. The problem was that this facility had no food. None. They had been talking and praying since 3:00 about how they were going to feed all 140 males at their facility the next day. There was literally no food left. Their shelves were bare. As we drove in, one of the assistants looked at the headmaster and said, "there's your answer."

We learned about their situation and went to our storage facility about 5 minutes away and gave the headmaster 10 cases of rice packets from Meals from the Heartland. They filled up the whole back end of his truck. They said they would mix the tomatoes with the rice packets and make soup...for days.

Do you have any idea how humbling it is to ask the Lord "what do you want us to do?" and then as you listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, you become the answer to someone else's prayer? All glory to God.

I know that our ministry is making a difference. I know that we feed 7000 orphans a day in 30 feeding centers throughout South Africa. I know that we have an internet café to teach children computer skills and an after school program to teach them Christanity. I know that we are deeply involved with an orphanage about 30 minutes away, some of whom are infected with the AIDS virus. I've heard the stories, but the "tomato story" was different. This was something I was directly involved in. I witnessed it. You know what it did? It increased my faith. Are we going to go back to that "forgotten facility" and give them shoes? You bet. Are we going to partner with them and make sure they get more rice packets? You better believe it. Am I going to pray for my new friend, the headmaster - and a pastor? Absolutely. And I pray that as you get a glimpse into the life of a missionary pouring out his heart on a random Thursday for a country he loves, that your faith will be increased too. That you will ask the Lord "What do you want ME to do today?" Listen to him. Be lead of the Holy Spirit, and maybe the "tomatoes" you have will be the answer to someone's else's prayer as well. 

May you be encouraged.

The Greatest Missionary

I never thought that I would be someone in full time missions. Now we live in Africa.

When I was a small boy I was torn between becoming a racecar drive and a dinosaur. Throughout college, although I was in student ministry, my focus and pursuit was the medical field. When I graduated and found my first job, I believed I had found my career. Looking back now, it was just a training ground for where we are today. It humbles me that the Lord has chosen us to be sent out into the world. There have been countless missionaries before us, and the road is well paved, and yet it still seems so surreal. I love my calling and I count it a privilege to be full time in ministry. Am I any more of a missionary now than I was when I worked for the Reference Laboratory and was in lay college ministry? No. Am I any more of a missionary now than when I worked as a Medical Technologist? No. Is this new vocation God’s direction in my life? Yes. I’ve preached for years “be a missionary wherever you go.” It doesn’t matter what you’ve chosen as your vocation in life. Our chief responsibility is to hear from the Lord and be lead by the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves pure so as to not have anything come between our soul and the Savior.

As humans, we often like to think about “who is the greatest?” The greatest football player? Walter Payton. The greatest author? Shakespeare. The person that is the best at a particular gifting. The best at making money? Bill Gates (among others). The best salesman? Most politicians. You get the point. What about who was the greatest missionary? Was it someone like Billy Graham, David Livingston or George Muller? Although all of these were great missionaries, the greatest of them all was Jesus Christ.

Jesus left his eternal dwelling place. The place he had always known for all of eternity. He left the perfect unity of fellowship with the Father to come to this earth. The place that he had created became what wasn’t intended to be. The sin cursed earth needed a Redeemer and he was sent. You would think that all of humanity would instantaneously bow at his feet in gratitude and thanksgiving but instead “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (Jn 1:11). But he still came. He was obedient to the will of the Father.

I was blown away by a verse that I read recently. I’ve read this verse countless times but it jumped off the page and into my heart this past week. “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” (Jn 3:34) Jesus has been sent. He was the greatest missionary of all time. He left his eternal dwelling place and came to earth. He left the familiar (purity) and came to a place of unfamiliarity (sin and its consequences). He came to those that didn’t know him, despised him, rejected him and ultimately put him to death. As a sent one, he was the voice, the oracle of God, representing the Father in all ways. Was he alone on his journey? No. He had a helpmate, the Holy Spirit, the paraclete – one who comes up beside, a helper.

In human terms, we usually think of things that ultimately get depleted and run out. Food, money, gasoline, batteries etc run out. When we use something, it ends up becoming empty, depleted, broken or useless over time. It’s one of the laws of our universe. There is one major exception though and Jn 3:34 emphasizes it: the unending supply of the Holy Spirit. We have been given a gift that doesn’t run out. An infinite, limitless supply. This principle of a limitless supply of the Holy Spirit applies not only to Jesus, but to us as well. First, we see God – the creator and sustainer of life, has a will and a purpose for us. He had a purpose for Christ, and he has a will for all of humanity. This same Creator sends us out – those that respond by faith to his will, to accomplish his will here on earth. As we are responsive to the will of God, we can be his mouthpiece. Just as Christ was the voice of God, so we are called to vocalize the will of God. To speak as we are spoken to through the conduit called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that channel by which we get our marching orders. With the Holy Spirit comes incredible blessings, like a limitless supply of power, strength and truth. It doesn’t run out. The Holy Spirit doesn’t become tired, spent, exhausted or worn out like all of creation. The Holy Spirit is limitless! Without limit, without end.

I challenge you to consider your ways. Are you God’s servant, being lead out to in a missional way to represent him each and every day? God doesn’t call every person into full time missions in another culture (it wouldn’t make sense, who would represent him in the stores, factories, organizations and companies in every part of the world??) he has you just where he wants you. You are to be his mouthpiece. You are sent into the world to speak his voice. Where does your strength, power, courage, boldness and vitality come from? A limitless supply of the Holy Spirit. Ask that the Lord would clearly confirm your calling and to fill you in a greater way with the limitless supply of the Holy Spirit and just see what happens…

May you be encouraged.