When I was young, missionaries came to my hometown in Willowvale (KuGatyane) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and built a school, planted a church and spent years evangelizing our hearts with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They did that in a very practical way, teaching and practising the gospel of love, charity and by modelling true works of grace and compassion. They were young themselves, worked so hard, sacrificed a lot and often had little fruit to show for it. I was 14 when I left that school. Thousands of verses, Christian songs, and memories had been planted. These missionaries were salt and light amongst us, but was their ministry fruitful or in vain? Was there value in their ministry as they bore light and weaved salt among the inhabitants of a small town in South Africa?
When all Salt and Light Seems Lost
When I left primary school, many things happened. Being a Christian was not popular in high school or ‘cool’ in varsity so I pursued life on my own terms. I think if one were to survey my life at the time, one would have concluded that the work of those missionaries was in vain.
I committed myself to a life of partying and riotous living. It was like an act of defiance, I had somehow managed to lock up all I knew to be true about God. I convinced myself along the way that God was a stumbling block and an obstacle between me and a prosperous life. The Bible became a nightmare of inconsistencies to me, a written manual to restrict and keep me in check.
Suddenly nothing made sense. I lost sight of the offer of salt and light.
When Salt and Light Break through the Darkness
It wasn’t until 31 December 2013 that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ meant something to me again. There was nothing life-altering or significant that happened. I just felt these intense feelings of emptiness, a flood of negative emotions so bad that I wanted the ends of the earth to swallow me up for good and erase my existence. I wanted to end my life and die. My soul was downcast, sunk low and disturbed for no specific reason.
But something told me not to pray. I heard the pressing idea that ‘God is mad at you; your prayers will not reach heaven’. I thought my voice would send my prayers to the ceiling and then they would fall right back down from the open air into my sad soul.
The proclamation of the gospel saved my life literally and spiritually. But it came from the act of obedience from a group of missionaries from the USA 13 years before.
Yet, as I sat there, stuck, thinking of possible ways to end my life, I started to recall some of those verses that the missionaries had taught me at school. Their message became good news to me. Verses like Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul.” And Acts 17:28, “For in Him we live and move and have our being”. I cried out to God to forgive and save me. I prayed “Our Father who art in heaven” just like we used to at school.
The proclamation of the gospel saved my life literally and spiritually. It came from the act of obedience of a group of missionaries from the USA 13 years before. I do not know why God took over 13 years to bring me into full repentance, but what I do know is that their ministry was not in vain.
You Can’t Go on Appearances
My testimony brings to mind Mark 4:14-20. “The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
If they looked on appearances, I would have seemed lost and their ministry seemingly invaluable. They would never see the fruit their ministry bore later in my life.
On appearance, my life must have been a discouragement to these missionaries. I must have looked like rocky or thorny ground. Year on year they kept encouraging and equipping us to worship Jesus Christ and yet I seemed to fall away. If they looked on appearances, I would have seemed lost and their ministry seemingly invaluable. They would never see the fruit their ministry bore later in my life.
Look to What is Unseen
Did these missionaries not desire to be affirmed by seeing immediate fruitful results of their ministry in my life? Did they not want to know if their steps of faith would have transformative implications for the souls of the children they taught?
Do not underestimate the value of ministry. Do not look at the fruit you see. Keep labouring for the Lord. Don’t hold onto what is seen but onto the prospect of an unseen seed that might flourish. As 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”. Sheep may wander, but we hold onto the truth that the Great Shepherd will bring into the fold those who are his. As this verse bears witness, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4).
We need to look at the bigger picture of the obedience of these missionaries and the results of that obedience. This group of missionaries became a preservative to save a life from decay. They became instrumental in Jesus saving a life from damnation. Their ministry was worthwhile even if they would never see the fruit.
