Last Lessons #79 – EXPERIENCE

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7 

Knowledge is mostly gained by reading books (especially the Bible!) and by travelling.  Those who expect to learn only through what they see on TV or their cell phone will never gain much knowledge.  Reading books, not texting or Facebook, is how you learn. 

Wisdom is another matter.  Wisdom is gained by taking what you have learned and acting upon it.  When you take what you learn in the Scriptures and put it into practice, you become a wise person.  Solomon asked God to give him wisdom when he became king and God did so.  Solomon’s downfall came when he stopped putting what God taught him into practice. (Read 1 Kings chapters 3 and 11) 

Acting on something means making it a part of your experience.  We can think, envision, plan, and even pray about something, but until we actually do it, we don’t gain wisdom.  That is because we don’t encounter the ups and downs, the challenges, the pitfalls, and the victories associated with activity.  With experience we learn what not to do next time, and we learn what to do better.  That’s how experience gives us wisdom.   

In the twenty years that I was General Director, BSF experienced many things because we did many things.  What we did every morning was to pray for big (and little) things and then depended on God to answer our prayers according to his will.  In this way, we experienced how God enabled BSF to: 

• Expand and strengthen the Board of Directors 
• Buy two more 74-acre parcels of land for BSF 
• Build more training cottages and train more than a thousand Teaching Leaders 
• Build an auditorium and begin Teaching Leader Institutes 
• Remake the Children’s Program for day classes 
• Add a School Program for night classes 
• Start Young Adult classes 
• Buy large presses to print and ship thousands of lessons 
• Increase the number of BSF classes to close to a thousand 
• Make BSF international by establishing classes in many countries 
• Utilize Area Teams to supervise the many classes 
• Conduct one hundred area retreats 
• Add two new studies to the five original ones, namely The Life of Moses and Romans 

God answered our prayers.  Sometimes we saw immediate success, but sometimes he said “no”, and sometimes he said “wait”.  We experienced “yes”, “no”, and “wait” and so we gained wisdom.   

I am grateful for the many experiences and the wisdom God gave us during the years between 1980 and 2000.  But the most wonderful experience that I had in abundance during those years was watching how God changed my life and the lives of so many people.  I don’t know numbers, but there were many who came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there were marriages saved, there were children taught the truths of the gospel, there were churches enriched, there were ministries begun, and there were countless hearts that began to depend on the Lord alone for all of life.  What can I say?  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Last Lessons #78 – BSF MOVES

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you.”  Genesis 12:1

To continue the story, here’s how God moved BSF from Oakland, California, to San Antonio, Texas. 

In 1979 it was clear that Wetherell Johnson was ill, she was 70 years old, and she was no longer able to keep up with all the work of BSF.  Another happening that only God could do was that one of the two BSF Headquarters buildings in Oakland had slid down the mountainside by two feet!  Hmmm.

The BSF Board was ready for Wetherell to retire, but she was not ready until she had put her successor in place.  About that same time, a couple in San Antonio offered 74 acres of raw land to BSF if they would like to move to Texas.  The Board thought Texas was the end of the world!  I thought that maybe Texas was the “uttermost parts of the world”.  But the wise Board knew that the most important thing was who would lead BSF, not where BSF would be located.  By that time, Wetherell had made it clear to the Board that she wanted me to follow her.  I couldn’t imagine such a thing, but she said, “Oh it's just like being an Area Advisor, just a little bit bigger.”  That was absolutely not true!  But she believed we had the same heart and vision for BSF.  The problem was that I lived in Texas, not California!  Here’s what happened:

The Board asked me if I would become the Executive Director of BSF and move to California.  Of course, I said “no” because I was married, and Bob and I lived in Texas. 

Then they asked me if I would ask Bob to move to California.  Again, I said “no” because I would never ask my husband to leave his job and move for my sake.

Finally, they asked me if they could ask Bob to move so that I could be the Director of BSF and I said “yes” to that.

I could hardly believe it when Bob said that he would be willing to move so that I could be BSF’s Director.  I will never forget that my sweet husband was willing to sacrifice his work as a doctor so that I could fulfill the role that was needed for the wonderful ministry of BSF to go forward.  But that was my Bob. 

Once it was decided that I would be the Director, the Board agreed that BSF should take the offer of land in San Antonio and move.  Three things would be accomplished: BSF could sell its dangerous property in Oakland, BSF would be able to expand, and Bob and I would not need to move.  God’s plans are always better than anything we can imagine.  As a note, a year or two after BSF moved, the house where Miss Johnson and Miss Hertzler lived in Oakland slid completely off the mountainside.  God’s plans are always previous!

After the decision to move BSF was made and I became General Director in 1980, for the next year I traveled every month to Oakland to work with the staff there. In San Antonio we set up a temporary headquarters in a rented building near the land where a few staff from Oakland and some we hired in San Antonio worked while we got electricity and water onto the 74 donated acres.  We hired an architect and a builder and went to work.  When the Johnson Center, the Hertzler Press, and some cottages where Teaching Leaders could be trained were built, Wetherell Johnson and Alverda Hertzler moved to a house close to where Bob and I owned our house.  They wanted to be close to the work of BSF and Wetherell wanted to write her autobiography called Created for Commitment.

That’s the story of the move.  What did we learn? 

1.     When God makes it clear that you should move, do it.  He has his reasons, and it will be worth it.

2.     Moving is hard work!  Moving a whole organization half-way across the country is very hard work!  But it will be worth it.

3.     Expansion of a ministry costs money because it requires more buildings and more staff.  But it will be worth it.

4.     Vision to move, build, and expand takes faith and prayer.  And it will definitely be worth it!

I hope that you have learned (or are learning) similar lessons in your life if God is moving you somewhere – or somehow!

Last Lessons #77 – GROUPS

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  Hebrews 10:24-25

God seems to like groups.  He made a family for Adam, he made cities and nations. He makes congregations and Sunday School classes.  Christians belong to a variety of groups so that they can stir one another up for love and good works. 

Before I went to California in 1973 to be trained as a BSF teaching leader, I gathered my group (my family) to discuss how I could take on this ministry since it would place a burden on my husband and my children.  They would have to pick up the work I would normally do so that I could have time to study and attend a leaders’ meeting and class each week.  My family agreed that this was something that we should do and they encouraged me.

After my training, I needed a different group to help me get a BSF class started.  God graciously gave me a class administrator, a children’s supervisor, and a number of discussion and children’s leaders who became my best friends.

After two years of teaching BSF I was asked to be the Area Advisor for Texas and Oklahoma.  When I questioned Miss Johnson’s wisdom in asking such an inexperienced person as I was, she assured me that the job was “just like being a Teaching Leader, just a little bit bigger.” I found that was not true!  I also asked what I would do with my class and she said, “Oh, you can do both!”  Mercy!  But I did both for three years because God enabled me by giving me a team (group) to help me.  He helped me choose an Area Class Administrator and an Area Children’s Supervisor to travel with me.  They were perfect partners to complete our team.

The first time I went to Oakland, California, for a group meeting of Area Advisors, Miss Johnson shared with us that she thought she had shingles.  When I came home and told my doctor husband Bob, he suggested that she come to San Antonio where her illness could be diagnosed.  She came, went to the State Chest Hospital where Bob was Superintendent, and was diagnosed with cancer.  She stayed in our house for a week, and from that time on she insisted that I call her “Wetherell” rather than “Miss Johnson”.  We also set up another time for her to come and have surgery to remove the cancer from her spine.  Her surgery went well, and she stayed with us to recover so that I could care for her.  Needless to say, we became very close.  From that time on she called me every day and we would talk for hours about BSF.

Then in 1988 I was invited to be a member of a new group that would stir up one another to love and good works - the Board of Directors of BSF.  I couldn’t imagine how I could be of benefit to this distinguished board, but apparently God and Wetherell Johnson had a plan.

I am grateful to God that he put me in such loving and encouraging groups.  He knew that I needed to be with others.  He knew I would never accomplish any good works without other human beings to stir me up with love and encouragement.

What groups are you part of that stir you up with love and encouragement for good works?  Your family, your church, your charity group, your prayer group?  There is nothing wrong with groups like a book club, an exercise group, a sports team.  They are helpful in making friends and enjoying the good things God has prepared for this life, and they can lead to good works if you are wise in their use.  So ----

“And let us consider (think about) how to stir up one another to love and good works (in a Rafiki Bible Study Group available through www.rafikifoundation.org), not neglecting to meet together (in person), as is the habit of some (who only use electronics), but encouraging one another (with smiles and hugs), and all the more as you see the Day (that Day when the Lord returns and judges our works) drawing near.

P.S. I’m trying to start a RBS group where I live with old folks like me, extra-large print Bibles and everybody with hearing aids.  All of us here know that our “Day” is drawing near!

Last Lessons #76 – MENTORS

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”  Hebrews 13:7

No matter what one wants to accomplish in this life, it is helpful to have at least one mentor.  A mentor is a person who cares enough about you and your cause to want to encourage and help you achieve your goals – not for their benefit, but for yours. I am grateful that God has given me a few mentors.

When I went to Oakland, California to be trained as a teaching leader in BSF, I met Miss Audrey Wetherell Johnson.  She was called “Miss Johnson” as was appropriate for an English lady.  She was the General Director of Bible Study Fellowship, the writer of the notes, and the trainer of those who would teach BSF classes.  From the very first day of training, she and I connected.  I think it was because she knew that I had been a missionary.  Although she had been a missionary to China and I to Africa, still there was an immediate bond between us.  I listened to her lecture on the Scriptures, learned from her how I could prepare a lecture on a passage, learned good “rules” for class members to get the most out of their attendance.  Basically, I learned how to teach the Bible in an organized manner.  That was what I did not know how to do when I was a missionary in Africa so I was eager to learn.  Miss Johnson taught me and became my model.  I wanted to be like her and imitate her faith. 

One of the ways Miss Johnson mentored me was to introduce me to the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI). She was on the Council that was founded in 1977 to clarify and defend the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and she wanted Bob and me to be a part of the issue that was facing evangelicalism at that time. The ICBI’s goal was to prove that the Bible is not only infallible, but it is without error in all its parts.  A year later some whole denominations split over the issue of the inerrancy of Scripture.  What neither Miss Johnson nor I knew at that time was that by introducing me to the ICBI, she introduced me to another mentor for me – Dr. James Montgomery Boice.

Jim Boice was the pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.  I began listening to his radio broadcast The Bible Study Hour and reading his books.  THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE FAITH is still a classic and his commentaries and other books made me love the Bible even more than I already did.  Later, I invited Jim Boice to be on the Board of BSF and he accepted.  We became friends, but he was my mentor, especially after Wetherell Johnson died. 

Then Jim Boice introduced me to Dr. David F. Wells.  In 1993 Jim Boice put together the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (ACE) largely because of the book written by David Wells called NO PLACE FOR TRUTH.  In spite of my being a woman, and definitely not a theologian, I was asked to be on the council for ACE along with David Wells, R.C. Sproul and a few others.  I admired David Wells and he was kind enough to befriend me.  When Jim Boice died in 2000, David became the one I looked up to for counsel and truth.  I later asked him to be on Rafiki’s board and he accepted. He and his wife Jane traveled with us to Africa a number of times, and to this day David Wells is the one that I ask to keep me on track theologically and spiritually. 

Of course, I have other mentors through books that I read and preachers I listen to, but those who have helped me most through the years have been accessible to me personally.  I am convinced that anyone who wants to succeed in any endeavor, spiritual or secular, should have at least one mentor.  Usually, a mentor should be asked to fill that role in one’s life because it takes time and effort to mentor.  I am more grateful than I can say for those God gave me to teach, advise, counsel, open doors, and model a way of life and faith during my lifetime. 

I hope that God has given, or will give, you at least one person whose life you can consider and whose faith you can imitate – a good mentor.