(July 23, 2021) Erica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, shares a personal reflection…

What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘Missions’?

You’ll probably say: the ‘lost’ and that would be right.

A lost man
There was a young man who was totally lost.

He had lost his career, his home, his future, his dreams. He was so lost people had given up on him. He drank himself to oblivion every day and often had wild fits of violence. Friends would bring him to his desperate wife each night, where she would endure his frustrating beatings. She had resorted to hiding money so she would have enough to feed her son.

One night this wild he met a humble missionary. He was reading the story of the Prodigal Son with a very heavy accent.

Despite the missionary’s inadequacies, the Holy Spirit reached into that miserable man’s heart and on the earthen floor of that poor church this wretched man wept his heart out. He wept for a very long time and asked God the Father to forgive him. When he got up, Bruno Frigoli was a different man.

That man was my father!

Another lost man
There was another young man who also was totally lost!

If you were to ask him, though he would not admit it; he thought he had it altogether. He was a world traveller and found life and people interesting. Along his travels he had tried a bit of every religion on offer and then some. He had dabbled in yoga, eastern religions, a bit of drugs: the lot!

But one day he ran into a simple, humble missionary living in the middle of jungle area. The missionaries were very hospitable and welcomed him to stay for a while. One night as they were talking the missionary challenged him with these simple words: ‘You’ve been in so many places, and you’ve done so many things, but son, you’re still searching!’

The young man went to his room indignant at the missionary’s remarks. But something about the challenge made him cry out: ‘God, if you are real, then show me.’  In a blink of an eye, he was on his knees weeping his heart out. He realised that all this time he had been searching for God and now his search would be over. And when he stood up, Chris Grace was a brand-new man.

That man became my husband!

What do I think of when I hear the word ‘Missions’? I think of something very, very personal.

I think of two godly men who by earthly standards would be considered fools, weak and worthless. But because they were obedient to God’s calling and faithfulness to God’s leading, they were at their posts at the right time, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through them. In their humble service they helped change not just the lives of the two most important men in my life, but through them, the lives of many.

Only eternity will tell how far-reaching the ministry of each faithful servant of God will be. I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait!

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Erica Grace is author of Foundations for the Family, a biblical teaching series suitable for whole congregations. She and her husband, Chris, are warmly welcomed itinerant ministers. Link: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com
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