From Bogata to Burkburnett: Prayer partners add note of grace to Africa trip

BY RICHARD B. HEARNE
NTC Board of Laity, Chair

A friend of mine, one of the finest Christians I know, felt that a medical school classmate was exhibiting a much greater love of God and following God’s will by becoming a medical missionary to Africa while my friend stayed in the United States. When he expressed this feeling to his missionary doctor friend, his friend simply responded, “you don’t have to cross the sea to see the cross,” powerful words that again indicate that we all have different gifts and graces and God calls each of us to specific ministries. Some are called to travel to mission fields and others are call to provide love, support, prayers and sometimes financial assistance from home. While 30 members from congregations in North Texas answered the call to cross the sea, 30 others stayed home and saw the cross by offering daily letters of support for the brothers and sisters in Christ.

Many of us have heard for many years that it is more of a blessing to give than to receive. This was proved again during the NTC delegation’s July Africa trip to dedicate the Bishop Alfred E. Norris Health Centre at Africa University. As the group prepared to go to Africa, Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe asked me to recruit persons to write daily letters of support/prayer for each member of the delegation. Much to my surprise, everyone I asked to write agreed to do so and considered it an honor and privilege.

The first step was to recruit the letter writers. For those delegation members that I knew, I asked persons that were members of their churches or were personal friends. In the case of the eight persons that were not local, I recruited persons that I knew that would be willing to help with this project even though they did not personally know the delegation members.

Each letter writer was provided a daily itinerary, asked to write one letter for each day detailing their support and specific prayer concerns and asked to write the letters anonymously until the last day. The letters were written and delivered to me prior to our departure on July 13th.

The first letters were delivered to the delegation upon our arrival in Johannesburg, South Africa after almost 24 hours of continuous travel. Thereafter, the letters were delivered each morning after the morning devotional.

The impact of the letters was great on both the recipients and the writers. General comments from the writers were that:

• It was a honor and privilege that caused me to stop and focus on the importance of supporting someone tasked to witness, process and convey effectively what they feel God would like to make known;
• My wife and I were intentional with our prayers during our daily devotional time;
• Like being one of the travelers sharing the spirit of the trip;
• The impact was greater on me than on him (recipient);
• I am blessed to have been a very small part of that journey;
• I was led to a great humility as I looked up appropriate Bible verses to accompany the note;
• It was a blessing for me and I felt I was part of the blessing of the team.

The recipients commented that they were:

• In awe of the ministry of love that was provided by the inspiring notes and even though we were 8,000 miles apart;
• We felt very connected;
• I was at peace knowing I was being held up in prayer;
• She put her heart into each note, and I have no doubt that God heard each prayer;
• We may never know this side of heaven the full impact of this service to us and I truly
  believe that things went as smoothly as they did for us because we had so many partners
  in prayer lifting us up while we were so far away.

While the trip to Africa had many highlights for the delegation, the letters of support/prayer were surely among the greatest. The “connection” has never been stronger.