Dear Friends,
You may have heard the slogan. “I want to be like Mike,” The slogan
is a reference to the great Michael Jordan, and the legendary basketball skills
he possessed. But as much as I might have wanted “to be like Mike,” there is
another person I would rather model and be like, and his name is Barnabas.
“Barnabas who”, you might be asking?
Barnabas is one of the most impressive, and yet least known
characters in the Bible. Wherever he appears, he is found encouraging someone,
exhorting someone, or sacrificing himself and his resources for the benefit of
others. Barnabas was other centered, and that’s a wonderful definition of
encouragers; they are other centered, always looking for opportunities to come
along side others and lift them up with the gift of encouragement.
There are many people, who are like Barnabas, live to encourage
others, but one of the greatest of these was a man named Bob Pierce. Bob Pierce
was used by God to start World Vison, one of the greatest outreach ministries
of compassion the world has ever known.
David Jeremiah in his book The Joy of Encouragement shares
the following example of Bob Pierce’s encouraging spirit.
“Shortly before his death (of leukemia), Bob had the opportunity
to fulfill one of his deepest desires. A man who had been called as a
missionary under Pierce’s ministry was serving the Lord in Indonesia. His name
too, was Bob- Bob Williams. He had acquired the nickname “Borneo Bob” because
of his great love for the people of that region.”
“Even though he was very ill, Bob Pierce went to Indonesia one
last time to see Borneo Bob. When he arrived, Borneo Bob took him around and
showed him what God was doing through the various missionary outreaches which
had been partially financed by World Vision. As they were going through some of
the villages, they came to a river. As they approached the river, they noticed
a girl lying on a bamboo mat. Bob Pierce asked Borneo Bob what she was doing
there. Borneo Bob explained that she was dying from cancer and had just a few
days to live.”
“The news filled Pierce with anger- not at anyone in particular,
just anger at the situation. He asked Borneo Bob, ‘Why is this girl lying down
here in the mud when she should be up in the clinic with somebody to take care
of her?’”
“Borneo Bob explained that the girl was from the jungle and
preferred to be near the river where it was cooler. She had asked to be put
there. So, Bob Pierce, the consummate encourager, went over and got down on his
knees in the mud. He took the girl’s hand and began to stroke it. He prayed for
her. She didn't understand anything he said, but after he prayed, she looked up
and said something to him. Bob Pierce turned to Borneo Bob and asked, ‘What did
she say?’”
“He replied, ‘She just said, if I could only sleep again, if I
could only sleep again.’ Her cancer was so painful she couldn't sleep. Bob
Pierce began to cry. He reached into his pocket, took out his bottle of
sleeping pills, and gave them to Borneo Bob, instructing him, ‘You make sure
this young lady gets a good night's sleep as long as these pills last.’”
“Doctor Bob Pierce was 10 days from Singapore, the closest place
he could get his medication refilled. His gift meant he would go 10 nights
without any sleep; without those pills, the pain from his own leukemia would
keep him wide awake.”
Jeremiah concludes his story with these words: “No matter how much
it hurts, encouragers find a way. I didn't know Bob Pierce personally, but I
can't help thinking that every night during those ten days, as he lay awake in
pain, he thanked God for the privilege of sacrificially encouraging another
human being who didn't even speak his language. Bob and Barnabas were of a
kindred spirit!”
You may have heard it said, “People don’t care how much you know
until they know how much you care.” Encouragers “don’t pretend; they perform.”
That’s what Barnabas did, and what Bob Pierce also did, and what you and I
should do, that is, if we want to be encouragers like Barney.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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