Today I met Amos. Amos came in complaining of a cough and shortness of breath. I was suspicious of COPD and asked him if he smoked. He assured me he didn't, but said he use to when he was younger. I asked him why he quit smoking and he told me he became a christian in 1989 and stopped. I told him that was great, and was encouraged that God had helped him to change his life. I asked him who told him about Jesus. He said William Bromley. The name was familiar to me. I have heard stories of the some of the first Nazarene missionaries to PNG, and Bromley was one of them. I don't know a lot, but I know he went out to the Jimi valley and shared Christ with the people, and that he died and is buried out there.
Amos continued to say that he had heard about Christ from Bromley when he was younger, but he continued to live his life for himself for a number of years. It was years later that the Spirit awoken his spirit and he became a christian. This was encouraging to me. As missionaries and as christians, part of our job is to share His Good News, but we often don't know what happens as a result. 1 Cor 3:6-7 Paul says, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." This was a great reminder to keep planting the seeds of His truth and to trust God to make them grow into new creations in His timing.
