Inspire, Spring 2010

Planting Seeds The following is a portion of a message by Gracia Burnham, who spoke in chapel on January 6 as part of Cedarville’s 2010 Missions Conference. She and her husband, Martin, had been missionaries in the Philippines for 17 years when a militant Muslim group took them hostage. More than a year later, a firefight freed them, but Martin was killed in the crossfire. Gracia’s full message can be heard at www.ThePath.fm/chapel . 1-888-CEDARVILLE www.cedarville.edu/graduate Earn your M.Ed. from Cedarville and benefit from ... • Affordability — Competitive tuition, along with a 25% scholarship for CU alumni and Christian school teachers, makes your experience an outstanding value. • Convenience — Choose from one- or two-week course modules to fit your busy schedule. Register now for summer 2010! New students, receive a 50% tuition scholarship for your first class. Master of Education Inspiring today’s professionals, tomorrow’s leaders While Martin and I were held captive, we met a young man named Nadim. One day, after he finished his Koran reading, I asked him what it said, and he replied, “I don’t know. It’s written in Arabic, and I don’t speak Arabic.” Nadim based his entire life and his eternity on a book he had not read. How will Nadim hear the Gospel without a preacher? We need preachers willing to go to the hard places. Missionary C.T. Studd said, “Some people like to live within the sound of church or chapel bell. I want to build a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” Working within a yard of hell is not a pleasant place. But we need people willing to go to those hard places, and hard places are what are left in this world. God has a plan to fix this problem — and we are it. God gave the job of winning and caring for this world to us. You might look around and think, “Well, that’s a bad plan.” But if we’re willing, God will use us to accomplish His work. Jesus said to love your enemies, to do good to those who hate you, to pray for those who spitefully use you. Maybe our job is to love Muslims, to do good to them, to pray for them. We can hope against hope that God can use us to make a difference in the lives of these blinded people. My children and I have been praying for those guys who held Martin and me captive. We’re praying that they get to hear the Gospel in their own language so the Holy Spirit can start working in their hearts. And why are we so surprised when God does something awesome and answers our prayers? Just recently, I learned that Nadim and several of our other captors are in jail in Manila for the rest of their lives. They’re reading through the Scripture in their own dialects and going to Bible studies. I paid for boat tickets so family members could visit one of the prisoners. I am also supporting two of the poorest so they can buy soap and extra food. Three of the men have come to know the Lord as their Savior. We just can’t believe what God is doing! Had I known, when we were going through our hard year in the jungle, that even one of those guys would come to know Jesus because of our experience, I think the days might have been easier to bear. I kick myself and say, “Would it not have been enough to trust a good God with the days of my life?” Maybe planting seeds isn’t always fun; maybe it’s downright uncomfortable. But all of a sudden you see what God is doing. I’m reminded how the seeds we planted in the jungle did not die. Others are reaping what we sowed seven years ago. Keep planting those seeds, my friend. Keep on when you don’t see any fruit — because it’s God who’s going to do the work on down the road. Gracia Burnham lives in Kansas and has three children. Visit her website at www.graciaburnham.org. “I’m reminded how the seeds we planted in the jungle did not die.” 24 SPRING 2010