Fresh Start Devotionals

Hector I can’t talk about it without getting misty-eyed; even though a decade has passed since it happened, I still get choked up every time I talk about it. It was the first day I ever gave something to missions that really cost me. “Hector” (not his real name) was my pastor. No, I didn’t attend his church, I was a pastor myself, but even pastors need pastors and I was lucky to have Hector. His church was about 90 miles from mine, but we talked on the phone a lot and we rode together to Executive Board meetings in Fresno. Hector has a great sense of humor, I still chuckle when I think of some of the things he’s said over the years. He was a coin collector and I was a baseball card collector, so almost every trip we made together we’d find some out of the way collector’s shop and browse through the merchandise. We always had a great time together and he was always there for me if I needed someone to talk to. Always, that is, until he answered a call to become a missionary to a part of the world where missionaries aren’t allowed. I can’t write him, because doing so could jeopardize his safety. In reality, I gave my pastor to missions—I gave my friend. Every year when I give to missions at Christmas time, I remember Hector, I pray for him and his family, and I give joyfully knowing that he and others like him, will use what I give to spread the gospel. Really, no matter how much money I give, I could never give a greater gift than I did when I gave my pastor to the mission field. But because I gave that gift, I know that I must give this monetary gift, because he’s counting on me. And he’s counting on you, too. Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).