No Substitute for Time
In
Memoriam
Each May, OMS Outreach honors and remembers those missionaries who have
passed away in the previous year. In 2014, One Mission Society lost these
faithful servants who served with distinction for 10 years or more.
Micah Routon,
Missionary in Brazil,
One Mission Society
JB Crouse, along with his wife Bette, faithfully served the Lord with
OMS, making an impact first on the field in South Korea, doing evangelism
and serving as field leader, and later as the 8th President of the Mission.
While President, JB was instrumental in launching The CoMission, which
sent approximately 1,500 short-term missionaries to Russia and surrounding countries.
Life with my kids has
repeatedly taught me that
learning begins long before one
ever steps foot in a classroom. By
watching me in everyday situations,
my kids are learning how to walk, how
to talk, how to act, how to react and treat
each other. No chalk boards. No homework assignments. No formal curriculum
or classroom environments. Just teachable
moments happening in real time. In parenting, there is no substitute for time. If my
children are going to learn from me, if they
are going to emulate how I walk and how
I talk, they must spend considerable time
by my side. The same is true in mentoring.
I started with One Mission Society 15
years ago, with no previous knowledge of
the organization. I was finishing my final year
of college when I had an encounter with
OMS missionary Dave Graffenberger.
In our hour and a half conversation, he told me about an
urgent need he had. He
needed a personal assistant to go where he
would go, to sleep where
he would sleep, to help
him in whatever ministry
setting he would be in
around the world.
Though I was excited
about the opportunity to travel
and see God’s work first hand,
what truly intrigued me was Dave’s interest
in mentoring. He desired to pour into my
life. In the four years that followed, I learned
a lot from Dave. I
learned how to get around
international airports. I learned
how to be a good guest. I learned
how he faced hardships and challenges.
I learned how he prayed. I learned that
faith is walking forward, even when you
don’t have all the answers.
I learned many of these things in side
conversations in airports or on trains. But
mostly, I learned from watching. I learned
from Dave laying his life open. I learned
from his availability.
Yeah, I probably slowed him down at
times. As he took the time to explain things
to me, bearing with my inexperience, ignorance, or naïveté, he was always willing to
slow down enough so that I could walk beside him—so that I could follow him as he
followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
But in mentoring, as in parenting, there is no substitute for
time. Perhaps that is why
mentoring relationships are
rare in today’s culture. The
pressures of production
and results are so great,
even in ministry, that
bringing along somebody
younger and less experienced feels like trying to
keep up in a race while running with an open parachute
strapped to your back. But I am
thankful that Dave made himself available
and invested that time in me.
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photo, top: Micah and Dave (back left)
in Africa, visiting a pygmy villag P