IN THE FAMILY
THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT
This year we celebrate Walt and Jeanine who have served with Global Interaction for 40 years. We received this letter from Walt to share with you:
“ Cast Your Fate to the Wind” was a song that captivated my mind and resonated with my spirit as a teenager. I imagined myself drifting from adventure to adventure, unfettered by commitments, in lands“ where the stars hung upside down.” When I came to two critical crossroads, I instead committed my life first to Jesus as my Lord and second to Jeanine as my wife. Today, I realise that in fact I did cast my fate to the wind but rather than some random wind I cast my fate to the wind of the Spirit of God. And God has taken me to incredible people, places and adventures I could never have imagined or engineered myself.
A third critical crossroad occurred and that was saying“ yes” to God asking me to join my sending agency for the purpose of being sent to partner with Global Interaction( then ABMS) in Bangladesh.
The formidable Rev. J. D. Williams asked Jeanine and I to meet with him alone in the guest house in Dhaka. We were only in our second year in Bangladesh, very aware of our youth and inexperience and even more aware of‘ J. D.’ s’ formidable reputation. As I had a bad case of hepatitis( is there ever a good one?) I was depressed and weak and expected a word of pastoral encouragement. Instead J. D. informed us that our senior colleagues in Jamalpur, Ian and Barbara Hawley, would soon leave Jamalpur so Ian could become the Overseas Director. As soon as we were alone I burst into tears. How could we survive without their pioneering leadership and support? How could the new fruit among the people grow? Later, Ian assured us that the work was not his but God’ s and God would complete the good work He had begun in the people of Jamalpur. I am profoundly grateful for and commend the faithful and creative work of people in Jamalpur who continue to serve in leadership and field positions in the development agency and as bold, wise and fruitful followers of Jesus.
I believe that God instilled a vision in the leadership on and off the field for something new God was going to do in Bangladesh. The secret to fulfilling that vision, I often reflect, is that the whole mission family had a 100 % commitment to the vision and a 110 % commitment to each other. Even though there was a very real risk that everyone’ s tenure in the country could be cut short due to political barriers, there was total support for those team members that were called to the new vision. It was a remarkable family.
Besides one’ s relationship with God, I used to think that the most important personality characteristic for a cross-cultural worker was flexibility. I later realised that flexibility without commitment yields nothing. Commitment without flexibility usually results in a miserable worker and miserable co-workers. But the combination is powerful. I now add that a commitment to being a life-long learner is the third critical ingredient. All three and you have dynamite!
-( Above) Walt, Jeanine, Jenny, Joy and Jacki
It is a cliché but is so often repeated because it is simply true; the work is not ours but God’ s. When I think of my career, it is best described simply by a recognition of the fact that somehow, by the grace of God, when God invited Jeanine and I to sit in a front row seat to see what He would do, we said“ yes.”
I have been freed to discover my own gifts with an amazing degree of trust from the leadership of Global Interaction. I have even had the freedom to make mistakes. Of course, without the freedom to make mistakes, there is no real freedom but there has been a remarkable willingness to try new things and learn from them. And I have had the very rare privilege of working with my best friends in the most fascinating places, watching God do astonishing things. What could be better than that?!
With deepest gratitude to God and the Global Interaction family, Walt
Walt continues to serve with Global Interaction as a Global Consultant and Team Leader for the workers in the Silk Road Area.
14 GLOBAL INTERACTION