My Commendation Of You     

2 Corinthians 9:7

 

     The epistle of III John was written by the Apostle John to commend Gaius for his hospitality and generosity toward God's servants who were missionaries to the Gentiles (III John 1-8). Following John's inspired example,I want to commend you, the men and women of Grace Baptist Church.

 

     Nine years ago, before we had any house of worship, before we began any other work, before you were able to support your own pastor as you desired, I asked you to make a commitment to the support of gospel missionaries. We had no visible means of doing so. But I was convinced then, as I am now, that where there is a will to give God will supply the ability to give. As in all other things, you rallied to your pastor's request. Some of you make great personal sacrifices to support your own pastor, those faithful men who preach the gospel in foreign lands, and needy pastors of smaller churches in this country. I cannot thank you enough, or commend you too highly for your generosity in this regard. Today it is our privilege to assist in the support of six faithful missionaries and their families. These men do their work in relative obscurity. But these dearly beloved men, their wives and their children, have my highest respect and admiration. They have talents and abilities by which they could enrich themselves in our society. But they have left the comforts of family, friends, and luxury, their own culture and people, to live among other races in remote parts of the world for one reason: God has called them, gifted them, and sent them out to preach the glorious gospel of Christ. For the furtherance of the gospel, the salvation of God's elect, and the gory of Christ they have gone out. And for those same rea- sons,we support them.Those six men and their wives are:

     l. Milton and Claudia Howard - Chiapas, Mexico

     2. Walter and Betty Groover - Merida, Mexico

     3. Aaron and Monica Dumas - Kingston, Jamaica

     4. Daniel and Sandy Parks - Castries, Saint Lucia

     5. Bill and Evelyn Clark - Welwyn, England

     6. Ken and Mary Wimer - Ivory Coast, West Africa

     How blessed we are to have association with these choice servants of God in their work! I thank you for your faithfulness in supporting them. And I thank God for his grace upon you. God honors those who honor him. And we have been blessed of God, abundantly blessed, since the day we began supporting these missionaries. We have lost nothing, but gained much, as our Lord promised (Luke 6:38).

 

Don Fortner