“I Can’t Stands No More” #4: Modern Era

There are many people in modern times that have stood in the gap to make a difference for Christ. They saw something in society that could be different – should be better. Along the way, they realized that God was calling them to stand in the gap!

After serving as a teacher, Mother Teresa traveled to India in 1929 to begin her service with the Sisters of Loreto, an order of Catholic nuns. She noticed a desperate human need and felt called to help meet that need. Her burden then turned into a searing passion that affected every aspect of her life. In fact, her passion compelled her to leave the comfort of the convent to live on the streets with the people she served tirelessly for the next 50 years. Her vision for what could be done grew each day as she saw more and more needs.

In 1934, Dawson Trotman visited a sailor, Les Spencer to share the gospel with him. In his biography Daws, Betty Skinner described the scene: “Parked by a schoolhouse, they were pouring over the Scriptures when a security guard approached and asked what they were doing. ‘Reading the Bible,’ Trotman answered and seized the opportunity to witness . . . Dawson turned from one passage to another to explain the Gospel and answer all the defenses of the hapless guard … On the way back to the landing [Spencer] said, ‘Boy, I’d give my right arm to know how to use the Word like that.'” That event was the beginning of the Navigators ministry, the forerunner of campus ministry around the world.

While on vacation in 1965, the Millard Fuller family visited friends at Koinonia Farm in Georgia. Fuller was impressed with the ministry’s outreach to the poor in building affordable housing. They implemented a similar program during a 3-year missionary tour in Zaire, Africa. The government donated undeveloped land and 100-units were built and sold to poor families. In 1976 the family returned to the United States and began what is not called Habitat for Humanity. By 2003, the organization was active in 92 countries and had built over 150,000 homes.

You may be saying, “Wait a minute!” These people are famous. That’s true. But they’re only famous because they answered God’s call to do something positive in the world. Beforehand there was nothing that made them stand out in a crowd.  By most standards their lives were “ordinary.” But there’s nothing “ordinary” about their impact for Christ. God does “extraordinary”work through “ordinary” people.

Everywhere you look there are needs to be met. All around you there are problems to solve. In every corner of the world something good is happening that needs to be spread elsewhere. Throughout your life you’ve experienced ups and downs. The “ups” are things you’d like others to experience, too. The “downs” are things you’d like to help others navigate better than you did.

What is it that lights a fire underneath you? What ember burns within you that only needs a little gust of wind to explode into a raging fire. Pray. Listen. Reflect. And move out!

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