It was in the early hours of the morning and I just could not fall asleep. To say I was nervous to preach at my home church in Colorado was definitely an understatement. This was my first “official message” delivered as a first year seminary student and my mind relentlessly replayed the scripture and main points over and over again. Realizing that a good night of sleep was not an option, I rolled off the mattress of the pull out couch and started to roam around my dad’s house. I found bookshelf and thumbed through the shelves until a small orange booklet on caught my attention. The pamphlet was titled George Mueller – Man of Faith-it was a short read of about 50 pages and I was sure this would soon put me to sleep. My plan failed miserably. I was now wide-awake and completely overwhelmed with conviction of what real biblical faith looked like in this humble follower of Christ.

 

I had never heard of Mr. Mueller. The booklet told of a young man who after a season of wild, godless, living was transformed by the message of the Cross-at a prayer meeting and soon after declared, “My whole life shall be one of service for the living God.” He became a pastor in the early 1800’s in Bristol, England and taken aback by the plight of orphans in his day founded Ashley Down Orphanage.

 

“God’s Orphanage,” as he called it would be home to over 10,000 destitute children who were loved, trained, educated, and sent out into the world. The amazing part of this story is that Mueller never asked anyone for help or hinted that money was needed. Solely in answer to believing prayer almost 1 billion dollars was sent to him for building and maintenance of the orphanage, for his missionary enterprises, and for circulation of Scriptures around the world. In his old age he traveled nearly two hundred thousand miles in 42 countries preaching the Gospel to 3 million people. He died in 1898 at the ripe old age of 93 full of joy with not a penny to his name, giving everything he had to serving the Lord.

 

Can you understand why I couldn’t sleep? And check this out about his preaching:

 

“He prayed more about his sermons than anything else and that often the text was not given him until he had ascended the pulpit stairs, although he had been praying for it all week,” (p. 11).

 

Ouch! I had worked on my first sermon for hours and prayed for minutes. Right there in the wee hours of the morning the Holy Spirit was teaching me the absolute importance of prayer before ever preaching His Word. He was teaching me through George Mueller that ministry as well as the Christian walk demands absolute dependence on the Father for everything!

 

I can’t recall many details about how that first sermon went that Sunday many years ago but I will never forget the orange booklet and the impact it has had on my life and ministry. My wife and I have read many books about George Mueller and his faith filled life, and for the next few weeks I hope to highlight some powerful lessons we both have gleamed from this spiritual father.

 

 

For the next two weeks I asked Mike Verkaik to share some of his heart with you as Mike officially started with Oceans Ministries September 1. Please lift Mike, Dawn and their family up in prayer as they have taken this faith journey.

When my son and I were in Israel, our guide stopped us as we were walking to look at the side of a hill. What we saw were small sheep paths that were weaving up and down the mountain. That picture taught me a lot about our Father’s leading in our lives. For me, as I look back on my teaching years that took me from coast to coast and eventually to Oceans Ministries, rarely do I see a straight path.

During my teaching career I always found great joy and fulfillment in investing in the lives of young people. Ever since I graduated from college teaching and coaching has provided me with countless opportunities to do so. In the math classroom, it is an “Aha Moment”, when a student’s smile lights up their face after patient questioning helped them grasp a concept for the first time. In coaching track it is celebrating with an athlete after a personal best is achieved after months of training and pouring confidence in them they could reach their goal.

Since 2014, God has also placed me on a new path to invest in high school student’s lives, co-leading trips to Lesotho, Africa. This past year Tim and I have had many discussions about how God is ruining students’ hearts for His kingdom through our trips to Lesotho. The movement by the Holy Spirit in the lives of the participants has been amazing and contagious. We have seen this movement through student testimonies shared with teen moms, a young woman answering an alter call at a Basotho church, and countless moments where we stand in awe of His orchestration of events. I am so blessed to have a part in helping trip participates experience the kingdom God in Lesotho. Watching our Father make Himself known there is something I can never get enough of.

Tim and I have also both been blessed to disciple these young lives after their trip is completed. This summer, after returning from Lesotho with a group from Holland Christian High School, a young man texted me, “Hey Verkaik, yesterday Ben and I were talking about how we both have helping with mechanics in Lesotho on our mind. It doesn’t seem to fade. Was wondering if we could talk it over and throw some ideas around.” Later that week the two young men stopped at my house and shared the dream our Father had placed on their hearts. I smiled as I sat and listened in amazement at the passion and vision they were given to use their skill in auto mechanics. They shared ideas and questions for over an hour as I listened, prayed and wondered. My main question was, Abba, what are you going to do through these two young men on fire for your kingdom? Later that week I received a document with the details of their plan. For now, we talk, wait in anticipation and pray. This is just one example of how our Father is implanting a passion in young lives to use their gifts, serve long term, or ponder what God would have them do next.

Watching these young peoples hearts being ruined for the kingdom has ruined my heart, and given me a greater passion to follow with confidence and trust this curvy path I am on.