A Moment With Pastor Fred

John Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides. In 1856 he resolved to preach the Gospel to the unreached tribes  of these South Pacific islands. A church member warned him, “You’ll be eaten by cannibals!” Paton responded:  “Your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”

Today we welcome our missionaries, Ryan and Abigail  deRoos – along with their two daughters, Sydney and Lydia. They faithfully serve Christ in the Philippines where Ryan flies a helicopter helping church planters with necessary supplies and resources. Greet them please. HBC has a special place for they were members here during training.

By the way, Paton was never eaten by cannibals. He died  at the age of 82 in 1907. His sacrifice saw many saved and churches planted throughout the islands. I love Revelation 7 – After this I looked and there before me was a great  multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb … they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. 

Abigail and her mother have a custom when saying good-bye. “He’s worth it.” And he is.