A few weeks ago I took the Bible Class at Stonepark and used the text of Philippians ch 1. One of the parts in the chapter that stood out in particular for me was the verses 12-14 where it says, "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."
Even though this had an impact on me it wasn't until last night that I seen how this can be true. I was reading through "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God" Piper & Taylor eds. and came across the story of a young missionary called Chet Bitterman who worked for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Colombia. A group of Colombian guerrillas wanted Wycliffe out of the country and took Chet hostage and threatened to kill him if they didn't leave. After being held hostage for 7 weeks Chet was killed by his captors.
The year after Chet was killed the amount of applications that Wycliffe got for overseas translators doubled. I found this story of God's grace and brilliance just incredible.
All I can think is "How Great is Our God."
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1 comment:
It's amazing to see God use tragedy for a greater purpose. Thanks for reminding me of this story.
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