For those of you who will be far from home this Christmas serving God, let this true story be an encouragement to you..... Bernie May was a pilot for Wycliffe Bible Translators. Three days before Christmas he had delivered emergency medical supplies to a remote village in the Amazon jungle. He had landed his pontoon plane safely on the river, and with the cargo unloaded, he set up a make-shift shelter for the night. But during the night it began raining, and the rain continued, leaving him in the jungle, wallowing in self pity, as he later recalled: It was Christmas Eve and night was descending on the jungle. There was no way I could get back home. Back in Pennsylvania, my folks would have returned from church and Mother would be getting the turkey ready. Outside the snow would be falling......... In Yarinachcha, six hours away, Nancy and the boys would be sitting at home alone. They knew by now, because I had been able to radio back that I was stuck in the jungle. I would not be with them for Christmas. Oh God, I moaned, Im in the wrong place. ....That night, under my mosquito net I had a visitation from God - something like those shepherds must have had on the hills of Bethlehem. There were no angels, and no bright light. But as I lay there in my hammock, desperately homesick, I felt I heard God say: My son, this is what Christmas is all about. Jesus left heaven and on Christmas morning He woke up in the wrong place - a stable in Bethlehem. Christmas means leaving home, not going home. My only begotten Son did not come home for Christmas - He left home to be with you. (Quoted in From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, A Biographical History of Christian Missions, by Ruth A. Tucker)
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 20:55:17 +0000
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