Martha's Father

Our annual mission meeting in Indonesia was informative and encouraging as we heard reports throughout Southeast Asia of beginning CPMs (Church Planting Movements). As we lay aside western church traditions and strive for the simplicity and purity of the gospel message, God’s kingdom grows.

But this mission meeting will be, for me, remembered as the time I became known as “Martha’s father.” Martha had left a week earlier to attend youth camp where nearly 100 MK campers and parents gathered on the slopes of an active volcano on the central Indonesian island of Java. Their theme was “Making a Difference in the Next Generation.”

After camp, Martha flew with other campers to our mission meeting in Bali where Jonathan and I met up with Martha. For the next few days, about a dozen parents came up to me asking, “Are you Martha’s father?” With tears in their eyes, they expressed their appreciation for what Martha had shared during their testimony night at camp, as well as her good character and joyful spirit during the week-long camp.

So what did Martha share that had such an impact? From what I heard, Martha simply shared from her heart about plans she had made last January to witness to a group of unruly college students. As she met with the students, peer pressure caused her to keep silent. Later, troubled by her failure, Martha cried out to God for forgiveness. He led her to Jeremiah’s prayer and God’s response in 15: 16-20. Martha hid these verses in her heart and was able to share them from memory to the campers:

"Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
I did not sit in the circle of merry-makers, nor did I exult.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone,
for You filled me with indignation.
Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream
with water that is unreliable?"

Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“If you return, then I will restore you – before Me you will stand;
and if you extract the precious from the worthless,
you will become My spokesman.
They for their part may turn to you,
but as for you, you must not turn to them.
Then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze;
and though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you;
for I am with you to save you and deliver you,” declares the Lord.

Since that witnessing failure, God gave Martha several successful witnessing opportunities where she experienced being a “fortified wall of bronze” as she boldly and lovingly shared the saving message of Jesus Christ. Her challenge to her fellow campers was that we need to be different from the “merry-makers” of the world. “They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them.” We must “extract the precious from the worthless” in our culture and find our delight in God’s Word. In order to make Christ known and to pass on our spiritual heritage to the next generation we need to experience daily the joy of His presence.

A fitting testimony, not only for campers, but for all of us who claim to follow the Lord, Jesus Christ.