Peakin'

It was unplanned. I had mapped a road route to Virginia that crossed the Appalachian Mountains along the back roads of West Virginia. I expected to see some beautiful country and I was not disappointed. What I did not expect was the advice giving to me by a local lady who saw me taking a picture of the countryside.

“Say, if you want to see some pretty scenery, head on up to Spruce Knob Road over yonder. It’s the highest point in West Virginia. The colors are peakin’ and it’s a sight to see.” Ten minutes later, I turned onto Spruce Knob Road. For the next 3 hours, I had one of the most enjoyable drives of my life.

The narrow paved, sometimes dirt, road carried me higher into the mountains, following a meandering stream that flowed under a canopy of autumn colored trees. By the time the road climbed above 4,000 feet, I was surrounded by blazing yellow, red, and orange everywhere I looked.

From the top of the 4,863 foot peak, I gazed down upon a sea of fall colors. Wave upon wave of rolling hills were covered with leaves that were “peakin’” – showing God’s handiwork in all their glory. It was, indeed, a sight to see.

This week, I’m enjoying the fellowship of about a hundred other missionaries from all parts of the world who are gathered for a Stateside Renewing conference. Here, we are receiving the latest news about our ‘company’ and what God is doing around the globe.

In the past year, over 600 previously unreached people groups have now been engaged with a gospel witness. That leaves about 3,000 such groups that, according to our information, do not yet have the means to hear the gospel. Our ‘company’ (for security reasons, we are taught not to use its actual name), has enlisted the help of global-minded churches, Christian American business owners, as well as formerly retired missionaries, to help engage some of these unreached people groups.

Much remains to be done, but progress is being made. There is no greater work that we can contribute to than the best efforts to evangelize the lost and disciple the saved. Thank you, to each one, who has prayed, given, or gone to expand the boundaries of God’s kingdom.