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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK - 29 Jan 2012  Legend has it that Chinese Prime Minister Chou En Lai was once asked to comment on the historical significance of the French Revolution. He replied that it was “too soon to tell” given the fact that it had occurred a mere two hundred years before. I thought of Chou En Lai while preparing for John Stott’s ‘Thanksgiving Service’ last weekend. Stott was a remarkable man. When Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2005, Billy Graham added "I can't think of anyone who has been more effective in introducing so many people to a biblical world view," In fact Graham credited Stott's work as "a significant factor in the explosive growth of Christianity in parts of the Third World”. And that’s a thrilling thought, given the amount of writing he did in Pembrokeshire. Having said that though, only time will show the full significance of Stott’s life. My friend Liz Linsenn will appreciate that. Liz grew up in Ebbw Vale but has spent the past few years working for a church in South Korea. I asked Liz to join us at Westgate last week because I wanted to know what it’s like to be a member of a 60,000 strong congregation. (Liz works for a relatively small church; Pastor Yongi Cho’s fellowship has more than one million members). Those of us who live in Western Europe find it difficult to imagine life in a culture where at least 40% of the population identify themselves as committed Christians. But as we face the challenge of sharing our faith we can take heart from the history of Korea, and in particular the role of an extraordinary Welshman named Robert Thomas. Thomas went to Korea in the mid 1850’s and paid for his missionary zeal with his life. Some think he was beheaded with a machete, others say he was beaten to death. Whatever the cause his efforts were not in vain for God did something in the heart of the man who killed him. It seems that beaming face convinced him that he had killed a good person and he kept one of his Bibles. In fact he went further and used its pages as wallpaper. And then something rather remarkable happened. People came from far and near to read his “wallpaper” and from such unlikely beginnings the church grew. Even his killer’s nephew became a pastor! While growing up in rural Monmouthshire (not too far from Ebbw Vale) young Robert Thomas could have never imagined that he would be dead by the age of 27, or that South Korea would become the second largest missionary sending nation in the world. But both are true. Robert Thomas, then, is wonderful example of what God can do when someone is ‘sold out’ for Him. Better still he’s a thrilling reminder that “We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation n realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well” (Attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero) Pastor Rob James
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WELCOME TO WESTGATE
