Worship. Grow. Follow. A Gilliam Springs Podcast
Gilliam Springs Baptist Church
Worship. Grow. Follow. A Gilliam Springs Podcast
Episode 11 - Gordon Fort
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Join us for another episode of Worship. Grow. Follow. as Jamey chats with Gordon Fort about life, missions, and ministry.
Friends, welcome back to Worship Grow Follow. It's a podcast ministry of Gillam Springs Baptist Church. We're so glad you're joining us. And today I'm very honored to have a special guest with us. This is my friend Dr. Gordon Ford. Gordon, how are you?
SPEAKER_00Very good, thank you.
SPEAKER_01I'm so glad. Listen, there's a lot I could say about you, and I've wondered what to say. But let me just for the sake of folks that are listening remind them you're a missionary kid. We're going to hear about that. And then you answered the call to ministry, went back to the mission field, served in Africa 20 years, moved into leadership on the field, and then back to Richmond, where you served for 20 years. So this year, 2025, I'm not sure when this will play, but you completed 40 years. It does me for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And so you're kind of officially retired but still serving our International Mission Board as an ambassador. Correct. Wonderful. Yeah. I uh, Gordon and I met, gosh, I guess 2003. I rolled on as a trustee of the International Mission Board, and you were there in Richmond. And I just tell you, I love you. I appreciate you. Your heart for the Great Commission encourages me. You challenge me with your preaching, and uh you're awfully fun to hang out with. So I'm grateful for you, my friend. Well, thank you, Jamie. Appreciate it. I want you to go back, if you don't mind, and just tell us a little bit about growing up on the mission field. Now, I'm married to an MK, so I tell people missionary kids have a special place in my heart. There is some reality to that third culture kid thing. Is that do you agree with that?
SPEAKER_00Oh, absolutely, 100%. Yeah. 100%. So uh my parents went to Africa in 1952.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Dad was a Navy guy, World War II, and when he was uh discharged, he and my mom had been corresponding through the war years. And when he got back to the States, my mama was a year ahead of him at medical school at Baylor Med, Houston.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so he joins her there, and uh they got married and uh got through med school, wanted to go to China as missionaries. But at that time, China's doors were closed because of uh persecution. Yeah, and so they were praying about like where do we go? And uh they got a commission magazine, and the commission magazine was an article written by these uh these two missionaries who had been in the bush in Africa in the country of southern Rhodesia, and they'd been out in the Senati area, which is uh a tribal trust area where the Shona people lived. Okay, and so they were out there doing some evangelistic work, and a guy turns up with his wife who was pregnant but wasn't able to have the child. The midwives were having difficulty. So family said, Can you take them back to the city, which was over 60 miles away, through the bush? And so they're headed out through the bush, load her up, and it was rainy season, and it was muddy, and they got to a stretch of that road where there's about a foot of water and it was a muddy area, and they got about halfway across this section, and this uh four-wheel drive Land Rover buried down to the axles and they couldn't get it out. And this woman and her baby died by the side of the road there, and so they had to bury her in a little shallow grave. And later they came back to that spot to pray, and they prayed and said, Lord, would you send us some doctors so that we don't ever have to do this again? Wow. Where somebody dies because we don't have help. Yeah, and that was in this magazine, and mom and dad were praying about where to go, and they read that article, and that's what the Lord used to call them then to Southern Rhodesia. So that's how come I was to be born out in out in that bush area. And uh I'm the middle of five boys, as you know, and uh we were a handful. As boys are as boys are, and so that's kind of how this deal started. And so I had this privilege of growing up out in the woods. Uh we mama had one rule, you know, when we were growing up, boys be home by dark. That was it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so that's how I got to be living in Africa, growing up with Shona children, playing with Shona kids, uh, working cows and um working in the fields alongside of them, picking up the Shona language. And uh my first pastor was an African pastor, Fundus Michichitere, and first prayers I heard were Shona prayers. So as a missionary kid, that was kind of my worldview. I ate uh ate out there with the kids. You know, we'd sit on the ground and and they would especially in the evening sit around fire and the they would chant songs, and then if they got to really feeling it, you know, they'd be standing up and clapping and moving around the fireplace, and that's so that that was my background, and got to eat all kind of uh different things that people here probably haven't eaten before. So that was my my that was my childhood growing up.
SPEAKER_01Well, and that whole thing about the third culture kid, when you come back to the States first time, how old were you?
SPEAKER_00Well, I was uh two years old. Okay, and uh and you don't remember much about that. Not too much, but uh then the so that my parents were having five-year terms. Okay, because it's difficult to have uh replacement at the hospital. They had started this active hospital work, only hospital 200 square miles. So they were always busy, never a good time to leave. Yeah, and so every about every five years they'd come back to the state. So do you remember when I was seven years old? That's what I remember. Did some culture hit you? Oh, it did. Let me I was a horrible experience at school.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So my mama was a school teacher, so we had a little concrete block classroom, and uh we'd have to walk to our little school. Mama said, I want over here in the house, yeah. I'm mama over here in this school building, I'm teacher. And so she wants to separate that out. And uh so mama was the school teacher to train us up. Well, I wore shorts. Okay, of course. In Africa I wore shorts, my feet were wide, they still are, obviously, and I'd bust out the side of a tennis shoe. And of course, the tennis shoe wasn't comfortable until you bust the side out, okay? So I got bust out tennis shoes, uh, shorts, tattered shirt, because I got the hand-me-downs from the two older brothers. Of course. Of course I did. And uh, and then we're going to school in America, and Mama said, Gordon, are you sure you want to wear those shorts to school? I said, Well, yeah, I'm gonna wear shorts. I'm sure everyone here wears shorts. And and I I I would not listen to her. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you show up.
SPEAKER_00I show up, and and not just shorts, short African shorts. Okay, above the knee short shorts. Yeah, yeah. And I I'm the only boy in the whole school that has shorts on. That's hilarious. Yeah. First day. First day of American school. I I tell you, I was so You made an impact. Oh, and I who's the kid in the weirdest school. First day of American schools. Needless to say, I never wore those shorts again while I was in America. That's a good call. That's a good call, you know. And then I'm in high school. Okay. We come back one for a moment. I'm in high school before starting college. Yeah. And uh so, of course, boys and girls in high school. I'd gone to an all-boys high school in Africa to boarding school. Did you do some boarding school? Boarding school.
SPEAKER_01In country.
SPEAKER_00In country. Okay. And so I I'm in America high school, okay? And this girl in one of my in my homeroom class, well, first problem I had was first day of high school, my first experience, a bell rings. I thought it was a fire alarm.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Do you left the classroom? And how many other kids left the classroom? Zero. Zero. And so somebody said, That's that kid with the shortcut. I remember he remembered exactly. Sorry. I walk back in, the teacher was about to call the register. Yeah. She's called a roll call. This kid just left. She gets down to my name and says, Gordon Ford from Africa, and she goes, That explains it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Bless his heart. Blessed first day of high school. That's that phrase you've got to learn. Bless his heart. Bless his heart.
SPEAKER_00Let me tell you the story that night at dinner. You need some prayers.
SPEAKER_01Before I forget, let me just highlight this book. A thousand times, yes. This tells the story of Gordon's parents. And I'm going to make sure this is in our church library. It's been in my home. I got it, I read it, I enjoyed it, and uh I need to put it in our library so our folks can see it. Tells the story of your parents answering God's call to serve overseas. And, you know, that phrase, children learn what they live. So you're talking about, I learned culture, I learned language. It was very that was the most natural thing ever. Exactly. And then you come back here and you experience that third culture thing. You're not fully African, not fully American, you're this beautiful mix of cultures, but you go back and this morning you shared in your message in one of our services about sensing the call to ministry. Can you walk us through that? I mean, I think some people may think, well, he's a missionary kid. Of course he's going to do ministry. But not all missionary kids do ministry. And you had to have that calling for yourself. So can you tell me a little bit?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, about it. Let me give a caveat about this book that you just that you just mentioned first, because a fri a friend of mine named Kim Davis, you'll see her name here. She she did the research and then co-wrote this with my mom. And um in this book, you're gonna read some things about about me that that uh I I did not have the privilege of editing. And my mama was in her early 90s, yeah, and she'd lost all her filters. And so there's some stuff in there that really it needs some context, too. Okay, yeah. Because here's here's here's what you're gonna find out, at least a little part of it. My brother David is brilliant, and that's not exaggeration. He's a medical doctor, spent time in Ghana as a general surgeon. Okay. Comes back to the States to get another residency in psychiatry. So the guy he's really brilliant, he's kind, he's compassionate, he's you know, he's caring, which is which I found a feeling one time, but I thought I'd quickly jettisoned that. But okay, so we're in boarding school together, okay. Whenever awards day came, first in math, David Ford, first in English literature, David Ford, first in French, David Ford. And Gordon Fort, lucky to pass. Yes. Okay, so that was my spot. Okay? I understand. And so my mama writes about my brother David in the book, says David was so sweet and he was so kind and loving, caring. And then there was Gordon. You read this in the book. That's true.
SPEAKER_01So I just want to say there's some caveats here, okay? If I've met your brother David, which I don't think I have, you stand out. You far excel. Let me tell you. I I love you. I'm glad you're here to tell your story. Me too. But it's a beautiful story of a family that hears God's call and answers it, and we'll work our way back to that whole thing. Yeah. But tell me a little bit about your sense of calling. Ministry for yourself.
SPEAKER_00I'll tell you what happened. We were in a we were in a war for independence in Zimbabwe. Very difficult time in the country. And missionaries were concerned that the future did look really bleak. There was a feeling that the communists would come in and were preparing to take over the country through that war. And so the missionaries were gathering to pray and to strategize what we are going to do in the eventuality. There were about a hundred missionaries in the country at that time, which is incredible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And they said, if we have to leave, will the work stand? And so that was the burden on their hearts. So we were meeting at this rustic camp. They were having meetings all day, and in the evenings, you know, they would pray and meet together. And the high school kids, we would just hang out. You know, we'd have like a vacation Bible school, and in the evenings we'd go out and have a campfire. So we were having one of these campfires. And um a couple of these young teenagers, we were just normal teen guys. Absolutely. You know, so a couple of these teenagers that night were about to go back to our cabin, and they said, Hey, we got something we need to share with y'all. It was uh Jerry Frey and Bill Wester. And Jerry, uh no, he was just a renegade, you know, he was 16 and had the world by the tail, and he was just rebellious against his parents and struggling and always in trouble. And uh he he gets with this guy, Bill, another missionary kid, and they go up on the one side of this little mountain and they're and they're up there talking. Jerry said, you know, I'm just this is what he said. He said, I uh I told Bill, I'm just tired of living this way. I I need to I need a change in my life. I need I just don't want to be this kid anymore that's always in trouble. And so Bill said, Well, let's just talk to God about it. And so they prayed, and Jerry said, you know, unloading that burden just he just felt this sense of relief, and uh he said there was just this peace in my life. So he's just sharing this simple testimony. And we all knew that he was a troublemaker. And so we were, you know, the rest of us is pretty impactful. He was one of the leaders of the youth, and so it was pretty impactful testimony. We'd never heard anything like that before. So it got quiet. And then across from me, there was this Michigan kid named Karen Jones, and uh suddenly it's just like she's under conviction. It's just like something happened right there in that around that campfire. And so so Karen says, I got something I need to say. And standing next to her was Janet Harvey. They were best friends. Their parents lived next to each other in the capital city. They went to the same school together, and Karen said, Janet, I I owe you an apology. She said, I I've I've always said we're best friends, but behind your back, I'm I'm when you're not around, I've been shooting velvet tip barbs at you because I'm just jealous. You know, I just saw Janet was this beautiful olive skin, jet black hair, athlete. All the boys liked her. Karen was just kind of so-so. And so she just felt jealousy towards her. And so she would, you know, should talk about her behind her back. So she said, uh, so Janet, I've just I just want to tell you I'm sorry. I just thought you were just so stuck up. And and then Janet burst into tears and says, I am stuck up. You know, I am stuck up. And so then, and these two girls, I mean, they just embraced, and man, you could just feel this sense of Y'all were having uh we were having revival and we didn't know what it was. We never had that before. Wow. And around that campfire, that spirit of conviction of the presence of God just tore us up. I mean, I was sitting there when she said that about Janet, I knew you heard me joking about it earlier with my older brother David. I had jealousy towards my brother because I felt like my mama preferred him over me. I just felt like, well, you know, he's really got her praise, where I'm just kind of struggling along in school and not doing that great. And so I was just jealous towards him. And so I just had to look over at my brother and just say, Dave, I owe you an apology too. You know, and so it was then at that campfire, the next morning, was a Sunday morning. I remember going to bed that night with my Bible in my hand, feeling like I was holding a new book. I'd never felt that before. There was a sense of just joy in that group of missionary kids. We never had this before. And just to show you the sense of what was happening, we were walking back, the girls are gonna go to their cabin, the boys are headed to their cabin, but we would suddenly just stop and pray, and then we'd go first stop and sing. And we walked by the end, the last cabin where the adults were staying, and out of this cabin comes one of our missionary uncles, one of the older missionaries, in his pajamas and his bathrobe and his fluffy with white, fluffy white house shoes. Perfect for perfect for Africa. Yes, perfect for it. Comes out there and he walks up to the group of missionary kids and he he kind of breaks into the circle and he says, he says, uh, MKs, I just want to tell you or something. Said, your parents, we've been meeting for prayer because we're concerned about the future of our country and what's going to happen here. And we've been asking God for a fresh move of his spirit. And for whatever reason, he's chosen to start with you. And I just want to get in on the overflow. That's his that's a quote of what he said. When I think back about that, I say, you know, that to me, I said, that that shows me what that guy was feeling when he walked up. Because you know, normally the adult kids making noise, they're gonna come up and fuss at you. What are y'all doing out here? You're supposed to be. And he's wanting what you had. And and he felt it. He felt that that presence. Next morning, we're having church, and uh, all the missionaries gathered in this big tabernacle, and about a hundred of them when with their kids plus kids. And um, so they'd heard something happen to us. And uh my mom said that morning, I hiked over this little hill where mom and dad were staying, and mama said, Gordon, you came over and burst into where we were having breakfast, and you said, Mom and dad, something happened to me last night, and I don't know what it was, but it was wonderful. And then Mama said, You turned around and walked out and went back over to the other side where you're supposed to have your breakfast. Just shared. Just want to let y'all know. It's all good. It's all good. Camp's great. I'm sure they were just like, What in the world, you know? So other missionary kids were doing the same thing. We didn't know it, but other kids were telling their parents, sure, we get to church. Okay, God preaches, church is over, and then the guy who's gonna close in prayer, he says, now listen, we uh some of us parents have been hearing something happen to you, missionary kids, last night. Uh, would a few of you mind be willing to come up and just share with us? So, myself, Bill Wester, Jerry Frey, we walked up there to the front. Never had I ever talked in public before. And and especially those two guys, Jerry for sure. So and we just said what I just told you, just simple. This we had no theology of it. And we just said, this is what happened last night. You know, talked about my jealousy for David and Jerry, I'm always in trouble, don't like what I've been. And then we just sat back down and it got dead quiet at auditorium. And from the very back, one of the missionary ladies stands up and she says, You know what? I know I'm a prickly pear, and I knew this lady. She was she a prickly pear? She was a prickly pear. Yeah. Just always kind of, you know, just one of those naysayers, and you know, all the time.
SPEAKER_01The Lord permits them in every.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know. No one in your church would be like this. No. No, I don't know anyone else anywhere like this. But she was a prickly pear. She said, I know I'm a prickly pear. And then she made the statement. But you know what? All I've ever wanted is to be loved. Wow. All I've ever wanted is to be loved. And I'm telling you. That broke down some areas in it. Yes. Yes. Missionaries. Sure. Okay, who we're supposed to. That's our job. The super spiritual. And see, they're so here they're praying for God to break through in their country. And it's starting with them. And they're, and there's it's like, if we don't have enough love for one of our own, what have we got to give to these national brothers and sisters who are about to face great persecution?
SPEAKER_01Amazing.
SPEAKER_00And it and it just ripped the hearts in that room. I'll never forget it. And for the next like two, three hours, one after another, the missionaries were standing up, confessing to each other, relationships being restored, reconciliation taking place. And that was the service where I sensed this call of God in my life.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Where God got a hold of old Gordon for it. And from the time I was 15 years old, I just knew. I don't know where, I don't know what, but I know God, you've called me uh into the ministry. And so that's all I knew. And I I didn't know what about seminary. I didn't know any of that stuff. I just knew that that God got a hold of old Gordon for it. So from the time I was 15, I had that sense of direction, and that's what happened to me.
SPEAKER_01What a sweet, sweet story of a meeting. I I don't want to stay there too long, but uh one thought I did have from that group. We know you surrendered this. How many others? Yeah, good question. But the next generation. Tell me.
SPEAKER_00Great question. So my brother, older brother David, yeah, that had an impact on him. He spent His career as a career missionary, as a doctor in Africa. My younger brother Greg, the impact of the older youth on that generation, the next year that group experienced something similar, and my brother Greg spent his career in Africa. Jerry went as a missionary aviation pilot in Latin America.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_00Bill Wester became a lifelong youth minister down in Florida. Janet went as a career missionary to Italy. Spent her career in Italy. Karen, career missionary in Australia. Connie Westmoreland, who was there, she got married and spent her career as a missionary in South Africa and Kenya. Wow. I mean, that that movement, I mean, you know, you look at something, we're in ministry. We've seen people go to a camp or something or revival and they're all you know all fired up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But unless for a lot of them, they come in ready to you know set the world on fire. The test of genuine, I think, genuine revival is in the rearview mirror. You look back years. Yeah. And you look back and say, okay, did it last? Well, if we were to add up the years on the mission field of those or ministry that God used in touch, ah, it's incredible.
SPEAKER_01And not to neglect how it how how that touch of the Lord. It impacted the current missionaries to bring them closer to Him. Exactly. And to strengthen the relationships among the so how sweet of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's exactly right. It was a desperate time. Yeah. And for whatever reason, the Lord just chose to sweep in. And in a broader context, back in this would be in the early 70s. Okay. We didn't realize it at the time, but this movement of God in the early 70s was happening all over the world. If you know about the Indonesian revival, over a million who came to faith during this revival movement in India, same time period. Latin America, Brazil. Brazilian missionary kids were for uh shared with us at different times. Yeah, we had something happen to us in that in the early 70s, too. It is. And I didn't know that. Of course, that bigger picture we didn't know at the time. But uh sometimes what God does, He He just kind of he likes to kind of keep it where we don't know everything that He's doing.
SPEAKER_01But wouldn't that be great to study? That'd be a great book or a on the touch of God throughout various little pockets that impacted the kingdom. It would be for sure. Um so you surrendered to ministry, you eventually come back to the States. You go to college in Texas, I believe. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00Went to state school. That's right. Texas AM University.
SPEAKER_01I've heard of that. Now I'm not a very sporty guy. Do they have a football team? It's it's pretty good. Okay, good. For a change.
SPEAKER_00This year they lost one game. They haven't they haven't played this good in not in my lifetime. Oh well, thanks, Peter God. You live to see it. In the playoff, I lived to see it. You know, if if they even win one game, it'll be a great success. All right from my view.
SPEAKER_01So let's pull it for you. Go team go. Go team go. Yeah. People make fun of me. I don't keep up with it. Uh what'd you study in college?
SPEAKER_00So I I so again, you know, so now you know the context. 15 years old, God's got a hold of me, and I'm praying, asking the Lord about college. All right. So I come back, I thought, okay, you're going into ministry, you need to go to Baptist school. So I went to Houston Baptist. Mom and Dad were on stateside in Houston. Okay. They were getting some uh medical upgrades at Baylor Med. Okay, so we're in Houston. So I said, well, let me go look at Houston Baptist. Go there. No, I don't feel God's direction. I go to Baylor University, Baylor Baptist. Nope, I walk around campuses, I don't feel, I just don't feel a sense it's where you're supposed to be. I went to Dallas Baptist and visited it. Nope, didn't didn't sense anything there. And so mama says, Well, there's Washita, you know, and she gave a few other names. Well, let's just keep praying about it. So now summer is approaching. I haven't applied. You need to decide. And mom, so now you know you know about my mama's story. See, so you now know context. So you know, mama's mama's focused on education. You got it. All right. So mama's nervous about this. And uh, and so I said, I just I'm just waiting on the Lord. I'm looking and I'm praying. And so my two brothers, older brothers, were at Texas AM University, state school.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so one weekend I'm going there to visit. So I turn up and we're visiting with my brother David and Giles. David and I are walking around campus, and it was a Saturday morning, and I I'm walking around campus and I said, David, I just feel like I'm supposed to come here. I said, I I really thought I'd go to a Baptist school and get you know get prepared for ministry, but I feel like it's where I'm supposed to be. What should I do? So he said, Well, he said, uh the the admissions uh department is just it was about 200 yards from us. He said, the missions admissions department's right over here. Why don't we go see if anyone's in there? And so we walk over to this admin building on a Saturday Saturday morning. Yeah. There's a there is a secretary behind the the admission uh the desk, the reception desk. And so we come in and I mean we didn't know what we're doing. We're African, we're African boys. And uh you have your shorts on? Yeah. Yeah. Oh I'm wearing I'm wearing mergler support. Okay, good for you. Walk in. And uh so just said my brother David says, Well, my brother's interested in maybe looking into going to school here. Can you kind of tell us what the process is? Because we don't know nothing. And so she says, Well, the dean of admissions just happens to be in his office this morning doing some correspondence, catching up on Saturday. He's usually not here, but let me just go talk to him. So she steps back and comes back out, and Dean Cooper, Dean of Admissions, Texas AM University, he comes out, walks around, shakes her hand, introduces himself, and he says, Oh uh, tell me what I can do for you. And so I just I said, Well, sir, I just we've been walking around your campus here, and I just said I feel like I'm supposed to come go to school here. What a dumbass.
SPEAKER_01It's a full-filled answer. So in a state school. Did Dean Cooper understand the call of God? I don't think so. Okay.
SPEAKER_00But the here's the deal. So Dean Cooper says, Well, tell me your story. So I just said, Well, we've just come back to America from Africa. My parents were doctors. I was born and raised there, but I'm an American citizen.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he said, uh, I said, I said, I don't have a G D. I didn't go to high school here. I went, I was in a boarding school in Africa. We did high school there. He said, Well, he said, Did you do your SATs and SACTs? I said, Yes, sir. He said, What was your score? So I told him, and he said, Well, we'll take you.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00Okay, you know I'm just telling you, right now today, to get into AM?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You didn't have the You have to be in the top 10%. You got it, every it's like straight A's and all this stuff. It's just normal for those guys. They're first, second in the class. That's just average. And are you saying you didn't have straight A's? Lucky to pass.
SPEAKER_01Graduated, thank you, Lottie. Thank you. Thank you, Lottie. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And Dean Cooper says, well, would you be interested in being the core cadets? I said, well, what's that? He describes it to me. I said, I've already been in something like that all through my high school years in a British government boarding school. We wore school uniforms. We had uh disciplined, you know, regimented uh organization. I said, so I says, I said I've been doing that. I've been doing that. No challenge. No, and he says, so I said, yeah, I'll I can do that. And I roomed with his son in the core cadets. Wow. Now tell me, God, I mean Again, on a Saturday, all that falls into place. And so that's how I ended up in college. And and then I said, you know, I then began to sense this call to missions. That the place of service was missions. And I thought, and I knew this. At that time, the world was closing to missionary visas. You couldn't get into China as a missionary, no chance.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So, but you could go anywhere as an English teacher.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00So I majored, I did secondary education, and my teaching feels English journalism.
SPEAKER_01I did not know that. You know, actually is an English teacher.
SPEAKER_00I speak pretty good English.
SPEAKER_01You do. Don't to mess up. Don't to touch a day. That's right. That's right. So I married an English major. Y'all are good people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. And so that's I had four incredible years there. And this revival movement that had started back in Africa. Yeah. It just had continued to influence my life. And so through those four years in the core cadets, of course, were incredible opportunities for relationship, friendship, sharing what Christ meant to me and seeing fellow students get saved and become active. And we started freshman Bible studies in the Corps. And by the time I graduated, we had we had Bible studies in every single outfit in the Corps cadets. And God, I mean, he was just at work, you know? And so then I went from there to Southwestern Seminary to get my straight. Good deal. But then when I was 19 years old, I'd gone over to Africa on a missionary kid trip to kind of close the circle. They do this for all our missions, you know this. So I was in my sophomore year, finished it summer, and I was able to go back to Zimbabwe, see where I was born and raised, and kind of have some resolution.
SPEAKER_01Began a detachment, but not exactly. I mean, that's not the best. Just to get a sense, yeah, that's the one. The next phase. Okay. This is the same thing. Because it was my whole life, exactly. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So I'm going out there, and um my dad hears from an African pastor out in the bush, said, We hear your son is coming. Would he come and preach at our church in the bush? He said, Well, my dad said, I don't know, but I'll talk to him about it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, I so here I am. I'm I think at that time I was 18 years old, turning 18. And so, yeah, I was 17 turning 18. And I get to the bush out at Sanyati where we were born and raised. And my dad says, as a pastor, like enough you preach at his church. I said, Dad, I hadn't been to seminary yet. I don't know, I don't know how to do that. He said, No, no, no. You don't have to go to seminary to be qualified. That's right. He said, if God has called you, he qualifies you. And he said, uh, what you do, he said, you get in, you get into your prayer closet and you pray and talk to God about it with his word, and you look in the word and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a message. Wow. And here was a great word. My dad, he was a medical doctor, but he was a lay preacher too. So my dad, and my dad, then dad says, and then when you get a word from the Lord, he said, You put your sermon, put some fire in your sermon, or put your sermon in the fire. All right. That was his word. That's good. Well, I did it work. Did you go preach? I did. I did, and it was terrible. I am not kidding you. Did the Buddha did they say, okay, who else has a summon? You're laughing, but I'll tell you what. So I I thought I had, you know, I thought I got a word, you know, I'm praying. And so I go out there to preach, and I didn't know these words in the Shona language because the Bible is the Bible words. And so the pastor said, I will interpret those for you. Okay, I said great. So I get out to preach. It was terrible. Seriously. I'm not kidding. It was terrible. It was disjointed. I was nervous. Yeah. I could look at the preacher, Pastor. You know, if you've been on mission trips, you know. Yes, yes. He's supposed to help you. So he's interpreting, right? So if you're not sure. He's supposed to make it better. That's right. He couldn't fix it. He couldn't fix it. I'm looking at you. I could look at his face and tell he's depressed about this. I'm serious. I can look over there and tell. He's standing right here next to me, and I'm like, he hates it. I can tell he hates it. And I was just embarrassed. Did you feel the sweat? I didn't. I'm feeling red. I'm just embarrassed. I'm thinking, what were you thinking? You can't do this. You know, and I thought, what this is a man, this is a big fail. This is terrible. And then I get through. So I'm like, uh, do you want to give an invitation? And I could tell he's looking at it, like, invitation? Are you kidding me? I mean, it's like an invitation. And so, and so he he kind of nods to the ladies on the front to sing a chorus to close down. And I'm standing, I'm standing over here. I'm just trying to get as far away as I can. And I'm just, I'm just thinking, oh, this is a terrible mistake. I don't know what I was thinking. That's funny. Okay, so so the ladies were singing. Well, right before I started to preach, the villagers had brought in this paraplegic from the village. They'd carried her in, an older woman, and set her in the back of the. We were in a primary school, a Bush primary school, and we were in a classroom. And they brought her in and they've set her at the back of the room with her back against the wall. So she's back there. And so they start singing the invit the God of the invitation. And this woman, she she rolls over onto her elbows on the floor, and she starts to drag herself on the floor up the little aisle between the chairs. And she gets about two-thirds of the way. And no, and people stop saying because they just all everyone just look at and they can feel it. Something's go something unusual's going on here. And so a preacher goes down there and he kneels by her and just talks to her and shona. And then he looks back up at me corner. And so and then he goes. You sure it was his servant? I have to shop by that's right. Maybe he said something. But here's what he says. He's looking at me and he goes, and he calls me Pastor. Oh Pastor? This woman is saying that what you said in your message is exactly what's happening to her. That Satan has swept into her life, has destroyed her life, and she has no hope. And she knows the only way she has any hope in her life is to give her life to Jesus Christ. She wants to be saved. Wow. Okay, I'm just standing there. Sure. I was like, are you kidding?
SPEAKER_01But what again, how sweet of the Lord to show you early in your ministry it's Him, it's not you.
SPEAKER_00And that was the lesson he taught. I mean, you're reading my my my thought because that's exactly it.
SPEAKER_01Well, no, I live this week in and week out. And so never feel qualified, never feel as prepared, never feel as as clear, but by God's grace, more often than not, one person will come up and tell me how that spoke to them. It's like thank the Lord. It was for you then. Exactly. You know?
SPEAKER_00So and then the so then he nods the ladies to sing another chorus. Oh so now they now they start singing some more. But then here comes another one, here comes another one. I think seven people came forward to make professional faith. So I'm standing over here. Do you think for one minute I'm up there thinking, man, I'm going to be the next Billy Graham. Am I the greatest pastor and preacher in the world? No. I'm over there and I felt like the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, This is my business, not your business. And you're exactly right. That lesson, that experience for old Gordon Ford, it saved me from doing so many stupid things in ministry. This year is my 50th year of ministry. I started pastoring a little rural country church in Texas, and I got back from that summer. I've learned, I say, okay, Lord, this is what you want me to do. If an opportunity opens up, I'm willing to preach. And here comes I'm at the Baptist student ministry one Wednesday luncheon. Yeah, and the director says, Hey, we got this country church out here looking for a preacher. If you're interested, let me know. Okay, and I thought, oh, I know a lot of these upperclassmen, they're bound to be a bunch of guys in here who'd like to preach. But I went up to the guy and said, You know, if you want to put my name in the opera, and I was the only one. Went out to Macedonia Hicks Baptist Church, a little country church, ended farm to market road, and spent the next 10 years in that little church. What a blessing.
SPEAKER_01So you finished seminary and stayed on. It was uh good years. Oh, you learn a lot of situations.
SPEAKER_00Better than good. Seriously, better than good. God blessed his work. He did. And I was praying, Lord, would you call one person into ministry for every year I'm here? And it was when I was there the first Sunday, maybe I had maybe 30 people there. I probably lowered the average age by 40 years. But just good old down home country folks. And I tell you, they took me in, they call me their little preacher boy. This is our little preacher boy. This is our little preacher. And uh I I had to wear a coat and tie. My tie was Did you ever wear shorts? No, I know I never wore shorts at a preacher. I wouldn't have been allowed in the pulpit. Even with a tie. Okay, never mind. And they they always they always, you know, my tie was always a little crooked, you know. And I so one Christmas I got the I got the the hook on tie. Ah so you fixed it. No, I didn't. They gave it one of the because one of the ladies was feeling embarrassed for me because people kept teasing. Uh-huh. And so for Christmas, she got me that to help the preacher out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Had a conversation recently with a pastor who just said if if guys would be in places like that and stay a while, not always look for something bigger or what they determines better. You can learn so much. And God's people will teach you, and together you will grow and honor Him.
SPEAKER_00They love me and just let me make, you know, they I I didn't know anything. I mean, there's one lady voted for me to be the pastor because they had a short haircut.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I was in the core cadets, didn't have a choice. Okay. I don't know if they can preach, but his hair is right. And they love me. You know, they did. Our church was an old uh cavalry barracks back in the day, and they put it up on blocks, and that was the that was the fellowship Sunday school space. The old church, I mean, they had a hundred-year marker. And um the Lord just He just blessed that work. The church grew. Of course, I was young, enthusiastic. I didn't know much, you know, but I was enthusiastic about it, and it started growing. People started coming and getting saved, and people joining the church, and the church grew. And um, we started a youth group, and it had a great youth group and saw these young men and women in the youth group just God got a hold of their lives. And I mean, by the time I left, there was one couple went as masters to Russia, another young man went to the Middle East, Keith Telck. He and his wife and Keith was a brilliant young man. Three years went through college, two years ran through seminary. He said the task is too urgent. When I'd go to their house for Sunday lunch, as you do in the country. And every time I'd go have lunch with Donnie and Carolyn Telck, she's church pianist, he is a deacon. Uh Keith would come and sit down on the floor at my chair, and he'd say, Tell me some stories about growing up on the mission field. And I'd just tell him stories. And that young man, I mean, he just had a heart for it. You could just see he was on fire, he had one purpose in his life. I'm going to mission field.
SPEAKER_01And he did. We were appointed with him in 1998, went through uh MLC with him.
SPEAKER_00Incredible. Yeah. One weekend he sat down and he translated the Jesus film into Farsi.
SPEAKER_01Amazing.
SPEAKER_00He's an incredible young man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So he was another one, and another couple in the youth ministry, and another one on the staff of the state staff in Georgia. And um, I mean, my brother, my younger brother Greg, was came there to go to college. Yeah. And he came out to the church, and one Sunday morning, boom, he walks the aisle, tears in his eyes, he says, God's calling me to ministry. Praise the Lord. Lord honored that God. Oh man. I mean, it was, like I said, better than better than good. Much better than good. And as you said, it was a it was a laboratory.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I'm I I I felt like everything I experienced at Macedonia Hicks Baptist is a microcosm of the church.
SPEAKER_02Sure.
SPEAKER_00The challenges that we faced, issues that we dealt with. I mean, it was all right there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And um, and I needed it when I went to the field because then my job on the mission field was to start churches, train pastors. Well, because of my experience as a pastor, then I was able to help those new pastors with their challenges and walk it through. And you'll find, you know, this yourself. We're in different culture and language worldview, but the challenges of the church are so similar all over the world.
SPEAKER_01Universal. Universal. All over the world. So let's transition. You you and Lee Ann, I should mention you are married. You do have a wife. Uh 42 years. Praise the Lord. Yes, sir. And all were appointed as missionaries with the International Mission Board or the Foreign Mission Board. Went where?
SPEAKER_00So we started off in the country of Botswana.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We went to language school down in South Africa. They had some homelands. One was called Boputa Tsuana, where we were studying the Botswana language.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And uh Leanne and I met at Glorieta, New Mexico. It was the ridge crest of the West Coast. West Coast area. New Mexico.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And um I'd served on summer staff there in my sophomore summer. No, my junior uh freshman between freshman and sophomore years. And so I was there for Foreign Missions Week. And Leanne happened to be there for debriefing, for her debrief orientation as a journeyman. She had taught school in South Africa for two years as a journeyman in an African high school. Had an incredible experience. And uh, you know this as a trustee, we don't allow journeyman, our two-year singles, to date during those two years. And so I caught her at a desperate time. Anything would have looked good. Yeah. Anything would have looked good, and I happened to be at the right place, right time. And so I met Leanne and she was a Fort Worth, Texas girl. Went to Baylor. And uh so we we started corresponding. And come, of course, didn't come to find out here. I am way down there in Hicks, Texas. Right. And she's up there in Fort Worth, and where's my seminary at Fort Worth? And I tell you, the way the Lord put our lives together was incredible. And she's just yeah, she's been a partner in ministry through all these years. Yeah, yeah. And that's so that's how, and we found out as we started dating that we both had a similar sense of call to that country separately. When she was a journeyman, when I was a mission kid growing up. We ended up going to the village of my own Botswana, yeah, far up in the north, the edge of the Akavango, and the on the north side of the Calahorite Desert, and we spent 11 years of our life there. Four kids born during that season, uh, three girls and a boy. Our son Giles was born in the village clinic of my own. And um God used that, he used that as a seasoning for us, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You came back to Richmond to serve at headquarters, so to speak, with the International Mission Board. And um, rather than me trying to recount what you did, can you just briefly tell us?
SPEAKER_00So, you know, the furthest thing from my mind ever was to leave the bush and go anywhere. I mean, I that was the pattern I saw. Missionaries came, they stayed, and they died. Right. You know, either on the field or when, you know, when the time came to retire, and then they would they would uh move back to the States. That's the pattern I saw. So we get to my own. I'm thinking, okay, I'm here. This is it. This is where I'm gonna spend the rest of the night happy. The work was hard, it's tough. The people were very friendly, warm, but not responsive to the gospel. They had plenty of other religions, African traditional religions. And so the work was hard. But we're isolated place, the uh geography, the climate, the climate was hot, it was a tough, tough spot. But it felt very fulfilled, those 11 years. And then Aaron, uh, our field leader asked if I would come and serve as his associate, which meant I'd stay on the field, but I'd need to relocate to a different country.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00And I struggled with that. I didn't, I didn't that what didn't fit my time, my time or my my sense of direction. And then it was like I was having a quiet time one morning, and it was like the Spirit of the Lord said I didn't tell you the whole story. Well, that kind of set me back. Because since I was 15, as you've heard in this podcast, I was feeling like this is the direction. Right. And so I got to thinking about it. I said, you know, that's true. He he he told me the d that this is the step, but he didn't tell me there would be no other steps. And I'm like, okay. Well, I'll still be in Africa doing that. So move over to neighboring country, Zimbabwe for nine years.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00And then my predecessor, Avery Willis, retired. And then Dr. Rankin, our president, contacts me and says, I want you to pray about coming back to the States in the role of vice president for overseas.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I thought, these people are out of their mind. I mean, I'm young, I got young kids, I don't feel like I'm qualified, I don't have enough years of experience. I don't know what they're thinking. Yeah. And uh, but he said, I want you to pray about it. So I've talked, I've prayed about it, talked to my wife, and something funny that happened. I was talking with my kids about it. My eldest daughter, Sarah, at the time she was probably 12 or 13, said, Dad, you're talking about going back going and living in America? I said, Yeah. And she said, Don't those people already know about Jesus over there? Why would a missionary go to Why would a missionary go to a place where there's already uh churches and Christians?
SPEAKER_01Those MKs. They just missionary kids.
SPEAKER_00Just cut straight straight on men's words. And so that's how I got to the home office 20 years ago and uh started off vice president for overseas. Yeah, did that for about nine, ten years, and then uh Dr. Tom Elliff became our kind of our president, and he asked me to move from that to leading a senior vice president role of mobilization of prayer for prayer and awakening. Yeah and uh that was a significant period in my life of leadership, and then after that, when uh David Platt became our president, he asked me to shift to a role as ambassador for the president, senior ambassador for the president. And our current president, Dr. Chitwood, when he came, ask if I'd continue to do that. So that's kind of been the journey. That's wonderful the last 20 years. Yeah. It's been great, it's been a great season.
SPEAKER_01Well, the Lord's used you in a lot of different ways. Let me transition just a little bit and ask you to just kind of think with me. Our our catchphrase or whatever are those three words worship, grow, follow. And so we see that as I guess we see it a lot of different ways. Worship kind of self-explanatory. We worship God, and in our worship, we're drawn closer to Him. When we consider growing, that's really discipleship for us. But then the follow, we wrestled with that word, should it be go, because we want our people to think missions and ministry. But then in a particular meeting, we we settled on those words when Jesus called people, come follow me. And so we feel like if you're following Jesus, you're going to do ministry. If you're following Jesus, you're going to do missions. So just in broad terms, um let's talk just a little bit about that. Uh today you you shared three wonderful messages at our service. I don't know when this podcast will air, but we'll link to that and our folks could listen to that sermon. But what would you say to the typical member of a local church regarding missions? They may hear their pastor, uh, they may have a missionary speaker as we used to call them, come in every now and then. What what do you say to the typical average person sitting in a pew when it comes to missions, whether that's local or global, because we emphasize both. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Give hit hit that with a broad. You know, so for me, I I think I would I would approach it in the context of the way you said that about follow. Because, you know, in that in that experience of revival amongst our young people that I spoke about, when we encountered the reality of the Spirit of God, and when later fill in the terminology and the language of the theology of it, what what happened for me was I became aware of the reality of my faith. That actually God is living in me. The Holy Spirit is in me. And I never heard I'd never heard much about that growing up. I just I just it's not that I don't think I neglected it. I just didn't hear a lot about that. About the way you walk with God is by His Spirit. His Spirit is there to live in you and to lead you, direct you, and and and and show you the way. And so if you know, if you're gonna live apart from that, then you're on your own. You got to figure this out by yourself. And you can you can get some shots right. You can you can hit some licks and go, well, that wasn't bad. But you know, Galatians 5, I mean, it just talks about this, you know, be filled with the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit. It's like, how are you gonna live this Christian life if you don't do that? And so your word about follow to me is closely related to that. It's it's it's getting to know Jesus, you know, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I'd already attained, but there's one thing I do, forgetting everything that's behind. I press toward the mark. Now, to me, in our churches, if you got members who are pressing toward the mark, pressing that, and the mark is the finish line. Sure. I'm running a race in my life, and you are too, and we all run at different paces. I'm not running to try to compete with you. You know, this is the thing that messes the church up so much, is we get this sense of, well, this guy, you know, he seems better than me, so I need to, or he's not as good. And so we're looking at each other, competing with one another when actually we're in a we're in this together.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And we need to be encouraging each other on. We're at different places in our growth and understanding. So my job is to encourage you in your race and and help you run a good race. And if I learn to follow Jesus, then wherever he leads, that him, wherever he leads, I'll go.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So you're exactly right, I think. If a person will do that, if where he leads is my own Botswana, where we serve, then that's where I'll go. Right. If wherever he leads is across the street in Arab, Alabama, that's where I'll go. That's it's not the distance. I mean, you know, sometimes missionaries give this impression. Say it again out loud. Sometimes missionaries give this impression, oh, you're a home missionary, oh well bless you, that's missions 101. Which irritates the fool out of me, you know? Yeah. Because the assignment here is not an easy assignment. Right. And we do the missions. I tell you, missionaries, they can get into this too. Yeah. That we compete with each other. Where are you like my daughter Elizabeth's in Italy now? Oh, Italy. Oh, that must be a nice assignment. You live in Rome, you eat, you drink cappuccinos all the time, and you know, you get pizza. That must be a really nice cush assignment. Well, let me tell you something about Italy. Right. That is a tough spiritual soil to be in. Absolutely. A post-Christian environment. Oh, and uh my wife, oh, she's one of those what you see is what you get. She's straight, she's a straight shooter. So she was in this conversation with a missionary from a different country, and and that missionary started to want to compare notes about who had the roughest, hardest life. Oh my word. You know, oh, you got running water in your house? Oh. You got electricity. Oh well, we have electricity five minutes a day. Yeah. We didn't have any water for three weeks. I mean, it's terrible. It's like it's like who's got the hardest and toughest life? As though that's the badge of honor. Right. When really on the mission field, and I'd have this conversation with missionaries. The goal here is not for you to endure till the end and you retire.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00That's not it. If you're not thriving here and you're not shining your light, go home. Yeah. Go home. Because this is wasting your time being here. Yeah. When I was at the International Mission Board, I'd sometimes preach in chapel. And I'd say to our staff, look, if you don't love what you do, please go find something else to do. Absolutely. Because this is what you're giving your life for.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And if you're getting up in the morning and dreading what you're going to go do so you can get a paycheck, please. Man, life is too precious. And so that's the thing. The goal is not to endure, it's to thrive. And when we follow him, it's what I have found is when I'm in the center of his will, in spite of the hardships, I can thrive.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I can thrive. Because if I'm following him, he's never going to take you anywhere where he can't keep you. And he's never going to ask you to do anything that he won't help you finish it. He'll supply what's needed to do what he asks you to do. Always. Always. So to me, that sense of teaching people to follow him. And see, this is where I think sometimes, Jamie, is that in the youth group, this is something I wish youth ministers would really focus on, is teaching their young people how to follow God. How to hear and how to follow. How to be an obedient follower of Christ. Yes, spiritual disciplines, very important. Reading the scripture, prayer, church attendance, sharing your faith. Yes, these are very critical. But they have to be a component, I think, of that sense of learning to hear and obey. Hear and obey. And if we can help our young people get that while they're here, then when they get out there and confront it at university, you're going to have some strong, some strong young people. And I think, you know, to bring Charlie Kirk into the conversation just a little bit is I think this is what he helped, especially challenging college students in their worldview. Sure. He helped, he helped them understand that it's okay to share your faith, to be loud about what you believe. You don't have to be shy and hide it. You don't have to be afraid about being canceled because you're a follower of Christ. Yes, it's unpopular some places, sure. But you have a right to be bold as a witness for Christ. And I think if we can get that into their hearts when they're in the church and the elementary, uh middle school, high school, and watching the kids at worship this morning, oh my word, was I ever blessed. Yeah. I mean, watching them worship the Lord and help us worship the Lord. So it's like those kids, they grow up with that. Man. I hope they all stay right here in this area until it's time to go wherever's next because they are getting a grounding here in this church.
SPEAKER_01We're so blessed. Oh, you are? We have a wonderful children's ministry. We have a wonderful student ministry. Um it's interesting what you said, it brought back memories. I did two years at UAB, which is the state school there in Birmingham, before I transferred to Mobile College, a Baptist school. But I had an English class with a professor that was Palestinian. And somehow I made a comment on a moral issue. This was an English lit class. It was the most, you know, random thing. But I made a comment, and this guy was a um he was an Orthodox or Catholic Palestinian. But every time a moral issue would come up, he he would call me out in class. Uh, Christian, you want to say something? And I I you know I would give my best effort, uh, but I wish I had learned more. It's okay to be bold, it's okay, and it's good to be prepared. You just made me think of that. And we can edit that comment on the other.
SPEAKER_00I mean, what a great illustration. What a great illustration.
SPEAKER_01But let me Yeah, let me thank you for one thing. We need to wind down our time. Yeah. You uh I don't know how many times, we think four, you've been here to preach, and one time you taught us the phrase, just put your yes on the table. And that became vernacular here at Gillam Springs. And so, as we are challenging our people to worship, to grow, and to follow, we steal that, I tried to attribute it appropriately to you on occasion, that you need to put your yes on the table. And here's what I would say just as you addressed, sometimes your yes is across the street. Exactly. Sometimes your yes is uh across the nation. Our executive pastor, Jeremy Patterson, has put his yes on the table. He's resigned his position here, he's taking a church in Montana. Wow. Last year we took five trips to Montana, this year it'll be six. You know, we're approaching a hundred people a year going to Montana working with church plants. That's so great. So sometimes your yes is locally, sometimes it's across the U.S. But then we've got people that are absolutely loving the ministry we do in Montana. We've got folks ready to go to Italy. They know it's not just a tourist trip. They're going to do VBS. We've got folks excited. We're going back to Brazil. So thank you. I want to say that first of all, and uh give you a chance just to say anything else you might want to say. Thank you for teaching us that simple phrase of just put your yes on the table and trust the Lord with the call, trust the Lord with the equipping, trust the Lord with the outcome. But you, you and I, all of us, we have that responsibility. Here's my yes. And so I want to say thank you for that. Now, give me just a few closing comments about putting your yes on the table and maybe just a brief word. What's the Lord up to around the world?
SPEAKER_00Well, I tell you, it's we just need to be alert. And I would encourage your church members to really pay attention to what God is doing globally. There's an there's a movement right now, it's unprecedented. And you know, it's not just my vernacular. You know, I don't I don't like that kind of thing. But what we're seeing is God is raising up from the nations, from our Baptist partners, from Christian believers, people who are saying, we want to join in this Great Commission effort. And it's unprecedented. About three months ago, South Africa, there were 13 African nations who met together for a consultation about how to form their first mission-sending organization. And it's being led by uh a leader from Madagascar. And so they're talking about Africans sending out missionaries and their sense of saying it's high time we did this. We've had the David Livingston was there over a hundred years ago. They've had the gospel. Why haven't we been sending this message out? So I was in the Francophone countries in West Africa when they gathered together to form their first mission-sending agency from their nations. I mean, Brazil historically sends missionaries. Korea has historically sent, South Korea historically sent missionaries. I was out on the islands of Cuba, and when the government began to open up the doors a little bit, the Cuban church is now sending missionary couples. There's three down in Latin America now. I was in Europe and there was a I had a consultation with European mission leaders, and there were some guys from the from Romania, and they were Roma gypsies. And they have house churches across Roma. And so they shared with us that that the Roma gypsy churches have sent 33 missionaries out of their house churches. In fact, uh Scott Holstey, who was my associate at the time, you know, Scott? Scott said, I was in one of those house churches the next weekend, and they commissioned three of their couples, three of their families of the ten couples, three of them to go as missionaries uh internationally. I was in Germany for a consultation with the German, young German Baptist leaders who came in at reunification out of Russia, and they have a strong evangelistic fervor. There were over 750 just men in that group, and they asked me to come and address them on the topic of the responsibility of the pastor to the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00It's unbelievable. The Underground Church in Indonesia has sent missionary teams out from Indonesia. I mean, it's it's unprecedented what we're seeing across the world right now. The Chinese Underground Church, they have a vision to send over 100,000 missionaries out of those house churches. We've been meeting with three of the largest house church networks in China. They're all over 20 million in size. Okay, just grab that grief. Just grab a million. 60 million plus.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And we never hear that. No. Which is understandable. We know why. We need to know. Something's happening. Yeah, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Now, this is unprecedented. And Latin America, they're getting on board. We're just we started a Latin American training center in Europe so that they can come out of Latin America over into Europe and be trained in the context of mission to see how they can be involved in international missions. I mean, it's what we're seeing, the Ukrainian church has said that the only thing growing in the Ukraine is the church. It's incredible. And the Ukrainian Baptists, in spite of this war, have been supporting international missionaries that have come out of Ukraine. Unbelievable. What a testimony. No, it's it's just I had a conversation with a Russian Baptist leader. He came, they brought their family to our training center, Rockville, Maryland. Okay? And so he comes, they they go through their seven weeks, and he goes back to report back to Russian Baptists about what happened. So they said, Well, we need to start a missions and sending agency, and we want you to head it up. So this guy says, Well, we need to let's send a message to our churches and see if anyone's interested in it. I saw him later. He said over 5,000 people turned up. My word. For an entrance meeting. Yeah. And I later saw him in DC at a church I was speaking at. And he pulls out his Russian passport. He says, Dr. Ford, see this passport. This passport has exported a lot of bad news. He says, Don't you think it's time it exports? He said, with this passport, I can go places you can't, God. That's true. Their first vision trip, North Korea and Syria. That's great. So that to encourage those who who might see this podcast, this is the thing, is buckle up, be alert, be aware of where God is moving and working, and then at the place he assigns you, be where occupy your territory. That's right. Own it to wherever that is. Cross the street, own it. You're the guy. You're the woman. Those people who live in your community, they're yours. They need the gospel, it's your responsibility. Don't look for someone else to do it. You do it. Why in the world are the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses getting there before we do? Right. So we own it. And we need to get in there. And so you pray. It's incredible what happens, and we start praying for our assignment. Where God's put us. You're looking at it. Walk those streets and pray for each one. Drive through and pray for each one. Ask the Lord. Open doors so this person can hear the gospel and know him and see what happens. Because it's a good, it's this is a good time. This morning on the message, of course, the end of that text says, and then the end shall come. There is an end. And I feel like Jamie, we need to live, not panic, but urgent. Sure. Not panic, but look, it's an urgent, it's an urgent task. And we need to remember personally, Gordon Ford, he has an end. So I don't want to waste whatever days he gives me. So I don't want to wake up and just say, I got plenty of time. No, no, no, no, no. You got today. So grip today and and live out your life in obedience to him where he plants you.
SPEAKER_01Amen. That's a good word. Gordon, thank you for your time. I love you. I appreciate you. It's always good to have you at Gillam Springs. You always bring a good word. I'm glad you are in the state of Alabama. Amen. I'm not above driving to Birmingham for breakfast or lunch. I like that. All right. I like that. Friends, let me say thank you for watching or listening. The Worship Grow Follow, the podcast ministry of Gillam Springs Baptist Church. We look forward to the next one. Y'all be blessed.