The old Man

His old army hat was pulled down low over his eyes. In his hand was a crudely lettered sign made of cardboard and magic marker. The sign read, “ Veteran needs money for a bus ticket to Chicago.” All of his worldly belongings were stuffed in his old army duffle bag that sat beside him on the dirty ground. The forlorn expression on his dirty face broke my heart. It had the look of a man that had hit rock bottom and had no where to turn.
The sight of this broken man stuck so vividly in my mind because I was struggling with discouragement due to what seems like such a long hard road of technical training for missions. When I saw this man God brought one thing sharply into focus that had somewhat fell aside amidst the details of technical preparations. The truth is simple but easy to forget. I can concentrate so heavily on the technical service that I totally forget about the real reason that I am on this road in the first place, to enable the gospel to be preached in remote parts of the world and to broken lives like this man. The technical aspects of this ministry are a means to that end, not the end its self. I love my work but airplanes can’t change a life. They are only a tool that God can use to get the message out about the ONE who can change a life.