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I was seven years old. I had blond hair back then and always wore shorts and shirts with numbers on them (except on Sunday mornings when my Mom never allowed me to wear anything but collared shirts and pleated pants from our local Mervyn’s).

My faith in Jesus was new, established at our Church Vacation Bible School the summer previously. Morris Plotts was a Missionary from Africa. He was tall, balding and had black rimmed glasses that made him look more like an accountant than a cross-cultural crusader.

(Morris Plotts became a Missionary at the age of 49 and served in East Africa into his 90’s)

 

When Mr. Plotts would stand in the old wooden pulpit at our church during Missions week, I hung on his every word. The wandering attention span of my seven-year-old mind was captivated by Morris’ stories of God saving him from wild animals while stuck in the wilderness and his courage to share the good news of Jesus with tribes that practiced cannibalism. His daughter Marilyn said when he visited churches, “He made missions real. Elephants trumpeted, lions roared, and hippos splashed in rivers. But most of all, U.S. congregations saw the crying need of unreached people.”

As a child, Morris Plotts’ stories of God moving in Africa, encouraged my faith in Jesus almost more than anyone or anything. I saw God as big and mighty, a God whose power moved not just in my little church in California but all over the world!

Over the next week, we will have the joy to hear similar stories of God at work around the world as we enter into or annual Reach Week at Calvary Church.

• You will hear stories of God at work in Russia and West Africa.
• You will hear stories of how the Jesus film recently was translated into its 2,000th language and how Bible translators are within reach of getting the scriptures into the heart language of every people group in the world!
• You will hear stories of God at work among international students at U.S. universities and global refugees who have arrived in our local cities.
• You will hear stories of God revealing Himself among Buddhist’s in Japan and Muslims in the Horn of Africa.

How can you hear all of these stories of God at work around the world?
By being a part of our 2023 Reach Week at Calvary Church!

We have a full 8 days of Calvary Missionaries telling stories in our worship services, in over 20 LifeGroups, through a Sunday evening concert telling the story of Corrie Ten Boom, a Wednesday Family Fun Night, a Thursday Seeking Refuge Prayer Night and a Saturday morning Global Brunch.

See details on the events this coming week and how you can get involved at CalvaryLife.org/ReachWeek

Get ready to hear Global stories of God’s glory this week and don’t worry, you can leave the pleated pants from Mervyn’s at home.

God is glorious,
Matt Doan
Reach Pastor