Miracle Mission of God

by Pastor Ken Gooch                                                                                 Vol. X, No. 8, Sep/Oct 1997

     2 VP SBCV and Pastor of Warwick Baptist Church

From His providential nudging of 24 mission volunteers from ten churches throughout our new convention, to His miraculous and benevolent hand in providing funds ... the first Partnership mission project of the SBCV and the IMB was truly a Miracle Mission of God!

I first heard about the Romania Chapel Project at an Executive Committee meeting, and there didn't seem to be anyone to take responsibility for the project so I volunteered! As things began to happen, we went from not having enough people to having eventually three more than the maximum of 21. God knew what He was doing though, because the Tennessee team only had ten members and we shared six of ours with them so that we had two fairly balanced and effective teams. They travelled with us and worked on another chapel at a different site.

We had a meeting at the IMB office in Richmond to get the team together and to organize and coordinate our efforts. As we each shared about our call to this project and God's intervention to make the necessary provision, there was a holy hush and awesome presence of God in our midst. The miraculous intervention of God that I had been seeing at Warwick Baptist had exploded across the state into ten churches and 24 team members!

Our efforts weren't without their rocky shoals and many of us had some serious struggles, but God was sufficient. Two days before the final deadline for money, we had a meeting here at Warwick to cut three or four people from the team for lack of finances. It's hard for a church of 250 to provide $18,000.00! Needless to say this was not a pleasant meeting and it deteriorated from that point until we ended up in the sanctuary on the prayer altars, broken, humbled and pleading for God's mercy and intervention. What came in the next two days was nothing short of a miracle! Over $5,000.00 was given, providing all that we needed to complete our team and also to help in assisting another person from another church to go. Money continued to come in, and we were able to provide bountifully for the project in tools, equipment and supplies.

The trip itself was also miraculous! From customs in Bucharest, where after explaining our efforts and showing the customs agent an air gun, (a story in itself) and some wire he let 34 people with 140 large suit cases and trunks pass without a single check! Though the teams didn't get to work together as originally planned, the project only got better! Not only did we complete the two chapels in the time allotted and with great blessing from God and from the local congregation, we had some hardcore soul-seeking servants of Jesus, who went out each evening to share the Gospel with the Romanian people! Finally we were able to leave a love offering of over $3,500. Of which $2,200 came directly from offerings of the volunteers who went!

Many people were won to faith in Christ and two churches now stand where none stood before, sentinels to the glory of God and the Majesty of His miracle working power! Don McCauley, our SBC missionary in Romania who heads this project, told me that the translators said the team from the Southern Baptist Conservatives was the most spiritual and evangelistic of any team that had ever come to Romania. I was so grateful to hear this! Don shared further that he had never had a team that was so servant minded and willing to do anything asked of them.

I share these last thoughts to say to you that your Romania Mission Team represented all that is the best about who we are as Conservative Southern Baptists: flexibility, patience, hard work, and passionate devotion to reaching others with the message of the Gospel. I can say with confidence and with great thanksgiving to God, that you could not have been more well represented than you were by these faithful servants who sacrificed to go and serve their Romanian brothers and sisters. I am sure that the IMB is impressed and thankful for the SBCV and will be looking forward to working with us in the future!

We will be Challenging you to consider three Foreign and three Home Mission projects next year! I know that we can do it because I know we have a miracle working God!

Thank you so much for giving us the privilege to go on a Miracle Mission of God to Romania. If you would like for someone from the team to come and share with your church, please let us know! We have many who would be happy to come and share. This could be a great asset for promotion of our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering! God bless you all, and thank you for helping us to go and serve!