“Bless all Nations”
“Then
Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.’” *
In January, the members of Pleasant Valley
Chapel in Springville said “good-bye” to their pastor, Craig Price, as he
retired from a long career of pastoring. Retirement in this case however was to
be the beginning of a new venture, something he had wanted to do for many
years…become a full time missionary!
Missions had been Craig’s passion since
the 1980’s when he helped smuggle Bibles into communist ruled Eastern Europe.
Since that time, he has been able to travel to many other countries with the
good news of Jesus.
For several years, he has been involved
with “Gleanings for the Hungry” in Dinuba, California, helping prepare bags of
dehydrated soup mix and dried fruit to distribute around the world. “Gleanings”
is a service outreach of Youth with a Mission (YWAM), a faith-based
organization that began in 1960 with three far reaching goals: evangelism,
helping those in need and training missionaries.
The Dinuba base is also a location for a
YWAM Discipleship Training School that offers a three-month program to prepare
people for the mission field. Craig had thought about signing up for the
training program in 2018 and was ready to go, when the Lord told him to wait.
There was unfinished business to take care of first.
After much prayer, Craig decided that this
was the year to enroll in the Discipleship Training School. However, when he
joined about a dozen other people on the first day of class, serious doubts
began to enter his mind. For one thing, he was unable to hear his classmates as
they shared their personal testimonies.
A
note on his application that he was hearing impaired had been overlooked and he
felt increasingly left out. By the end of the day he was discouraged, wondering
if he had “missed the boat again.” He remembers feeling like he was “being
choked out by the enemy.”
When the rest of the group met for dinner, Craig
took his plate into another room and ate alone. The thought of leaving crept
into his mind. But while he sat eating dinner and reading the assigned book,
the Lord again spoke to his heart with the words from Matthew 20:28, “I didn’t
come to be served, but to serve.” Peace and joy came back as the darkness fled.
Yes, he was in the right place!
The Lord confirmed his decision many times
during the rest of that first week. On Thursday when the instructor prayed over
each person, once again Craig felt Him saying “You’re here on purpose, because
this is where I want you to be.”
When they sang “In My Father’s House I
have a place for you” during their time of worship together, he responded with tears…
and great joy. Craig knew without a doubt that this was the Lord’s timing and
that he was right where God wanted him to be. “What a blessing!” he says emphatically.
Upon finishing three months of training,
Craig will be going to Columbia to work with refugees from Venezuela and later
on to another YWAM base in Peru. There will be translators going along with the
team; and two 40-foot-long shipping containers of food produced at “Gleaning
for the Hungry” will also be sent to Columbia from Dinuba.
Craig is hoping for opportunities to
preach, but will most likely be teaching, evangelizing and taking other teams
on outreaches. With 1,300 YWAM bases all around the world, he doesn’t know
where he will be after the training and mission trip to South America are
completed. Wherever it might be though, he has the assurance that he is exactly
in the place where God wants him.
“Bless all nations!” This is the Lord’s will for His church and a strong
desire in Pastor Craig’s heart. “We are called to be witnesses to all nations,”
he says, emphasizing the word “all.”
Thank you for carrying out the Lord’s
commission, Pastor Craig. You are inspiring!
If anyone would like to contact Craig
Price, his email address is: blessallnations@aol.com
*Matthew
28:18-20 NIV
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