A MEMORIAL DAY REMINDER

This is a post I did last year. I'm too lazy to write another, so I'm re-posting this 'un. Meanwhile, I'm goin' to Tennessee to see the fambly. Ranulfo will be back soon. Happy Memorial Day!

I am thankful that I live in the U.S.A.,a land of prosperity and freedom. I am fully aware that the freedoms we enjoy here have come at an extremely high price. That price is the life-blood of many a soldier who, in various wars and conflicts, has carried the battle to the enemy in order to keep us safe here.

This is a day that we have set aside to remember with grateful hearts those who have given all to preserve and protect our freedom. We are also mindful of those whose lives are daily on the line as they track down the enemy there so he can't come here. The words 'thank you' seem terribly insufficient, but it's all I have so, THANK YOU!

However, there is another group of freedom fighters that is often overlooked. They are missionaries. The missionary is one who takes the great comission seriously and personally. He hears his Master's call and readily obeys. He immediately begins to downsize and make preparation to leave. He says goodbye to loved ones and friends. He packs his bags, and together with his wife and kids, leaves behind the comfortable familiarity of his homeland to go to an unfamiliar place where they have not asked for him and possibly may be hostile to him.

Many missionaries are working in hostile environments where their lives are constantly in jeopardy. Many of them have died in faraway lands where their bodies lie in unmarked graves. Some of them have been attacked and killed by the very ones to whom they were ministering. Others have succumbed to diseases or other dangers that are inherent to the harsh evironment in which they lived and worked. They are like those of whom the writer of Hebrews says "...the world was not worthy".

While the value and success of a soldier can be more or less easily assessed, the contribution of these unsung heroes cannot be calculated by human reasoning. Only in eternity will we be able to truely assess the value and fruit of the missionary's service. (Rev. 14:13 "...and their works do follow them.')

In the eternal state we shall hear the story of the potentially successful terrorist who, through the preaching of a missionary, surrendered to Christ. We shall rejoice with the one-time political rebel who was transformed by the faithful gospel witness of a missionary, and through the teaching of that missionary, began to preach the good news too. In eternity we will fellowship with many who would have been our enemies, but because of a missionary, they are our brothers in Christ .

As we remember the awsome contribution of those in the armed forces of the U.S.A., let's not forget the soldiers of the cross. When we get to Heaven, we might learn that they contributed more to the preservation of our freedom than the military, without firing a shot.