2017 Fall Ministry Highlight
GREAT COMMISSION FAMILIES - FALL 2017
With Families at Heart and a Heart for the World
Dear Friends in Christ,
In addition to recent ministry outings with international groups,
American families and young people, I had the opportunity to lead
leaders and military chaplains from the Evangelical Church Alliance
around DC for three days. Our highlight was their participation in a
formal wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Giving “Honor to Whom Honor is Owed” (cf. Romans 13:7)
In recent years I have listed well over one hundred key Bible
verses and spiritual lessons at nearly as many locations in DC. I have
never had the opportunity to share more Bible verses in DC than with
this eager group of seasoned ministry leaders.
The following week we received a kind note from the leader of ECA:
Dear Bernie, I want to express my sheer delight in all that you did
for the ECA last week. In baseball parlance, it was a grand-slam. May
your ministry continue to benefit many others as the Lord leads them
across your path and vice versa. Also, I will keep Linda in my prayers
for her healing. Thank you for letting me know about her accident
[fall]. She is certainly your helpmate in life and needed teammate in
ministry. In the meantime, may she rely upon the Lord’s grace each and
every day.
Your appreciative brother in Christ, Bob
Dr. Robert Turrill, President/CEO of the ECA
Encouraging words indeed! And yet it was my great privilege to be
with them at the Tomb of the Unknowns to ‘give honor to whom honor is
owed’ and reflect on how fortunate we are to have the freedoms we have
in our nation.
Always “Be Ready In Season and Out” (cf. II Timothy 4:2)
A fun aspect of taking my ECA friends around DC was that they
welcomed the many mini-audiences that spontaneously gathered many places
we went. For instance, perhaps the most dramatic time was at Arlington
House overlooking the cemetery and with DC in front of us across the
Potomac River. As usual, I was sharing history about that place with
related Bible verses and also as usual, a bit of a crowd had gathered,
listening intently.
Just then, a passenger jet flew over the river in front of us. As
the roar of the jet engines subsided, I could not resist pointing out
the moment that the jet was directly over a certain span of the 14th
Street bridge, and began re-telling the dramatic story of Air Florida
Flight 90 that had crashed there on January 13, 1982. Not one person
listening to me moved or walked away as I explained why that bridge span
was re-named for Arland D. Williams, Jr. He was “The Man in the Water”
(google it) who gave up saving his own life by repeatedly passing the
rescue helicopter’s lifeline on to others of the 5 survivors.
One survivor, flight attendant Kelly Duncan, later said she had
never prayed before, but she did then. “God, please lift me out of this
freezing water.” God answered her prayer. In the hospital two days
later, a nurse held her hand and said, “Little girl, I could get in big
trouble for telling you this, but God loves you and saved you from that
plane crash for a reason.” The nurse began her witness by explaining
that two days earlier a man died so that she could live, and that two
thousand years ago another Man died so that she could live forever!
They “Heard Him Gladly!” (cf. Mark 12:37)
I frequently give my DC Gospel flier to strangers I meet in DC.
Seeing this, a young man with the ECA group who is a former Special Ops
soldier looked me in the eye as we were parting at the airport and said,
“I have never seen an evangelist have so many consistently positive
interactions with strangers. Not one person you spoke with ever rejected
your Gospel fliers!” Truth shared winsomely and attractively is
typically received gladly.
Thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry together!
All the Best, In Christ,
Bernie for the Bealls