When I was asked to do the job I currently have I knew it was humanly impossible for me to do what needed to be done. I told Mr. Gothard so.
I said, “I feel I am inadequate to do what you need me to do.”
He smiled and said, “Well, good. That way you will have to rely on the Lord.”
I took the job and it was more difficult than at first I had imagined. As if there wasn’t enough to do we were directed of the Lord to start an additional program. We started the Eternal Vision Ministry Team and sixty young people showed up here for the first term. I had needed help before, now I was in an impossible situation. There was more work than I could do if I worked sixteen hours a day six days a week. I knew it and the people around me knew it, too.
One morning I walked into the Eternal Vision office and the girls were all on their knees on the floor. They were praying. When they got up I said, “What are you up to?”
They said; “We were praying.”
Noticing the intensity of their prayers I asked; “Is there anything special you are praying for?”
“We are praying that God will send you an assistant.”
My first thought was, “I don’t have time to train an assistant.” Then I remembered something Dr. Bill Thrasher taught me in a course on prayer. He said that when God is going to do something he often puts it upon the heart of someone to pray for it. I wondered if that could possibly be true about getting some assistance in the work.
A day or two later I received an e-mail from an old acquaintance. He was living and working in Pennsylvania. He was a veterinarian teaching for the Penn State University. One weekend he and his wife went camping to seek the mind of the Lord for their future. They were burdened to do something with an eternal significance. During their time seeking the Lord they came across a flyer I had written introducing the Eternal Vision Ministry Team. This is what my friend wrote:
“Dear Pastor Pierpont and Lois,
This past weekend, Cheryl and I had a weekend away–we camped and we were the only ones in the campground so we had a wonderful time. We have especially been seeking the Lord’s direction for our lives and family as we see time passing, we’re obviously not getting any younger, and the days are precious. As I was reading either Saturday or Sunday, the Lord made a verse jump out at me-Ezra 8:21 “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.”
As Cheryl and I were going through some things that we had brought along, we came across a flyer entitled “Eternal Vision” and as we read down the page, we realized that that is what we desire for our children and ourselves. For the past year the Lord has impressed upon us II Cor. 4:18 “While we look not at the things that are seen but at the things which are not seen: for the things that are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal.” While I realize that the program is aimed at the young folks, Cheryl and I feel so needy ourselves that it occurred to us that perhaps, if it would be allowed and the Lord would direct, that perhaps we could enroll our family.”
Soon thereafter the Arlen Mills Family visited for the first time. Today he is the Assistant Director here at the Riverfront Character Inn and anyone who spends just a few days here realizes that Dr. Mills and his family are an answer to prayer.
When we need help in the harvest, the first thing we should do is pray to the Master of the Harvest to send forth laborers. I am often tempted to rely on my personality and persuasiveness to recruit people to help. That appeals to my flesh. But the very best laborers are always answers to prayer.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mat 9:37-38)
Ken Pierpont
Riverfront Character Inn
Flint, Michigan
July 24, 2005
