Stop This Train

The days seem to be in a hurry lately and months have become less patient. Time is going and there is no way to call it back, it rolls on like a steam engine headed for its final destination and for me, that will be my only stop. My time in India has been more fulfilling than I ever thought possible, I have made so many new friends, gained so much experience, and I have memories to last a lifetime. But this is the question that is haunting....more than the fun, the people, the challenges, and the great stories.... what am I leaving behind?

People come and people go, it’s hard to say goodbye to people you have written pages and pages of your life with. Most come and contribute their time and energy and like an earthquake things are happening, things are moving, but eventually the ground stops shaking, eventually whatever was happening comes to a halt. I have seen it over and over again with the teams that have come to help serve BTC, they come booming and declaring revival and freedom in this land, and for the time they are with us the earth is shaking with God’s glory. But eventually they leave, and that passion always seems to leave with them. So what sets apart the earth shakers from the earth changers? Let me put it this way:

I used to work on a ranch in high school, one of my jobs was to make sure that weeds weren’t growing out of control everywhere. I remember that every now and then I would find these enormous 3ft tall weeds in the most indiscreet places, behind a barrel, in the corner of a barn. And all around them would be full of other weeds because of the seed the large one was able to drop as it grew. So one weed, allowed to grow, multiplied itself for others to grow, and turned a inconspicuous place into another area with more work for me.

So what’s the point? The difference from an earth shaker to an earth changer is that an earth changer, like the weeds in my story, choose to grow and produce where they can. In most cases it might not be center-stage or in the most dignified position. But wherever they are at, they grow. They produce an environment for others to grow with them, so that even though they may be behind the scenes, a great impact is being made in themselves, in the people around them, and in the area around them.

I might not be able to stop this train or ever harness time. But wherever I am I know that I can help others grow, my passion and calling is to see others reach their full potential and that has been my life-song working with my students. I may never change the world, I may never have a booming ministry or the greatest stories to tell you, and nobody may remember me for the things i do on earth. I pray that when all is said and done, and when the tracks finally reach their end, Jesus welcomes me home and says. “You never changed the world Manuel, but you raised up generations that won’t stop trying.”