By: Wes LeMasurier
If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14: 15-17
During the academic year 1982-1983, my family and I traveled to faraway New Zealand for a sabbatical. We found New Zealand to be a very secular country. Church attendance was very low. We went to a beautiful cathedral in the city of Dunedin which, even on Christmas Eve, was poorly attended.
In contrast, the Polynesian community there holds overflowing services with gorgeous music, but the services are spoken in the Samoan or Maori languages. Aside from the Polynesian community, it was not uncommon to hear disparaging remarks about religion and Christianity in general, and also to talk to some who felt isolated by their faith.
However, there was a bright spot. Every evening around dinnertime, on television there was a one-minute inspirational Christian message delivered by a quiet, articulate and obviously inspired young man. Listening to his nightly message quickly became a part of our daily routine.
Our sabbatical year went by quickly and in July 1983, we boarded our flight home. On the first leg, from Christchurch to Fiji, I found myself seated next to a man with a terrible stutter, but he was friendly and wanted to talk. Over the course of the 3- to 4-hour flight, I found he was a believer, so we talked about the religious climate in New Zealand and I told him about the one-minute daily television spot that had been so important to us.
You can imagine my astonishment when he told me that he was the man who delivered those messages. And when I looked at him again – in disbelief; there was no question it was he. “How could a man with a serious speech impediment do that?” I asked him. His response was simple: “When I speak of the Lord, I don’t stutter,” he told me. This comment was the most inspiring of all his messages.
Lord: Thank you for the many mysterious ways in which you make yourself known to us. Abide with us now, I pray, as we come together to do your work. Inspire us and send your Holy Spirit to be among us.
