Usually I get my creative (what little creativity I get) early in the morning, I mean real early, like 3 AM. This morning I got nothing. So I fell back asleep and than at 7 AM I got a phone call I missed. It was from a man from Trinidad. He had tried to reach me a week ago and I didn’t recognize his name so I didn’t follow up to contact him. This morning something told me to call him, so I did. It was one of the teenagers that we baptized 50 years ago. Of course he is now 64, not the 14 when we baptized him in a crusade (what we called a “gospel meeting” but in a rented hall and not a church b/c there was no church in the town he lived in and where we held the crusade. We baptized several teens in that crusade and started the church in that town. I don’t think that I have seen him in 50 years. He has one grown son living in Queens, New York.I had a long talk with my long, lost brother in Christ. We talked about several of the brothers and sisters in Trinidad, some of whom I have talked to via WhatsApp recently. Many of those we worked with are now older than me and I am 75. Those guys were in their 30’s when we spent 3 years in Trinidad when I was in my mid 20’s. They are men whom we did intense Bible studies with to train them in the book so they could carry on the work in Trinidad after we left in 1976 and they have been carrying on the work in several congregations without any U.S. paid preachers and I am very proud of that. My long lost brother is still very active in the church there. I sadly learned that one of my most trusted friends and leaders in Trinidad now has advanced dementia; he doesn’t know anyone, he just sits and smiles. That church we started with that crusade is having their 50th year anniversary on April 15 of this year.

Ok, breaking news.My wife just came in and I mentioned our brother with dementia, that we should call them. The only phone we had for him and his wife was a landline, so we called it. She answered and we were able to talk to both of them. My dementia brother even perked up and I think remembered us! We chatted for a while and it was a joy. She said we made her day and it certainly made our day. From what she said, I’m not sure my bother has much longer to live.

All this is kinda personal, I know, and thank you for reading if you are reading it. I know everyone has their stories from the past but these are mine today! My mind is filled with a lot of thoughts right now. But I am so thankful that God providentially guided us to do 3 years of mission work in Trinidad back in the 70’s. It was a special, special time. But I think that I can relate more to what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” 1 Thessalonians 2:¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? ²⁰ For you are our glory and joy.” That’s exactly how I feel right now.

Paul also said in 2 Timothy 4:⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” So there is a crown of life waiting for us. In the Roman Empire, crowns were often given to victorious military leaders, so the imagery of a crown carried connotations of triumph and overcoming challenges. It  signifies the reward for enduring hardship and remaining faithful to the end. In other words, eternal life somewhere with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, angels and other believers. But Paul’s other crown he was looking for was to be rerunited in eternity with all those he had converted to Chist and mentored and taught in his 30 years of preaching the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. My Trinidadian brothers and sisters will be our crown some day, our joy. Even our boasting. We won’t boast about our good works. We will simply tell Jesus, “Look who I helped to become your brother”. We are all brothers to Jesus and sons of the same Father. Hebrews 2:¹¹ For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹² saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” That means that Jesus, having finished the word of dying for our sins and setting us apart (sanctification) from sin, would tell of the name (and character behind that name) of the Father to His brothers (those who believed in Jesus). When Jesus was raised, he told the women: Matthew 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” He said the same thing in John 17:¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” I don’t think he ever called his apostles “brothers” until after the resurrection. I had never thought of that until writing this article, so the word always has something new for us.

I hope you have someone to be your crown and joy, to greet you when you get to heaven (or whom you can greet if get there before they do!). This has been an amazing day! I could hear my dementia brother’s wife after we had said good bye, and I could still hear her saing “Praise the Lord!”. Yes, praise the Lord.”