Well Done Good And Faithful Servants

“Well done good and faithful servant.”  These are the words that I am sure my friend Harold and his co-worker Randy heard from Christ over the weekend.  On Saturday, Harold Nichols and Randy Hentzel, both missionaries who had devoted their lives to serving the people of Jamaica, were brutally murdered.  The details that I have heard/read are sickening and break my heart.  From what we know, they were traveling to a building site to check the foundation of a house.  A mission team was soon to arrive and would be building this home for a needy family.  While on the way to that site the men were ambushed and killed.

Randy and his wife Sara along with their five children have been serving in Jamaica since 2002 and joined with TEAMS for Medical Missions in 2010.  They worked to train pastors and church leaders and through this had an impactful discipleship ministry.

Harold and his wife Teri have also been missionaries in Jamaica since 2002.  I had the privilege to meet them when I went with a J-team (TEAMS for Medical Missions – T4MM) in 2011.  They lived at the field headquarters and had a vibrant ministry as well.  They would host every J-team that came to serve.  Also, every week they would host Bible club at their home.  More than 150 children would descend upon the house where they would learn about God, receive a meal, and play a variety of games in their back yard.  As the evening wrapped up, every child would receive a hug and from both Harold and Teri.  They knew every child…their hurts and their stories.  Harold was one of those people that truly exuded joy and love in every interaction.  From the first day I met him, I have had the utmost respect and love for him….and now he’s gone.

 

Both of these men served well.  Recently I had the opportunity to preach at our sending church in Allentown, PA.  I spoke about how followers of Christ have been sent to speak truth to a hurting world and how we are to be a light to all of those around us.  (Here is a link to that message.)  Harold and Randy were sent.  They were loving and compassionate ambassadors who projected the love of Christ to everyone with whom they came in contact.  Why did they go?  Why did they serve?  Why were they willing to give up so much to reach out to those around them?  Because they loved Jesus.  As Jim Elliot (a missionary who was murdered in Ecuador in 1956) has famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”  These men left their friends and family in the short term to serve the Jamaican people so that many of those they served could spend eternity with their families in Heaven.

 

I don’t know why these men were killed.  I don’t understand why God would allow this to happen.  Right now it makes no earthly sense at all.  But…just as when my daughter died…just as when every other tragedy occurs, God remains in control.  He can use even this to expand His Kingdom.  He can create something beautiful from these hurts and from this pain.  Nothing is wasted.  We mourn for our loss of our dear brothers but we rejoice in knowing that they have finished the race well.  They have now seen their Savior face to face as He welcomed them home.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. – Psalm 116:15

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” – Revelation 14:13

Prayer Requests

-Pray for the family and friends of Harold and Randy.  Pray for the peace and comfort that only God can provide.

-Pray for those who carried out these evil acts.  Pray that their eyes could be opened to the truth and that they could come to know Jesus in the way that Harold and Randy did.  I have no doubt that even as they died, that they were powerful witnesses.  Pray that those seeds would take hold.

-Pray for the T4MM and the ministries in Jamaica.  Pray that even more would come to know Christ.

 

Fernando Ortega – Give Me Jesus

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I am alone
Oh and when I am alone
And when I am alone
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I come to die
Oh and when I come to die
And when I come to die
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

 

Andrew Peterson – More

This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill
And every heart can feel it still
Our nature hates a vacuum

This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground
Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain

There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down
And the getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point
In this vast eternity
There is more

A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve
Your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more

There is more
More than we can stand
Standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess
More and more, forever more
And not a second less

There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything
Wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more