I feel Tania and I have been privileged to live as we have lived since the end of 1981 when God called us to follow and serve Him in a full-time capacity. We have seen and experienced so much. I remember the years when as Wycliffe’s Director in New Zealand for eight years I had a frequent flyers gold card and had access to all the airline lounges in the Star Alliance network. Oh, very nice thank you. I would joke with people from time to time and say “I could get used to this.” Yes, so true and so sad. Because when and if I did, complacency could creep in and soon I could start feeling like I deserved it. I well remember one flight I took from Brisbane to Auckland and had been upgraded to First Class. A man sat next to me and asked what I did. I told him I was the Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Let me tell you that was a conversation stopper or a conversation opener. It depended on the person. In this case it opened the conversation wide and ended up with the man getting interested in spiritual things again. When he found out who I was and the fact that we didn’t get a salary, he asked the obvious question: what was I doing in First Class? I told him I had been upgraded. He smiled at my answer and I told him I thought I had been seated there in First Class for him. He said, “Yes Ian, I think you have been.” He asked more and I told him of the lessons we had learned about knowing and experiencing the secret of contentment whether in plenty or in lack. (Phil 4:12). As I shared some of those stories he was amazed, both at the lessons learned and at the examples of God’s provision. See, when you are in need you cherish the lessons learned of the way God leads.
