Pygmies Living in North America! (June, 2005)
Nance and I raised our family in North Carolina and our favorite family activity was camping. We still believe the Lord used our camping experience in the Great Smokey Mountains to prepare us for the great work among the Pygmies. We learned so much from the Pygmies as we camped with them for the sake of pioneer Gospel work in the great Ituri Rain Forest of Africa.
In our years of working with the Pygmies in the Congo we learned that they lived in camps and were nomadic. They could make camp in a matter of hours and break camp in a matter of minutes. They moved about for their survival following hunting patterns or fleeing disease.
Now we are camping again, but not for family fun. We’ve found that there are many people camping, actually living in their RVs. They call themselves “full-timers,” but we call them “the Pygmies of North America” (not to their face, of course).They are fulltime RVers. They’ve sold their home, lightened their load, rented a PO box in a tax-free state like Florida or Texas, bought a camper and hit the road.
The first time we met fulltime RVers was in 2001. We had purchased an RV. Nothing fancy, just a travel trailer to pull with our pickup truck. We went camping up along the Blue Ridge Parkway and we met a couple who said they were “full-timers.” We told them that we were full-timers, too. Fulltime Christians, that is! They were not in a hurry to keep an appointment, watch the game on TV, or go shopping.
They took the time to sit and listen to the gospel and talk about what it means to know the Lord.
Since then, every camping trip has brought us into contact with full-timers. Some are following jobs for survival, like the Pygmies followed game. Others are following medical needs, like chemotherapy treatment, just as the Pygmies fled disease. For the most part, full-timers are folks who have gotten fed up with the rat race that we call the human race, and rather than live life in the fast lane, have taken early retirement to pull off the highway and onto the byway. They feel they’ve seen what life is not, now they are on a journey to find what life is.
So, what is there spiritually for these “Pygmies of North America”? Not much. Because of this, we were burdened to take a trip, a long trip. We’re on this trip right now while I’m writing to you. We’re seeking souls who are seeking the Savior.
Please pray for us as we travel along that the Lord will give opportunities at each campground and fuel stop too! We’ll let you know how things are going among the Pygmies—in North America!
With love in our Lord,
Rex and Nancy
Go West! (June 12, 2005)
We’re so glad you’re going along on this trip, through your prayers for us.
It was a joy to speak this Sunday morning at BBC on Acts 11 about Barnabas and Saul preaching and teaching in Antioch and then reaching out to those going through a worldwide famine. While there are famines in our sad world today, the greatest famine is spiritual. People are starving for the truth of the gospel. Starving so that they have lost their appetite because of the counterfeits that only mock their hunger pains!
Having mentioned feeding the hungry as a channel of opportunity for the gospel on Sunday morning we departed in our RV for this trip. Into the foothills of North Carolina we hit some of the wind and rain spinning off from tropical storm Arlene and pulled into a Sonic Drive-in for a hotdog! There we talked with a young man who asked for money to buy food. Time to practice what we preach. Rather than giving him money for food, I ran to the restaurant and added a hotdog to our order. He was grateful and glad to receive it and a gospel tract.
On into the mountains past Asheville, it was time to re-fuel and find a campground. We pulled into a gas station near Waynesville and the man on the other side of the gas pumps was interested in talking about our camper. He and his wife were in the process of selling their house and purchasing a 5th wheel RV to go fulltime. In fact, they were purchasing the very make of our trailer, just bigger. What an opportunity! The Lord must have been holding back the next band of rain and winds just long enough to meet this couple and tell them of our mission. We gave them a gospel tract to read along the way, then finished fueling and headed for a nearby campground.
Had a little leak in the roof but I fixed it by placing the kitchen plastic trash can underneath the drip. I’m glad I have some caulking in my tool box to really fix it later. These two opportunities were brought about by the Lord in answer to your prayers and ours. Please keep praying and we’ll keep you up to date.
With love in our Lord,
Rex and Nancy
Don’t Leave Home Without Them! (June 14, 2005)
Don’t leave home without them! You remember the advertisement for American Express travelers’ cheques. Even more importantly, gospel tracts! Before leaving home, we stocked up on gospel tracts to distribute and prepared a helpful survey for RVers with general questions about their spiritual life that would lead our conversation to the gospel.
The first time we used it was at the campsite on our second morning at a campground in Indiana. While breaking camp, we introduced ourselves to our neighbors. “We’re Kerry and Patty,” he said as he sat down on the picnic table. I stopped what I was doing and joined him for a visit. Nance went in to visit with Patty. I noticed he had a map of the US on the side of his RV with every state filled in with a colorful decal.
“That’s a lot of traveling,” I said.
“Yes, we’re full-timers,” he responded. I immediately told him of our mission to full-timers and asked him to take a little survey. His wife walked up at that time and he passed the conversation her way.
Question 1: Do you have a Bible in your RV?
She answered emphatically, “Yes, we sure do!”
Question 2: Do you read the Bible?
“No!” She said, almost as emphatically as her previous answer in the affirmative.
“Ever?” I asked.
“Never.” She admitted as if to catch her own irony.
Question 3: Has anyone ever explained to you the central message of the Bible?
“Yes, I was raised a Mormon and taught it at school.”
Question 4: Did they explain that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”? That God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to pay for our sins and that trusting in the Savior can provide forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven?
“Yes.” She answered curtly.
Question 5: “One more question,” I said, with begging permission in my voice.
As she listened, I asked, “If you were to die tonight and stand at Heaven’s door, and God asked you, ‘Why should I let you into My Heaven?’ what would you answer?”
She stated, “Because my son and my mother are there and I want to see them!”
I then explained John 14:6, “Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” I also testified that He is my Savior and how glad I am to know I have received the gift of eternal life.
We then exchanged address cards. I had prepared a special card for this trip. It has our picture, name, address, phone and email on the outside. Inside the card I printed the “Romans Road to Christ.” We pray (and want you to pray, too) that Kerry and Patti will trust the Savior as their very own. Gospel tracts are a great tool don’t leave home without them!
With love in our Lord,
Rex and Nancy
Yellowstone (June 26, 2005)
We were so impressed with Yellowstone National Park. What beauty was brought about by the volcanic activity in the “Circle of Fire” in years (not aeons) past! Yet as we travel through the area and see the geysers with water and steam spewing from underground, we are reminded of the judgment many will face in the Lake of Fire.
With this in mind we went early to the outdoor church service at the campground amphitheater to offer to participate in the service. The three young people were glad to have me provide the music for the hymns, “To God be the Glory,” “Have Thine Own Way,” and “Blessed Assurance,” but their message left much to be desired. We are praying that the message of the gospel through the hymns will be used by the Lord to speak to the ones who attended.
We were able to speak to the three young people that conducted the church service concerning their own salvation. Only one of the three had a clear testimony.
Although we were disappointed in the message at the meeting, we met a couple who came to the service who work as campground hosts in the national park. They know the Lord. We had a good visit with them and prayed that the Lord would use them to reach other campers for Christ. They promised to pray for us, too.
With their prayers and yours, we are confident of the Lord’s leading as we travel on West toward the setting of the sun to tell of the risen Son of God, who gave His life for us and all the world. Thanks for praying!
Yours in our Lord,
Rex and Nancy
Come unto Me! (July 9, 2005)
Before leaving on our big trip west, our daughter, Angie, gave me an early Father’s Day gift. A Global Positioning System! I was amazed at the information it offered. Not only roads and interstates but restaurants and shopping malls, too. With just the touch of the screen we have the location, telephone numbers, and turn-by-turn directions. One feature that is a great help on the GPS is the distance to the next rest area. The rest areas have met our “needs” numerous times and have also provided opportunities to talk with people about the Lord.
Like Dennis and his wife, whom we met at a rest area in central Nevada. They were taking a break, having a snack, and walking their dog. It was an easy conversation to strike up since their dog was a Wheaton Terrier and looked just like a large sized version of our dog, Blessy. I gave them a Bible and a card with the Roman’s Road on it.
After talking with them, I met another couple. When I shared the Roman’s Road card with them, they were thrilled and said that he would take the card and use it for his Bible Study class this week!
People are tired and looking for rest. They’re tired of work, tired of waiting, tired of trying, and just plain tired! Where can they find rest? The Lord Jesus invites, “Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest!” Truly, man is restless until he finds rest in Christ.
Not only is there eternal rest, but the Lord told His disciples to “come apart and rest awhile.”
We know that we are going to our eternal rest some day, but how thankful we are to be able to rest along the way, too.
We are in Nebraska today. Tomorrow we’ll make it to Kansas City, Missouri where we’ll fellowship with the saints at the Spruce Hills Bible Chapel.
Please keep praying that on our way home we’ll meet more people in the rest areas and introduce them to the One who is able to give them true, eternal rest.
Yours in our Lord,
Rex and Nancy