One hallmark of a true servant is disdain for notoriety.
According to the website www.city-data.com, the population of Needham, Alabama at the last census was 87. Southeast of Needham is Toxey (pop. 135) and a little farther south is Gilbertown (locally pronounced Gibbertown) with 167 inhabitants. The big city near Needham is Butler, 16 miles northeast (pop. 1,692). You get the idea.
James and Lavon—always called “Shorty” by her friends—Bonner have lived all their lives in Needham. There are plenty of Bonners (close or distant relatives) up and down the side roads in these parts. James’ house is on Bonner Town Road. You get the idea.
James and Shorty grew up attending church. They knew the Bible stories and the hymns. But they didn’t know Christ as their personal Savior. It wasn’t until they were young parents that they heard the sweet strains of the gospel and put their trust in the Lord Jesus. Their faith was simple, real and practical and the Bonners wanted to live just to please Him.
In due time the Lord led them to leave their denominational association and to meet simply around the Lord Jesus. A small group of believers began to gather in Needham and eventually a lovely building was erected for that purpose. And although James and Shorty had business and family responsibilities, they threw themselves into that work with all their hearts. I daresay over the last 40 years they have tried every God-honoring tactic they could think of, to share the gospel and seek to build up the work there. But the assembly grew little numerically over the years. Needham is a place you generally move from, not to. And James often wondered aloud to me if they were making any impact on the community at all.
Wherever there were any in the Deep South seeking to pattern their gatherings after the New Testament, sooner or later you’d see James and Shorty. Whatever the need, they would show up with tools, or a checkbook, or a word of encouragement. Those words that Paul loved to use—”fellowsoldiers,” “fellowlaborers,” “fellowheirs”—could be said of them.
Not many weeks ago, they had just finished a stint of cooking and helping at Deep South Bible Camp, near Picayune, MS. As they packed up, Shorty told James she had a headache. Within thirty minutes an aneurysm exploded deep in her brain and the Lord took her. She was just 66. I was in the south at the time and was privileged to have a part in her funeral. I was able to tell the attendees, “Two things for sure: if you knew Shorty and she knew you, I know she talked to you about God, and talked to God about you.” They knew it was true.
How many would you expect to see at a funeral in Choctaw County? I didn’t make it to the viewing on the Monday night, but when we arrived for the funeral 45 minutes early, it was standing-room-only. The evening before, the line of people ringed the building twice and stretched out to the road. Between 800 and 900 people came, one out of every 15 people in the whole county! Of course this wasn’t an ordinary funeral. Shorty was a princess.
Little impact in the community? We need to remember something that we are inclined to forget: the form of the local church won’t survive the Rapture. It is a means to an end. Our desire should be to see “the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:12-13). Whether they identify with our assembly or not, by lifting up Christ in our community, we link with the Spirit of God in drawing people not to us but to Him.