Recently George Verwer who founded the missionary agency “Operation Mobilization” passed away. This agency works in most countries and has more than 3000 missionaries and has many boats that visit countries with the gospel. His story is an inspiration. He received Jesus when he was 16 years old. He immediately distributed 1000 Gospels of John to the youth at his school! He never stopped! Here’s four inspirational stories:
1.First Missions Trip
When he was 19, he was shocked to discover that 7 out of 10 Mexicans didn’t have access to the Scriptures. So he drove to Mexico, with some friends, to distribute 10,000 Gospels and 20,000 tracts to the people there. The next year he founded his mission agency!!
2.Prayer
When Verwer was just 21 he organised prayer meetings for the countries of the world. Greg Livingstone was invited but he was just interested in finishing his course to be an attorney. On arriving, he was late and Verwer grumpily put his finger in Greg’s face and said, “What country are you claiming?” Having no idea what that meant, Greg said, “What’s left?” Verwer said, “You’ve got Libya.” When Verwer meant you’ve got Libya or any country, he meant that now you were responsible to reach this nation first through prayer and then by any means.
Livingstone continues the story:
“Five hours of prayer later, I was devastated. I had walked into the meeting that night feeling comfortable with the idea that I could live for Christ as an attorney. But I became fully convinced that I had been invited by God himself to throw away my goal of being a lawyer and walk the lowly non-status road of a missionary in oblivion. (Remember that I had barely heard of the country I had been praying for.) I felt my Heavenly Father saying these words to me: “I want you on My team.”
Greg Livingstone changed his major at Wheaton and then went on to found one of the fastest growing missions agencies in the world!
For more on prayer, see:
EXTRAORDINARY PRAYER AND DIVINE OUTPOURING: 4 KEYS
3.Extraordinary Faith
Werwer was 24 when he ordered Greg Livingstone to do this:
“In 1963, George sent me a note ordering me to charter a plane that would seat 113 passengers from New York to Paris. He commissioned me to fill the plane with students who would be willing to spend their summers visiting villages in Austria, Italy, Spain, France, and Belgium to share copies of the New Testament and books by Billy Graham in the local languages.”
This was an extraordinary step of faith because they chartered the plane before they had anyone to fill it and without the money to yet pay for it. But they filled it and paid for it!
4.Verwer’s Wedding
In 1960, George and Drena were married. They prioritized their service to the Lord and sold some of their wedding gifts to fund a six-month outreach to Mexico City before moving to Spain to establish the work in Europe, and what was to become Love Europe.
They skipped their honeymoon and headed straight to Mexico for missions. They were committed to not spending any money. When they got to Wheaton, George offered their wedding cake to the gas station attendant in exchange for gas. The worker, a Christian, filled up the tank and let them keep the cake. But at the next stop, the attendant took the cake in exchange for a tank of gas. They got to Mexico without spending a penny.
How about you?
What are you doing to complete the Great Commission?
For a book that will build up your devotional life to encourage you to fulfill the Great Commission see:
GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 DAYS REVIVAL DEVOTIONAL which has lots of stories taken from recent revivals for a great devotional experience.
