by Janet Ens
“WOULD IT BE OKAY IF I GAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER to a person in BC?” asked one of our missionary coworkers on phone. The call was from a Saskatchewan-based missionary, but who was visiting a community in Manitoba at the time.
He went on to explain that a friend of his in BC had just called him asking if he knew any Christians in Whitehorse. The BC friend had just received a call from a woman in Whitehorse. This woman lived in one of the Yukon communities, but was in the city of Whitehorse for a couple days and found herself in a tough situation.
Our Saskatchewan missionary’s BC friend’s phone number was on this Yukon woman’s partner’s phone, so she had called it, looking for help.
“Sure, give him our number,” I told our missionary coworker.
Within the hour I was on the phone with the lady here in Whitehorse. I listened as she shared what was going on, and I prayed with her. She was not looking for any hands-on help at that moment, so we did not meet in person. Later she called back to say that things were figured out, and we agreed to stay in touch.
About two months later we received a text that she and her partner were in Whitehorse and would we like to meet them for coffee? As we sat down over cups of coffee she said to us, “You look familiar. How long have you lived up here?” We replied, “We moved to the Yukon in 1992 and lived in Pelly Crossing for…”
“And did crafts with kids in that old church building?!” she interrupted. “That’s why you look familiar. I was a young girl living in Pelly for a few months because my mom’s boyfriend lived there. It was a rough time for me but that club for kids was a bright spot.”
My mind went back to “Kids Club” years ago. Sometimes we wondered if anything of value was happening, as we’d see a torn craft on the playground, or a memory verse paper lying by the side of the road near the church building.
Yet here was a lady for whom the Club had been a bright spot in her childhood. Because of that connection there was a certain level of trust.
It turned out that Tony had also met her partner previously through his work at the Whitehorse Salvation Army. As we visited further, we were encouraged to hear how this young man recognized the importance of being a responsible father to his children. We also sensed a genuine openness to God’s Word and how it could speak to their lives.
As our time together ended, the couple extended an invitation for us to come visit them in their community.
Wow! Only God could have orchestrated the connections and series of phone calls that resulted in this meeting. It stressed to us the importance of being faithful in reaching out to whoever God sends our way. One never knows when a seed will bear fruit, or when a small investment in someone’s life will result in an open door to minister God’s truth to them … perhaps even many years later.
Tony & Janet Ens live and serve in Whitehorse, Yukon.
(from Northern Lights issue #540)