Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

Ken Redford, pictured here with his family, is pastor at Meridian Friends Church, in Idaho. He came to NWYM, and Christ, when friends invited him to participate in our annual volleyball tournament.



God is an expert at global positioning. Let me illustrate: In 1985, our family lived on Main Street in Talent, Oregon. We lived in a humble rental home that, to me, didn’t seem so strategically placed. It was literally yards away from a railroad track, and it was directly across the street from the howling alarm for the volunteer fire department. As a high school student, I didn’t like living there. Looking back, however, I can’t give God enough thanks for his wisdom in positioning our family at that exact location.

At age 16, my focus was far from Christ. I was learning to drive, I had just found a dishwashing job (a dream come true at $3.35 per hour!), John Elway was a rising star on my favorite team, and I had finally become an upper classman. Christ wasn’t an everyday part of my focus, and though Christ wasn’t on my mind, I was on his.

In God’s providence, our home was located four blocks from the largest building in Talent—the meetinghouse for Talent Friends Church. More important, as it turns out, God had located me directly in the path of people who would have a part in shining his light into my life. I want to give God thanks for all of NWYM, but especially for a classmate Rich Swingle; youth sponsors Steve and Lesta Johnson, Ron and Deb Mulkey, and Jeff and Mary Dumke; and for pastors Mark and Patsy Burton, Randall and Norma Emry, and Paul and Patsy Miller. Thanks to God’s “strategery,” I was surrounded by “a thousand points of light.”

As I reflect on my own experiences of being drawn to Christ through NWYM people, I want to offer a few “points of light” to ponder.

1. Evangelism is more about our presence than our pressure. It’s easy to find people who promote Christ out of an unhealthy sense of obligation or fear. I am glad to say that I was never made to feel this pressure. Rather, I found people who lived George Fox’s words: “Walk joyfully on the earth and respond to that of God in every human being.” I encountered people who were genuine and willing to be present to me through their gentle acceptance, thoughtfulness, and quiet confidence.




2. Evangelism can be slow and hard for us to measure. As a youth, I did not faithfully attend Sunday morning church services. I did not come to church, but instead, it came to me. Christ’s light shined through NWYM while I encountered Rich Swingle at school, while I delivered newspapers to the Emrys and Millers; and while having fun with the Mulkeys, Dumkes, and Burtons during off-site youth activities, including waterskiing and playing volleyball.

3. The primary work of evangelism is prayer. Trying to change someone is exhausting and hopeless. Praying for someone is life-giving and fruitful. Penetrating a hard or distracted heart is the work of the Holy Spirit. Only God could have put me where he did when he did. Be encouraged to know that God has a perfect plan for us to discover.

Queries for consideration:

• Who has God strategically positioned in your path?
• Do you intentionally and prayerfully invite Christ to shine his light through your life?