I Talked To An Old Friend Today

I talked to an old friend today. (He is much older than when this picture was taken) LOL. It has been more than 25 years since I last saw him or spoke to him. That last time we were at the funeral of one of our students that had drown trying to rescue his son from the same fate. We had parted ways when the school that he directed and at which I taught closed. The school had first been his dream and later had become mine. We watched it be destroyed by negative legalism and the vocal cries of a handful who clamored for the way we have always done things. He went back to Florida and I to Tennessee, and just lost contact.So much has happened in both our lives since we last spoke, but today was much like picking up that last conversation where we left off. I can’t explain why it has taken this long to once again be in communication. I just know that today I feel more complete now that we have.

In past articles I have written about the key people that God brought into my life at just the right time. Nolan was one of those people. Barb and I had returned from our mission field in Germany. It had not been our choice. Our support base had collapsed and we had no idea what we would do next. We had spent one year in Germany and planned a minimum of 4 more, but that was not to be. Because of a mutual friend we received a call to consider teaching full time with the International School of Evangelism in Pontiac, Michigan. I knew from that first visit that this was an answer to prayer. The next three years would be some of the most rewarding and fulfilling years in my life. I often said back then that I planned to go to heaven from Pontiac. If you knew how much I disliked cold weather, you would really appreciate that statement.

Often when we watch our dreams die, a part of us dies with them. I think that happened to us. How did it all play out in God’s great scheme of things? I don’t know, but that is on my list of questions for when I get home. As I reflect today, I praise God for those years and those relationships. Many of those men trained during that time are still winning souls for the Kingdom to this day. They have raised families that are now missionaries to other lands.

Here is a student body picture from back then.