“Dad, ‘Others’ -- that’s what this church and school is all about!” That was one of the first impressions of the new church and Bible College my sweet daughter Jody had t tell me about, coming home after her first semester at Hyles-Anderson College. The church is First Baptist church of Hammond, Indiana, pastored by Dr. Jack Hyles.
Can you believe that? Others!
Not about making her a better Christian or winning the lost to Christ, but “Others!” When you put others first, you will become a better Christian and yhou will win the lost to Christ. Amen!
That takes us back to 1976. I was busy running the store and my time was consumed with a growing business. Sure, I went to church whenever the doors were open and was reading my Bible and the weekly “Sword of the Lord” paper. But “others” really wasn’t on my radar screen.
In December, 1977, Jody needed me to pick her up from college for Christmas break. I just happened to have a butcher shop with the grocery store and we sold lots of turkeys for Thanksgiving. That year we happened to receive four 25-pound turkeys that were supposed to weight 22 pokunds each. Trying to be obedient to the Lord, I was lead to donate those four turkeys to Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago.
Going to the Mission wasn’t much of an inconvenience, even though it was 500 miles away from my home in Hayward, Wisconsin. Jody’s school was just outside Chicago in Hammond, Indiana.
The only challenge was I wasn’t comfortable being around “street people.” (The ‘Others’).
That was the breakthrough I needed. I then volunteered for a week as a counselor in February of 1978, which turned into a six month weekly trip that fall and winter.
“Others” then grew on me. They became ok, praise the Lord! Just what I needed.
Having to leave the mission and return to running my grocery store lasted just thirty days. On April 1 of 1979, the CEO of Super Value Grocery offered me a second store. With the second store, we needed more help and that’s where I got the opportunity to really make a difference with the “others.”
Over the next two years, we brought five “others” into our home for free room and board, while also giving them a job, a paycheck and a fresh start at life.
The first two men came from the Mission and the other three came from Lester Roloff’s Schools in Corpus Christi, Texas.
That was teh beginning of living for “others.”
After a trip to Zambia, Africa in 2006 to see my daughter Jody and her husband Bob (now missionaries there for the past 18 years), it is very easy to live for “others.” We have so much in material goods, and at the same time we are spiritually blessed.
The season of Thanksgiving and the “best Gift of all,” Jesus! Get involved. Get next to the “others” in your own life. They are all around you... just ask your Pastor, or me.
This season, I’m looking for young, teenage girls to bake “Peanut Butter with Craisin” cookies for a cookie sale at area supermarkets and churches. This is to raise support for missionaries and mission projects. for their efforts, I will give each young baker a “Hope” apron -- hand sewn by the “Others” in Zambia, Africa.
To learn more, please contact me:
Jim Burmeister,
Hope Missions
11783 North Highway 63
Hayward, WI 54843
(715) 634.2809
