An epistle of a wife, on: "The Making of a Servant" or "The making of a Follower of Jesus"

In the last 8 years since Gerry turned 50, he has been wanting to prove to the world and to our generation that going back to the Jesus of 2000 years ago is the only revolutionary thing to do if one wants to see a real Revolution.

I have never seen him so focused and passionate as he is now. He says, "You can only teach that which you have learned". "To teach the Truth, you must not apprehend an idea or a concept; you must be apprehended by the Truth, possessed by the Truth, controlled by the Truth....because the Truth is a Person and that person is Jesus Christ the Lord .(Like the tar baby). And you must be a follower before you become a true leader".

He believes that "bigger is not better; that smaller is best" "That true revolution is born and carried out by a ban of brothers in covenantal relationship, who seek to be of one mind and who put their hearts together in agreement before they do anything (on the basis of the teaching of Jesus that, "Whenever 2 or 3 agree in prayer about anything in my Name, they will have what they ask." There has been nothing that Gerry has asked from the Lord that He has not answered. Sometimes I call him the "spoiled brat of the Lord". He is careful in what he prays for and he believes that God has given him the gift of faith.

Gerry mentors a group of young people and our orphans and their friends, and he has chosen them deliberately from among those without "name brand", fame or fortune...kids that are descendants of the Quechua people in the Andes Mts. in the heart of Peru. His idea is to prove that a true Jesus revolution has to be able to work any time, anywhere and with anyone. It cannot depend on power, fame, fortune or even education...but on the mind of Christ in the hearts of the people involved. So he spent a good solid five years mentoring as he thinks Jesus did. This is "being with people and leading by example". Basically, the concept of discipleship that he has adopted for his life is, "Jesus chose twelve...to be with them". He believes that true discipleship is "being with people".

Gerry credits U.S. Senate, Chaplain Dick Halverson of reminding him of this great truth during our years in Washington D.C., but the man that he considers to be his mentor is Doug Coe of the Fellowship, with whom he has been involved in the National Prayer Breakfast movement since the time of President Ronald Reagan. To my knowledge, he has not missed any Prayer Breakfast since then except during the last 2 years of President George Bush junior.

Gerry is not a patient type of a person. He wants things yesterday, but he says that Doug Coe taught him that "the fastest way is the slowest way and that the shortest way is the longest way." Though this goes against his nature, he adopted this idea and lives by this principle.

Prior to coming to know the Lord in the university, Gerry was a radical Communist leader, and he became the first General Secretary of a world-famous terrorist group. He was mentored by the very founder of that group for four years. It was shortly after that that a high school student, plus a chain of other believers, was used by the Lord to first witness to him; and after 3 years of intellectual struggle and just 2 weeks before he was to go to Russia for training, he came to surrender to the Lord Jesus and ended up at Columbia International University in S. Carolina to study theology.

He believed in mentoring and mentors, and he searched for a mentor. In that process, he rubbed shoulders with Hugh Powlison, Buck Hatch, John Stott, Francis Shaffer, James Kennedy, Frank Barker, James Montgomery Boice, Robert Rayburn Sr., John Sanderson, Billy Graham, Eric Alexander, Paul McKaughan, Steve Smallman, Doug Co and Paul Kooistra.

During our 10 years in Washington D.C., Gerry spent a great deal of time with Doug Coe, interpreting for him and for foreign dignitaries, visiting embassies, having many prayer breakfasts, and lunches, dinners and receptions with VIPšs from around the world. He traveled extensively in the four continents: Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. But one memory that he treasures above all these experiences was the single-mindedness of Doug Coe in lifting Jesus in every and in any circumstance and before any and every person they met. The bottom line of every meeting with a visiting president or an ambassador or businessmen from around the world was that they found the Name and person of Jesus attractive as Doug would present it...in just about the same way to everyone. Gerry says, "You would think I would have gotten tired of being there or of interpreting the same things all the time. Not at all. I learned to love and to hear the name of the Lord mentioned and lifted up and the impact that I saw on the listeners was so rewarding."

Spending time with Doug Coe till the wee hours and attending breakfasts at the crack of dawn had an impact on Gerry. He said, "Religion was killing my zeal for Jesus, but God used this man to save what is left of my life. I feel like a teenager in love with Jesus. You can even meet Jesus in the jungles of Washington D.C."

But Gerry had a strong conviction, and that was that, "A true Jesus revolution did not start in Rome...but in Bethlehem. In the same way today, it did not have to be from a Washington...but from any Bethlehem. God would not have "placed the cookie jar of His revolution on the upper shelves at the reach of the few and the great...but on the lower shelves...at the reach of the small little ones. Besides, it is easier to bend than to climb dangerous heights." With this in mind, Gerry sought the blessing and charge of Paul Kooistra (MTW) and Doug Coe to return to Perú again with the mission to let God make and experiment with his life as we became involved more deeply in a word and deed ministry with our 20 orphans, who lived in our house for the last 15 years...and with mentoring a group of older teens.

So, in these last years, right after breakfast, I have become a widow while Gerry disappears for 5 hours every morning to be with his mentoring group. He comes late for lunch and then takes off in the afternoon for some practical activity in the community, which includes soccer and community service to the poor, the widow, the orphans, the elderly, the imprisoned and the sick.

In the last 2 years, each mentee has become a mentor of his or her own group, and small groups have popped up everywhere with the same philosophy that each mentee must become a mentor of a small group. The original bunch that Gerry has been mentoring call themselves, "The Group", seeking to avoid a name that would alienate them from anyone who may belong to an organized group. The next bunch of kids (basically high schoolers), is called the "Second Great Wave". The twelve-year-olds are still named the "Little Great Group", and their parents are "The Older Group".

As our work snowballed, we found ourselves with no choice but to congregate to worship. A core group of thirty asked the Lord to add a zero to our number...as a sign that we are meant to become a congregation. A year later, the Lord blessed us with and attendance of 507 for our first anniversary. Then we decided to ask the Lord to increase the number for the following anniversary to 1000 in attendance. We have just celebrated our second anniversary last Sunday, and our Lord smiled on us with an attendance of 1257. It could have been even more than 2000, but we placed 6 guards at the door of our old building to see that only those that were invited could come in...partly because of our small facilities (with only a single toilet in the rest room). As a beggar tells another beggar where to find bread, these people have come...invited by their children and friends.

We are at the point in our lives of saying humbly and cautiously...that going back to basics does work. Jesus said, "If I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself". That is what we are witnessing...that "knowing only Jesus...and Him crucified", does work. Gerry says: "Though we had the greatest gathering in the history of this town to hear the Gospel last Sunday, we believe that it is just the beginning and that greater things are yet to come. But regardless of what may happen in the future, whether by few or by many, Jesus is here to stay. As for us and our house, we are intent on staying focused on Christ. We have never enjoyed service as much as we do now. Through our children and their friends and the many foreign visitors that come to see us, the word is already out on the four continents. A drop of water from our Andes never knew that it would become the head waters of the great Amazon River and would travel all the way to the mighty Atlantic Ocean. Seldom, if ever, does a man know what will become of his life and what his contribution will be. But, it sure is a great thing to see the tip of the iceberg".

"Because of Jesus, and in Jesus, we now have the certainty that our work is not in vain. For we follow the one who knows the end from the beginning. Not only does He know the end from the beginning, but he has set the future the way it should be; and it will be so...and no other way. In Christ, His followers are more than conquerors...to the praise of His mighty Name...and His only".

As for me, I am enjoying the ride, making memory of how the young man whom I met leading crowds to danger and death...now leads crowds to safety and life in the knowledge of Jesus.

Until He comes and praising His wonderful name!!