Building on Others' Shoulders

The ministries of today have been built upon the foundations that have been laid by past servants of God through a continuous cycle of discipleship, leadership, and faithful and sacrificial service.

This reminder came to me while I was in St. Croix, sitting in Pastor Stephen Marcel's office. While waiting there, I spotted a Church of God (Holiness) Academy yearbook for 1999-2000. Picking it up, I began paging through it, looking with great interest at the photos of past students and academy personnel. What especially captured my attention were the staff photos which included individuals I have heard about. In the yearbook were pictures of faithful servants like Pastor Ishmael Gordon (board member), Mrs. Shirley Gordon (3rd grade teacher), Leon George (former academy director) and Linda George (former principal). Each of them had served God faithfully at the Academy and at the church where the school is located.

I shared with an elderly gentleman after the Sunday service about the yearbook. He told me, “I knew many of those who served here in the past. You are correct in that they did lay a strong foundation. We are continuing to build on the shoulders of those who served before us.”

This was a good reminder for me. So often I forget to thank God for those who have paved the way and, by His wondrous power, built a firm foundation for the ministries that are presently in place. Being a newcomer to the COGH, I am still learning her history, but I am so thankful for those who went before us and faithfully and sacrificially served. So many names could be listed here!

The Amplified Bible records the words for Matthew 9:37 and 38 in the following manner: "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.'”

We can be thankful for how God used faithful followers in the past to pave the way for the start of many ministries which are still in existence today. We also need to be praying that present-day followers of Jesus Christ will respond to His call to be laborers in the whitened harvest field of the world.