For many years I have loved to learn and hear about the generation of christians and missionaries that have gone before us. At
one time I filled my office with black and white 8 x 12 glossy photos of the great missionaries, evangelists, and preachers of the past. I can see their faces in my mind. My spiritual father John MacGregor used to fill my ears with stories of the great British sermonic minds of his generation. We owe them a great debt of gratitude and in our quest to reach forward, we need not forget our incredible past.
I recently read about English missionary Alan Gardner. He was shipwrecked on a remote island off the coast of South America en route to start a new mission. They tried to stick it out and wait for somebody to come and rescue them, but the day never arrived. They died of starvation.
Several months later, when they were finally discovered by a rescue team, they found the remains of Alan Gardner. His personal journal was underneath his body. His last moments of energy were used to pen Psalm 34:10, “Even the young lions want, but those that seek the Lord lack no good thing”. Underneath that verse were his final words, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God”.
Overwhelmed by the goodness of God! No food, starving to death, and shipwrecked! A long and painful journey to the end of his life. Yet overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Would to God that we would reach to live in this place of being overwhelmed by the goodness of God!