Nearly every day that I serve as a Send Relief missionary in the South Bronx of New York City, I am aware of the countless individuals who have invested in my life and ministry. Every day there are people who pray, give, and share encouraging words. For this, I am indeed grateful. During this season in which we promote the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, I pray Southern Baptists will know there are lives being impacted in the South Bronx and across North America because of their support of missions in these ways. But, I also want to highlight another way to support and invest.
This other way has had a profound impact on my life. When I was a little boy growing up in First Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Norma Beckemeier was my teacher in Mission Friends. As I learned about the work of missionaries, little did I know, nor did she, that I would be a missionary others would learn about one day.
Norma was a kind, gentle, and nurturing teacher. She taught at a local elementary school. She and her husband Dewayne were close friends of our family. The light of Christ seemed to emanate from her life–whether at church, at school, or times my family gathered with hers. As I grew older, she taught me in Sunday School and in Bible Drill.
In March 2020, Norma passed away. Norma didn’t know the little boy I sat and played Uno with last week hoping it would provide a distraction from his rough life at home. Norma never met the homeless man I met on the street yesterday and walked with to get some coffee and a donut. Norma prayed for but never talked to the children and teens I have mentored over the years who are now young men and women, some having kids of their own. Nevertheless, Norma’s life of faith and loving service, with little glory and no apparent reward, is reaping a harvest for the kingdom of God in the South Bronx.
I thank God for Norma and the many others who invested in my life through their consistent and quiet service as Sunday school teachers, RA leaders, children’s choir directors, and youth group volunteers. To God be the glory!