Kingdom Sowing

Last Friday we watched through tears as Bill & Rebecca VanDoodewaard and their children, Anna & Matthew, drove away. Below is the short tribute I gave at the seminar we had in their honor last month that helps explain to a degree the tears.

Bill & Rebecca hearken from Grace Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Woodstock, Ontario in Canada. They along with their daughter Anna began worshiping with us three years ago when Bill was teaching at Huntington University. Their commitment to God’s Word and willingness to sacrifice in traveling to be with us each Sabbath day quickly endeared them to us and deepened our bonds in Christ. Two years ago, through a generous gift we were able to offer Bill a pastoral internship, which he readily accepted and has prospered in outstandingly. Through the time he has served us here and taught at the academy in our congregation, he continued work on his PhD, which is entitled "The Marrow Controversy and Seceder Tradition: Marrow Theology in the Associate Presbytery and Associate Synod Secession Churches of Scotland (1733-1799)." Bill successfully defended his thesis in May of this year and will have his PhD officially bestowed on him in November. His family will be moving to Virginia at the end of this month, as he begins teaching at Patrick Henry College.

From Bill’s warm-hearted teaching and gentle spirit which inspires devotion to Christ; to Rebecca’s creativity seen in such things as beautiful picture cards, sewing skills, and her superb and intriguing cooking; to witnessing their cheerful daughter Anna grow and their son Matthew be born here; to their gracious hospitality and their serious-minded pursuit of Christ, this family has become dear to us in so many ways, and we will miss them so very dearly.

Though it is with a great deal of sadness we sent them away, we thank the Lord for this special family He brought to us for this season, for the relationship our congregation will continue to enjoy with them, and for the confidence we have that there will be joyful reaping through their ongoing ministry elsewhere.

The psalmist says in Psalm 126 that we "sow in tears and reap in joy." We are also thankful for the reminder in going through this sending of the VanDoodewaards of a special kingdom truth. Investing in and then sending laborers forth hurts, yet it is the very pattern the Father and Son have set for us in the gospel. Our congregation will need to remember this, as plans call for more not less of it in the future.