Angel or What?
You must know that I do not recommend this story for young teenagers. It is my story, a story of a promise kept.
My best friend in high school and I agreed to take a big trip after graduation. He decided to get married. I still had a dream.
On July 4th of 1963 I left a cottage in Charlotte, NC, walked across a five lane road, put out my thumb to hitch a ride. The first car was a Chevrolet Super Sports-fast little car for the time. Three young black men were inside. "Where you heading?" they asked. I responded: "To Texas." They said: "Throw your suitcase in the trunk and climb in. We are going to Macon, GA."
To Macon was about 500 miles in record time. It dawned on me that it was not normal for a white boy to be riding in a car with three black men. We passed through some territory that could have been unfriendly, if we had been traveling slow enough to be seen.
From Macon I depended upon my thumb to get me to Jackson, MI about 10 PM. Retrieving money hidden inside my socks I purchased a bus ticket to cross the bayous of LA. Shreveport came into view about daylight. My thumb took over and brought me to Houston, TX by late evening. I found myself in the city. Finally, somehow I had made it to the southern side where I waited with my thumb out for a ride.
A car pulled to a stop. A middle-aged black gentleman looked at me and said: “Son, I don't normally stop for hitchhikers, but you've got an honest face. This is a dangerous community for you to be in. Get in and I will take you to a better place to get a ride.”
Unfortunately, I did not get his name. I did not write down his address. I wish even now that I knew how to call him, though if he is alive he would be very old.
What I do know is that he may have saved me from robbery, violence, or even spared my life. He crossed boundaries in that time that were huge in a southern city. He dared to risk himself to help a person of another color.
Was he an angel? That depends on what you mean by the definition. What I am sure of is that God sent him to act as an angel of mercy in my time of foolishness.
Twenty-seven years ago Laila and I came to Covenant Church. We found some of the best people in all the world. Precious. Great lovers of Jesus.
Laila and I came to Charlottesville from Blacksburg, VA where we attended a multi-ethnic church—our first such experience. We made friends. We loved people.
We prayed for God to open our hearts at Covenant to be a mission church. The doors opened. God send us people from many nations. We have learned so much. Our lives have been enriched. Our work for the Lord has enjoyed partners from many different cultures and countries and people of different color. Leadership of Covenant enjoys a diversity of cultures. We are blessed.
This coming Sunday at Covenant is mission emphasis. I will be wearing a traditional Kachin outfit given to me by David Yone Mo from a country once known as Burma. You are encouraged to join with me in the following:
- Wear clothing characteristic of your native culture or a culture you love.
- Pray with me that God will unite us as a powerful team to reach a great harvest of souls.
- Write me, email me, or bring to me a personal story of how your life has blessed in a particular way by a person of another color or culture. Some of these stories will be shared this Sunday.
- Share with me via written form, interesting notes of how you consider your ethnic group to be different.
God's word affirms that He chose the Hebrews as a people to use for an example of a covenant relationship. However, God's Word affirms that the door of salvation has always been open to all peoples of all cultures, countries, and colors.
I will close for now. It is late Sunday night. Laila and I just returned from Covenant Church where 76 persons of three different tribes were fellowshipping and worshiping.
Much love
Pastor Bare
REV. 5:8-14