When I was in the States in the fall, I was so happy to be hosted by one of my wonderful supporting churches in Hammond, LA. We had an incredible service and afterwards sat around singing and playing music for a while. It was just a great time of fellowship! Before we left, Pastor Gary Quave said the Lord told him to ask me if we needed a bass guitar for my church in Puyo. My mouth fell wide open! You see, what he didn’t know was that the bass guitar which I had purchased, after looking quite some time for one here, had been stolen from the church a few months earlier. When I told him this, he responded, “Well, I have one that I’d like to give to the church.” Oh, was I ever more moved!! The tears and joy came! What a gift this will be, I thought!
I didn’t have time to get it from him that day, as I was in a big hurry by then to move along to my next service for the evening, so we planned to meet before I left Louisiana. A few days later, we were packed up and heading out of that state, so we met up with Pastor Quave. He presented me with this beautiful bass guitar. I was in awe! I said, “Pastor, you’re giving me a Gretsch bass! I can’t believe this! It is such a very nice guitar!!” He said it was only about 6 months old, and again, I was just in awe and so very thankful for this gift! And after I’d calmed from my excitement a bit, he so humbly said that being a musician he owns several bass guitars, but of all of them, this Gretsch hollow body bass here was his very favorite. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I asked, “Well, are you sure you want to give it to Ecuador? You can keep this one and give us a cheaper, older one.” But, no, he was insistent and firm in the fact that he wanted to give away his favorite bass. I wept tears of gratitude and joy. I knew that God had ordained this and given this bass to the church in Puyo, and that moved me so much. But the fact that this kind man wanted to give away his favorite, the one that he loved the most; he gave it to God! That right there touched my heart in a way that I can’t explain. What humbleness! What generosity! What selflessness!
I know many who will give away their old, worn out things to another, but when someone gives his best, his newest, his shiniest, his favorite, that is the kind of love and selflessness that will receive a blessing beyond all that can be imagined! For Jesus asks us to deny ourself, and leave it all behind, give up everything, to serve Him. And that’s just what Pastor Quave did!! He blessed the church at Puyo AND me sooooo very much that day! I pray the Lord blesses Him with more than he can contain! I love this wonderful Pastor and his beautiful church, The Way Church, and am so honored to have people of such caliber as partners with me in this work.
