Elijah and Elisha 05 ~ Keswick Conference 1970 — Harold Wildish

Mr. Caldwell asked me if I had brought any books with me, and I said, no, traveling on a plane from Jamaica, it's quite impossible to do that. And so he phoned Chicago to see if they could send any books down from there, and on the way at the present moment are copies of these three books.

These are the only ones published in the United States. I'll take them one by one. This one was born in the big, windy city of Chicago. It was a series of talks given over dear old WNBI, and there was such a demand for it that they put it into print, and it's gone out and out and out, and it's still going out.

It's called The Glorious Secret. It was first published under the title Did You Receive the Holy Spirit? But this is an adjusted and digested copy, and it sells for 50 cents in the one-evening condensed library produced by Good News Publishers in Chicago.

I love to think that this is going out in India and Africa and in several other towns. Then this one was born at Canadian Keswick. I don't know if you know Muskoka Lakes, but it's a week of talks on the life story of David and Jonathan.

It's called The Mastery of Now. And that was the second one in America, and this one, would you believe it, was really born at Southern Keswick right here. And I was here the last time I gave a talk on, or rather a series of talks on the great boys and girls of the School of Faith, and this is now in print, and there it is.

These sell at 50 cents each, and if you say, well, I won't be here to pick them up, they would gladly take orders and see that they're mailed to you direct. That is, if you wanted a set of three, 150, they would mail them right to your home address if you wished.

But we have every hope that the parcel of books will arrive, God willing, tomorrow, if not today. Now, will you turn to the second book of Kings, please? 2 Kings, chapter 4. We are reading, we are starting at verse 8, just where we left off last night.

Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

2 Kings, chapter 4, verse 8. And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem. There was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. So it was that as often as he passed by, he turned in dither to eat bread.

And she said unto her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God which passes by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed and a table and a stool and a candlestick.

And it shall be when he cometh to us that he shall turn in dither. It fell on a day that he came dither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunemite.

And when he had called her, she stood before him. He said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for thee? Wouldest thou be spoken of to the king or to the captain of the host?

And she answered, I dwell among my own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid. And the woman conceived, and there a son at that season.

But Elisha said unto her, According to the time of life. When the child was grown, it come on a day that he went out to his father, to the reaper. And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.

She called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God. Now we are going to leave out some of the story. Verse thirty-three, verse thirty-two.

When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them, and prayed unto the Lord. He went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth unto his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands.

He stretched himself upon the child, and the child's flesh waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro, and went up, and stretched himself upon him. And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

He called to Hazi, and said, Call Isunamite. So he called her, and when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. And she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

Will bless to our heart the reading of his precious word, for his name's sake. Just a word of prayer now. Loving Lord, wilt thou lead us into thy truth? Lead comfort, or exhortation, or teaching? Graciously minister to us from thy words, by thy Spirit.

That some mark may be left upon our lives this morning, for thy glory, for our good, for thy dear name's sake. Amen. Now I know many of you are taking some interest in the little panels that we have taken, and the titles over those panels.

I'll just remind you of them. Chapter 1, Man of God. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Dig the Ditches. Chapter 4, Pour the Oil. Now what are we going to write over this little story that we've read together this morning?

The Great Woman of Shunem

Well, this is Ladies' Day, and it's going to be all about the womenfolk. You know, too often we are talking about Abraham, and Elijah, and Elisha, and the men. But you ladies, it's your day. You men can go to sleep this morning.

I'll tell you when the meeting's over. It's Ladies' Day. We're going to talk about the only woman in the Bible who's called a great woman. I believe there are many great women in the Bible, but this one is actually called a great woman.

And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman. Great woman. You say, well, that's the title of the chapter. No, it isn't. The title to our talk this morning is, It Fell on a Day.

And you'll find that little phrase three times in the reading this morning. It's found in verse 8. It's found in verse 11. And it's found in verse 18. It fell on a day. Now, most of you have great days in your life.

I suppose every one of you. If I asked your birthday, you could tell me your birthday. And as the anniversary comes round, the candles increase on the cake, don't they? Jolly good job when we get up into the 60s, 70s and 80s, they don't put 60 or 70 or 80 candles for us to blow out.

That's reserved for the little one. But you know, then comes your wedding day. And if you're happily married, you'll never forget that precious day that began that union of heart with heart and life with life.

And I suppose, as I look round, that some of you have beaten me hollow. You've reached not only the silver, but the golden wedding day. And you say, Mom. He asked me if I had brought any books with me.

And I said, No. Travelling on a plane from Jamaica, it's quite impossible to do that. And so he phoned Chicago to see if they could send any books down from there. And on the way, at the present moment, are copies of these three books.

These are the only ones published in the United States. I'll take them one by one. This one was born in the big, windy city of Chicago. It was a series of talks given over dear old WNBI. And there was such a demand for it that they put it into print, and it's gone out and out and out, and it's still going out.

It's called The Glorious Secret. It was first published under the title, Did You Receive the Holy Spirit? But this is an adjusted and digested copy. And it sells for 50 cents in the one-evening condensed library produced by Good News Publishers in Chicago.

I love to think that this is going out in India and Africa and in several other towns. Then this one was born at Canadian Cheswick. I don't know if you know Muskoka Lake. But it's a week of talks on the life story of David and Jonathan.

It's called The Mastery of Now. And that was the second one in America. And this one, would you believe it, was really born at Southern Cheswick right here. I was here the last time I gave a talk on, or rather a series of talks, on the great boys and girls of the School of Faith.

And this is now in print, and there it is. These sell at 50 cents each. And if you say, well, I won't be here to pick them up, they would gladly take orders and see that they're mailed to you direct. That is, if you wanted a set of three, 1 .50, they would mail them right to your home address if you wished.

But we have every hope that the parcel of books will arrive, God willing, tomorrow, if not today. Now, will you turn to the second book of Kings, please? 2 Kings, chapter 4. In our reading, we are starting at verse 8, just where we left off last night.

2 Kings, chapter 4, verse 8. And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. So it was that as often as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

And she said unto her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick.

And it shall be when he cometh to us that he shall turn in thither. It fell on a day that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. He said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunemite.

When he had called her, she stood before him. He said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken of to the king, or to the captain of the host?

And she answered, I dwell among my own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. When he had called her, she stood in the door.

And he said about this season, According to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season.

But Elisha said unto her, According to the time of life, When the child was grown, it come on a day that he went up to his father, to the reaper. And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, He sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, And shut the door upon him, and went out.

She called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, That I may run to the man of God. Now we are going to leave out some of the story. Verse thirty-three.

Verse thirty-two. When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them, and prayed unto the Lord. He went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth unto his mouth, And his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, And he stretched himself upon the child.

The child's flesh waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro, And went up, and stretched himself upon him. And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. He called to Hazi, and said, Call Isunamite.

So he called her. When she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. And she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, And took up her son, and went out. We'll bless for our hearts the reading of his precious word, for his name's sake.

Just a word of prayer now. Loving Lord, wilt thou lead us into thy truth, And know so well whether we need comfort, or exhortation, or teaching? Graciously minister to us from thy word, by thy Spirit, That some mark may be left upon our lives this morning, For thy glory, for our good, for thy dear name's sake.

Now I know many of you are taking some interest in the little panels that we have taken, And the titles over those panels. I'll just remind you of them. Chapter 1, Man of God. Chapter 2, Mantle. Chapter 3, Dig the Ditches.

Chapter 4. Now what are we going to write over this little story that we've read together this morning? Well, this is Ladies' Day, and it's going to be all about the womenfolk. You know, too often we are talking about Abraham, and Elijah, and Elisha, and the men.

But you ladies, it's your day. You men can go to sleep this morning. I'll tell you when the meeting's over. It's Ladies' Day. We are going to talk about the only woman in the Bible who's called a great woman.

I believe there are many great women in the Bible. Now this one is actually called a great woman, verse 8. It fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman. Great. You say, well that's the title of the chapter.

No it isn't. The title to our talk this morning is, It Fell on a Day. And you will find that little phrase three times in the reading this morning. It's found in verse 8, it's found in verse 11, and it's found in verse 18.

It fell on a day. Now most of you have great days in your life. I suppose every one of you, if I asked your birthday, you could tell me your birthday. And as the anniversary comes round, the candles increase on the cake, don't they?

Jolly good job when we get up into the 60s, 70s, 80s, they don't put 60 or 70 or 80 candles for us to blow out. That's reserved for the little one. But you know, then comes your wedding day. And if you're happily married, you'll never forget that precious day that began that union of heart with heart and life with life.

And I suppose, as I look round, that some of you have beaten me hollow. You've reached not only the silver, but the golden wedding day. And you say, my word, 50 years together. Yes, these are great days, happy days that we remember in life.

But spiritually, how many of you could pinpoint the day and say, that's the day when Jesus met me as Savior? Frankly, I can't. I know I was about 12 and a half years of age, but I can't pinpoint the day.

And let me tell you, I think that preachers are quite wrong, absolutely wrong, when they tell you that you must know the day of your salvation. Because thousands, hundreds of thousands of Christians don't.

When I first went out to the South American coast, I used to meet very, very aged Negroes with white hair and little white beards and wrinkled, leathery faces. And I would say to them, how old are you?

And they would say, me, no, no, Martha. You don't know how old you are? No, Martha. So you got there when you were born? No. And if I had looked into their face and said, well, of course, sir, if you don't know the day of your birth and how old you are, you were never born at all.

I'm the fool. The very fact that there's a living man in front of me proves that there must have been a birthday, even though they don't know the day and the timings on it. And it doesn't worry me a tiny bit if a Christian looks into my face and says, well, I don't remember the day when I was born again.

The great thing is, have you got spiritual life? Because that spiritual life must have had a beginning in a new birth when Jesus Christ was received and made real by the Holy Spirit within your heart.

And you could whisper, I know him as my Savior. For this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Now, there are great days in our lives. May I say to some of you older ones, don't worry too much about the future.

It's in his loving hands. It was a wise doctor who, looking down into the face of a patient who was troubled, said, she said, doctor, how long have I got to lie here on this bed? He said, only a day at a time, madam.

Wise man. A day at a time. And we as Christians must live our lives a day at a time. I used the illustration of the potter taking the clay yesterday and putting it upon the round wheel. And the round wheel is spinning and his hands are slowly beginning to shape and produce something.

I don't know if you've watched the potter with all his skill at work. But you know, you're in the potter's hands and the old wheel is going round 365 days every year. And his loving hands are upon you and there may come, in the month of March, a little bit of restriction like this.

And a little bit of up-drawing, a little bit of pressure. And then he goes on with his work. But it's round and round and round and round and round and round and it's a day at a time. And so often we can look back and see in his dealings with us certain experiences.

It fell on a day. There was an outstanding day in our Lord's dealings with us and our dealings with him. It fell on a day. Now whether these three days are the same day or different days in the life of this woman, I'm going to leave you to judge.

But there in verse 8 and verse 11 and verse 18 you get the little phrase. You might like to underline it or note it. It fell on a day. Three great days or one great day. We almost judge by the setting when a tremendous thing happened in her life.

It fell on a day. Now strangely enough, this scripture passes by her girlhood and her marriage. And we are introduced to a precious woman who is a farmer's wife. And I should think in those days, I should think it's the same today.

A busy farmer with the acres all around the farmhouse with a busy woman. Plenty of work to do from morning to night. And this precious woman is called a great woman. I don't want to dwell on this much, although I'd like to spend a whole morning on it.

As I look down these verses, 8, 9, 10, 13, right on through the story to verses 22, 23, 26 and on, I think I could pick out seven things that mark her greatness. She was great in her hospitality. This is great in a woman.

You see, the woman is the builder of the home. The man goes out after breakfast. He's out on the open fields. He's minding the cows. He's looking after the crops. He may not be back till hunger brings him in at the midday hour, but she's got the running of the home.

And this woman was great, verse 8, in her hospitality. It fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem. And there was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. It was so that as often as he passed by, he turned in zither to eat bread.

You see, she did what all women do. She looked out of the farmhouse windows, and she watched the passers-by. And on this big road from Shunem right away through to Samaria and Carmel, late, possibly somewhere between, she saw this tramping preacher, this man of God, moving along the highway.

She thought he looked tired, and she knew, she knew he was going from school of the prophet to school of the prophet, and possibly in a day he would be tramping 22 miles and serving the Lord in this wonderful ministry.

She said, well, we've got a lovely home here, a farmhouse. I'd like him to come in and take a meal and eat bread with us. And he seemed to enjoy it, and she said, come back again as often as you pass by here.

And she was just great in her hospitality. But, you know, I think she was great in her discernment. She said to her husband, this is a man of God that passes by our house continually. She somehow read the character of this man, and, you know, I know some of you men won't agree with me, but there we are.

We men reason things out. Is he a man of ability? What status has he got in the business world? And so on and so on. But women don't do that. They look at a man, and oh, so often that strange intuition tells them he's a good man or a bad man.

I could trust him or I can't trust him, and they weigh up, not mentally so much, but impulsively. They weigh up, and so often they're right. She discerned this man of God. And she looked at him, and the next thing in verse 10 was her great kindness.

She thought to herself, he needs rest, he needs food, he needs a little bit of motherly care. And so she said, won't you come in and share what we've got? And her great kindness was a very wonderful thing.

Then, when she was offered reward in verse 13, I'm amazed at her great contentment. You see, I'm meeting so many discontented people today. And the women are no exceptions. They wish that they were like Mrs. Jones, or they wish they had what Mrs. Brown had.

Or they are discontented, but she wasn't. She was happy in her home. And when they said, would you like to be spoken of to the king? Would you like one of the generals to hear about you? Would you like some favor to come from high places?

She said, I dwell among my own people. All I ask is my husband and my loved ones around me. And home, sweet home, it's everything to me. I think that's a gracious contentment. And never forget, godliness with contentment is great gain.

Great gain. When it comes to verse 22, I'm amazed at her faith, her great faith. This woman, she submits to the will of God. She calls her husband and says, send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys.

I may run to the man of God and come again. She went. Yes, she said, it's all well. Everything's right. Everything's well. Yet, the little laddie was a dying in the home. Great faith. When it came to verse 26, run now, I pray thee, and meet her and say to her, is it well with thee?

Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? She answers, it is well. A faith that produced a peace. It is well. All is well. I'm at peace. Yet, there's a natural anxiety of a mother heart, a longing for her little one.

And I tell you, when I turn the page to chapter 8, now where is it? Chapter 8, I think it is, and verse 4, testimony. And the king of Israel talked with Gehazi, the servant of God, saying, tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.

And it came to pass as he was telling the king, yes, the story of this woman being told in the palace before the throne. Telling the king how he had restored the dead body to life. Behold, the woman whose son he restored to life cried to the king for a house, for a land.

And Gehazi said, my lord, oh king, this is the woman, this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. When the king asked the woman, she told him. A woman with a living experience who has a testimony. I have linked the seven things that made her great.

Great hospitality, great discernment, great kindness, great contentment, great faith, great peace, great testimony. She was a great woman. And in the woman's life, there are three days, it fell on a day, it fell on a day, it fell on a day that there came to this great woman a deepening of experience which we will call in New Testament language, spiritual experience.

The Presence of Christ in the Believer

Now, what were these three things that she learned? Now, let's take them one by one. Verse 8, it fell on a day. Well, what happened that day? Was it a happy day when Jesus washed her sins away? Was it a day of consecration when she said, Lord, take my body, a living sacrifice?

It fell on a day. What happened in this woman's life that can speak to us in 1970 that could make something an outstanding experience in my life that I would never forget? Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone looked back and said it was on that Wednesday morning at Keswick, there in St. Petersburg in Florida, that that day somehow, a never-to-be-forgotten day, a transforming day, it fell on a day in my life.

Out of all the 365 days of experience as they whirl around, after all the 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years of my life, it fell on a day on that Wednesday morning. I learned something as a Christian that I shall never forget for eternity.

Now, what did she learn? To put against this, she learned, conscious of the presence of this Elisha man of God that had moved up and down Pascha farm day after day, week after week, perhaps for ten years he has been trampling that road, going from school of the prophet to school of the prophet.

But she's looking through the windows and she says to her husband, Husband, I perceive that the holy man of God is passing by continually. I'd like to ask him in, give him bread, and make him a tomb, make a little chamber for him to rest off.

The prophet's chamber. Who was she conscious of? A man who revealed God. And of course, this is where Elisha becomes a picture of Jesus. You'll never know Jesus, with a, I'm sorry, you'll never know God without knowing Jesus.

This is life eternal that they may know thee, the only true God. And Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, he was sent to reveal God to us. And if you know Jesus, you know God. And the more you know the Lord Jesus, the more you know God.

For he is God manifest. To know the presence of this man of God. And she wanted a permanent place in her home for him to abide. Now, is this ringing a bell? Do you want to know Jesus' presence in your life?

A permanent place where he'll be at home restfully in your life? This is victory. And Jesus, the great master, God's man, made real in your life. He's passed by your life continually. He may have showered mercies upon your life so freely.

You may say, I never doubt the person of Jesus Christ. But do you know him as the one you've invited in this presence, moment by moment? It fell on a day. A day has 24 hours. And let's see, sometimes we take our songbook and we sing.

I wonder if it's in this. I haven't looked up. I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord. But you know it was Major Whittle who sat in a congregation like this, singing, I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord.

And something seemed to say within him, Lord, I need you every minute. He went back home and shut himself in his room. He wrote that hymn that they sing so often at the Keswick conventions. Moment by moment, moment by moment, I'm kept in his love.

Moment by moment, light from above looking to Jesus till glory shall shine. And the thought is that we have a moment by moment risen Christ, made real by the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. And I tell you, moment by moment, faith can rest there.

I want the Lord Jesus to be at home in this chamber. This is his house. He can abide here. All our esophies are his. You say, what does this mean? It just means that lovely verse in Peter, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready at any moment to give a testament into the world for your lovely Lord.

Make your heart a sanctuary in which he dwells, Lord of your life and your mind and your affections and your will will bow down to his lordship and he's atoned there and he's present, consciously present with you.

This is a secret that you will never forget if you enter by faith into it and you will say it fell on a day and it will never be forgotten that day. Now, I'm so glad, looking at verse 10 carefully, that this woman who said, I perceive that this is a holy man, who suggested making a little chamber and putting in it a bed, a table, a stool and a candlestick, spoke to her husband about it and they brought it to pass.

I believe she was one of those precious women who had a tremendous influence on her husband and so often meeting men who've been made by the women they marry that I know that this isn't a bit out of date.

Largely, we men live up to the standards set by our women folk. Blind married men, if they love and admire their wife, will say her standards shall be my standards and it was so in this case. Whether the farmer was older than his wife, I sometimes think he was older in years and she was younger, but she said we must have this little chamber, this little prophet's chamber.

Hospitality and the Prophet's Chamber

Now, I wonder if any of you have got prophet's chambers. I can look round this audience, you know, and I can think of Chicagoland and Detroit and I can move around and remember homes I've lived in as a stranger in your great country where they've opened the door and said come in now and there's a room and make yourself at home and what's ours is yours and I wish there was more of this hospitality, this loving, open welcome to poor missionaries, to traveling preachers, to tired saints, to weary people in the hour of their need on their pilgrimage.

It's worthwhile. It's a gracious ministry. May I pause in saying this, that you should always furnish the prophet's chamber with four things. Did you know that? A bed, a table, a chair, and a candlestick.

Or you may get a Mitten-Martin and have electric side lights and all the rest of it, but these are the four essentials. There must be a bed that the poor fellow wants rest. There must be a chair. Well, he must sit down to eat and to study and all the rest of it.

A stool they call it here. I think it was a stool without a back in those bad old days. Perhaps they had stiffer spines than we have today and a little less back trouble simply because they sat on a stool.

And then there was the candle, the light for illumination, and there was a table and this is the one thing they leave out of modern prophet's chambers. Oh, how often I've been shown into a lovely bedroom and there's the bed and there's the lights and there's the chairs, but you know, preachers love to put their Bible down and their books out and their notes and get on with their correspondence and you often have to sit on a stool or chair and use the bed as your table.

Just remember that. Slip a little corner in with a table. It's so essential. It makes the prophet's chamber for many a traveling preacher anyhow. And so she constrained him to come in and she knew now that he was in her home and she sacrificed to keep this man of God comfortable in his long journeys as he turned into her home and she said, it fell on a day, it was the happiest day when that man of God came to abide.

I want to ask you very simply, do you know the Lord Jesus as the abiding Lord? Now strangely enough, I'm turning things right upside down. Most Bible teachers will begin to talk about you abiding in Christ and except the branch abides in the vine, the life of the vine cannot sow to the branch and bear the fruit.

I'm turning it upside down. I'm talking about Christ's presence abiding in you. Oh, what a day it is when it dawns upon us. How I wish you're not alone. The lovely Lord Jesus. Oh, there may be a million Christians who will shout the answer around the world but nothing can steal this from me.

Amen. Come to abide. It's here. And faith enters into it and says, that's what I want, Lord. I want you to abide, your abiding presence, your indwelling presence. I will never leave you so that we can boldly say the Lord is my helper.

Some of you who are lonely, you've lost your partners in life and somehow those grim experiences that you never dreamt you'd ever have to face when you were a growing laughing girl or boy are upon you now.

It's all in the education of God in your life but listen, sometimes when you're alone and look round those walls and say, oh dear, whisper, sing it if you can. No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.

Only yesterday I got a telephone call to go and see a woman who's desperately ill in the hospital not more than three miles away from Keswick, the new lovely St. Petersburg General. And as I sat by her side I found her, an old friend I'd known in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

She is possibly dying, her years are numbered, her days are numbered. I don't know about that for sure but she's desperately ill. Sitting by her side was her husband, an old Cayman Sea captain, a man I'd coveted for Christ, a man I'd prayed for, a man I'd pleaded with in days gone by, a man who said to me, come on my boats and you can go from Jamaica to British Honduras on a timber boat.

Oh, what a tossing we get. But the four days journey is free and you live on the boat with the captain and the chief mate. And this man has showed us great kindness and I've coveted that old sea captain for the Lord for years, with hard of nails, wrapped up in his business materialism.