I have entitled this post "Timing isn't just something, it's everything" because anyone who has ever undertaken a challenging enterprise knows the importance of some factors outweighs others. Timing is one of them. Another one is, of course, location. Location! Location! Location! Many a new business owner has opted for a cheaper location off the beaten path and come to regret it.
My upcoming major challenge is a thru hike of the AT, and the factor of timing has been the major one involved in it.
My wife, Renee, and I made our latest trip to E. Africa to work with South Sudanese refugees in late December, '16. I bought the airline tickets in July '16. A few weeks out from our departure date, I learned that my nephew, Adam, who I will accompany on my AT thru hike, had booked a ticket that would have him land at our departure airport just when we would be checking in. Providence of God? You bet! So we got to meet him down at baggage claim where he agreed to await us. We had not seen Adam in 4 years, so we jumped at the chance to get in a short 10 minute visit.
The last thing Adam said to me was "Uncle David, my dad tells me you've had doing a thru walk of the AT on your bucket list for decades. Well, I'm going to do it starting on April 9 and I invite you to join me." And that's how this odyssey I'm now on began. That statement planted a seed which germinated over the next 7 weeks as I read God's Word and prayed about the whole matter.
Timing. I had learned it's importance earlier in life through meditating on how God directed my path at critical points. An example is how we came to work as church planters among the Maasai of Kenya. In early 1993, our sending agency sent us 20 plus job requests related to Africa to choose from. The Lord directed both my wife and I separately to choose the request that would have us work among the Kaputiei Maasai of Kenya. Once we realized we had chosen the same request out of the stack, I immediately called the agency's office and asked them to reserve that job request for the Cranes.
A few years later, we learned that someone else called the agency's office the day after we did, and asked that the same request be set aside for them. They were told it was already claimed. Thus that couple had to choose another job request. Years later we saw their career go up in flames when it was discovered the husband had made sinful choices which led to their being fired by the agency. Wow, what a difference timing made in Kingdom work among the Maasai!
Timing. King Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote in Proverbs 16:9 "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." This means that God in His sovereign purpose for the lives of His children brings together certain factors at just the right time, so that they might know which path to choose for His glory and service.
Certainly there is no better time than the present for concerned American Christians to become involved in helping their South Sudanese brethren. The latest UNHCR reports indicate that the number of refugees in Uganda alone has now topped 3/4 of a million. We partner on the ground with Sudanese church leaders who desire to make disciples of their countrymen while they are in exile as refugees. And to do this they need Bibles, Bible related resources and training.
I hope to leverage my thru walk of the AT to raise money to enable us to help such committed, gospel centered leaders. Please consider joining me in this venture so that together we might bless current and future S. Sudanese church leaders with the tools they need to make the most of this time while they are living together in refugee camps.
David Crane
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