Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China for over 50 years.  Today he is seen as an incredibly effective soul-winner and church-planter.

One day he was traveling on a boat from Shanghai to Ningpo.  He had been witnessing to a man named Peter who rejected the Gospel but was under deep conviction.  In the course of events, Peter fell overboard, but no one made any effort to save him.  Taylor sprang to the mast, let down the sail, and jumped overboard in hopes of finding his friend.  But no one on board joined Taylor in his frantic search.

Taylor saw a fishing boat nearby and yelled to them to help, but they wouldn’t do it without money.  Finally, after bartering for every penny that Taylor had, the fishermen stopped their fishing and began to look for Peter.  In less than a minute of dragging their net, they found him, but it was too late.  They were too busy fishing to care about saving a drowning man.

It’s easy to sit here and condemn those selfish and apathetic fishermen – but by doing so – are we not also condemning ourselves?  Are we too busy with our jobs and other activities to take the time to rescue those who are perishing without Christ?

At FBC Pascagoula, we are engaged in the One Initiative this year – dedicating ourselves to each reach one person for the cause of Christ.  Begin asking God to show you the one person (who needs to commit their life to Christ) who you can help bring Home.  The harvest is plentiful.  Let’s make sure that the workers aren’t few.

You are loved!  And I’m praying for you!