The Kreider Connection
Racers For Christ
August, 2010 Newsletter
Ten years ago God called us into full time ministry with RFC. It was not something we pursued, it was a scary and humbling transition leaving the corn and bean fields of farming to toil in God’s huge fields of souls. I often watch great people of God and wonder what it would be like to be used to touch millions of lives around the world. We realize now it is important to willingly be used regardless of greatness or ministry size.
Living life as a full time servant of Jesus is humbling in many ways. I hope we never stop feeling overwhelmed when we are supported in so many ways. Recently our great racers made pizza and sold it to raise funding for regional ministry expenses. Others give fuel cards or restaurant cards along with financial support, a place to spend the night or a cold bottle of water or a sandwich at the track. Many encourage and pray for us…the list could go on and on. I can’t begin to explain how overwhelmed that makes us feel! The lives God uses us to minister to through tough times, and the ones He uses us to help find peace through Jesus mean more to us than we can put into words! Your regular prayers are essential in everything we do and each heart we touch and we are truly grateful for each prayer you say for us. May God receive all the honor, glory and praise!!
The other side of what we do is leading the North Central Region as directors. We began by building on what those before us had started. We started out with 18 staffers over the 6 states and part of Canada. We continue to pray for God’s leading to have more staff that can reach more people in need. God is answering that prayer and growth is taking place. Many regional leadership changes have to be made as this happens. We are blessed with many great folks assisting us in leadership in many capacities. We have 120 chaplain and numerous ambassadors working today and feel there would be ministry in motorsports for several hundred more in this area of the Midwest. We hope we can count on your continued prayers for wisdom, guidance and provision.
Thank you for the part you play in God using us in the world of motorsports with Racers For Christ. If you know someone who might be interested in joining our staff please send us their contact information. If you know anyone willing to lift this ministry in prayer we would be most honored.
Servants of the blessed Jesus,
Glenn and Linda
976 Coyote Ave., Greenville, IL 62246
Phone: 618-292-6048
kreiders@papadocs.com
P.S. Who knows…people like the man in the following story may turn out to be the real heroes in heaven??
SUCCESS – A True Story
By Tim Way
Our bus stopped just off of the highway at what appeared to be a large open field filled with temporary shelters – tent-like structures constructed with tarp roofs and mismatched lumber. These are not, however, temporary shelters. These are the “homes” of people living in desperate circumstances in Monterrey, Mexico. The place is called The Rio. An illegal squatter village on the outskirts of Monterrey, it’s where hundreds of Mexico’s poorest of the poor exist. There is no running water or legal electricity. No bathrooms. No heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer. Some of the people living here have been in these conditions for over 30 years. The population is primarily women and children. The men are largely non-existent as they are out trying to scrape some money together, are drug or alcohol addicts, or are dead. Some of the women support themselves and their children through prostitution. Others work at menial jobs that pay very little money. Still others have no means of support. The mismatched lumber that forms walls of the shacks is actually boards and lumber scraps salvaged from the city dump just a short distance away. Other building materials include oil drums, odd pieces of sheet metal, used pallets and anything else that can be salvaged to put four walls around themselves.
On the edge of this shanty town stands a little shanty church. As we approach the tent-like structure we can hear the sound of hammering on the roof. In the back of the church, standing on a ladder, is an unassuming little man. He is vigorously hammering another piece of tarp to the frame of the roof so that we Americans can have some shade from the hot Mexican sun. The man is sweating profusely and his hands and well-worn t-shirt are quite dirty from his work.
“This is the pastor!” someone says. He climbs down from the ladder with a bright smile. We extend our hands to him. He pulls back just a little, obviously hesitant to shake our clean, white hands with his own sweaty, dirty ones. His name is Jose Angel. Married with six children, Jose has been a follower of Jesus for only 6 years. Despite his short time as a Christian, he has assumed the challenge of being a pastor to the people of The Rio. In addition to this little church, he also is the pastor to two other little churches, each of which are in equally challenging situations. To support himself, Pastor Angel works full time as a mechanic since none of his three churches provide any income to speak of. He has set a lofty goal to somehow raise enough money to provide the people of his community at least one good meal per week.
By any worldly standards, Jose Angel is not a success. He is uneducated. He will never pastor a mega-church. He will likely never draw a living wage from his work for God among the poorest of the poor. His church does not have a microphone or running water, or even a floor for that matter. He does not have any of the trappings of what we would consider success. His congregation is largely transient and has enough life challenges to frustrate even the best trained social worker. For most of his congregation, it is two steps forward and three backward. The hours are brutal, the pay non-existent and the circumstances overwhelming. He largely goes un-thanked and forgotten. By the standards of American ministry, Jose Angel is a total failure.
Fortunately, God does not measure success in the same way we do. I can not help but believe that in Heaven’s courts Jose Angel is held in the highest esteem. As we drove away from The Rio I felt that I had for a short time rubbed shoulders with one of the wealthiest men in God’s Kingdom. Jesus summed it up like this: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Frankly, I can’t wait to get to Heaven and see how men like Jose Angel are welcomed. These are the heroes of the Kingdom – the ones that God will place first. God is not impressed by our earthly trappings of wealth and success. That is why He sent His Son, Jesus, to be born in a stable – in a place very much like The Rio.