To get caught up, read part 1, part 2, and part 3.
Victor Cross wants to do more for Jesus. There are so many lost souls out there that need the gospel, but how can I do it? Once again, Providence intervenes.
Victor took a job operating a crane, unloading cargo from ships that came into the bay near Houston, TX. This job put him in contact with seamen from all over the world. His first day on the job, he met some Germans who were bringing in a shipment, and he asked them about studying the Bible. They were very enthusiastic about it, but not being fluent in English, a study would be difficult.
That very night, Victor wrote to Otis Gatewood, a preacher in Germany, asking for Bible material in German. Within a few weeks, Victor started receiving tracts and Bible study materials in German, Finnish, Spanish, Swedish, and many other languages. Victor went to work.
He invited some of the sailors to his house for fried chicken (these foreign seamens had never had fried chicken before), showed them the filmstrips, and then gave them some tracts in their own language. He soon had Bibles, tracts and materials in 17 different languages.
Victor met with thousands of foreign seamen each year, giving them tracts, Bibles, and encouraging them to read them. But sometimes the people aren’t so friendly. One day, he went aboard a Greek ship, and every single person refused to talk with him. So, he simply left three tracts on the ship and left.
It was over a year later that the same ship came into port, and Victor again went on to see if he could talk with anyone. He entered the mess room where he saw a man reading something. It was a tract! It was one of the tracts that Victor had left over a year earlier! As Victor said “hi” and sat down, the man spoke to him.
“The Americans are the most wasteful people on earth. Over a year ago, when we were here, some American threw this little book away. And it’s the greatest message I have ever read! Three weeks after we departed from Houston last year, we docked in Japan where I got a Bible, and I checked all the references given. And everything in it is true!” The man continued, “I will be discharged soon. And when I get home, I’m going to tell the patriarch in our church that he has been teaching us a falsehood all these years!”
Victor never told the man that it was he who left the tract.
The captain of another Greek ship was asked by Victor, “Do you read the Bible every day?” The Captain said he had no Bible, so Victor gave him one, along with a tract. Later that week, the captain invited Victor to dine with him on the ship. He told Mr. Cross, “This book is the greatest thing I have ever read! Why didn’t you come along 25 years ago?”
Curious, Victor asked why. The answer was astonishing.
“My father was a Greek Orthodox priest, and said that it shouldn’t be a Catholic Church or a Greek Church, but Christ’s church. My father said the Lord’s Supper should be observed every Sunday, and that it should be accompanied with prayers, and songs, and study of the Bible. But he could never find anyone who would agree with him. Now he’s gone.” Then the Captain concluded with these words: “I’m going home to establish the church that belongs to Christ, and maybe someday we’ll send missionaries back to evangelize the United States.”
To be concluded tomorrow…