Typical of the ways in which Wayne was able to help boys through the Club is the following example. “A Negro boy twelve years old wanted to take music lessons at his school, and learn to play the trumpet. The school music teacher would not let him play the trumpet, but instead gave him a baritone horn. James was upset, so he looked around in the music room until he found a trum pet, and he took it. I thought something was wrong when he came to club with a new trumpet in a paper bag, and was convinced of it when he wanted to leave it at the Club that night. After a couple of phone calls, the trumpet was returned to the right ful owner, and the matter was settled between the owner and James. The next day, however, the school called the police, and James had to appear in court. I asked James if he would like me to put in some good words for him in court and he quick ly replied, ‘Yes.’ Then he told me his mother want ed him sent to an institution, and was going to suggest this to the judge. I appeared in court with James, explained to the judge that James was active in the Boys’ Cub and that I would continue to work with him and keep him out of trouble. The result was six months’ probation. This was an answer to prayer, and God still had more blessings to come. After that, James and I were very close. Two weeks after we were in court, James took Christ as his personal Saviour.” Late in 1968, Wayne was transferred to Los Angeles to join the evangelistic team of the Union Rescue Mission. The Mission has ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of men on Main Street since 1891. It is a big ministry. Last year, the Mission served over 250,000 meals. In the many aspects of the work, there were several thousand professed conversions. Wayne’s ministries include Bib l e teaching, counseling, and proclaiming the message of salva tion to hundreds of men. Also, in his local church, Wayne is a deacon, chairman of the evangelism committee, and teacher of eighth-grade boys in Sunday school. Since the day he became “big man” in Suburbia and thought he had it made, Wayne feels he has learned two of life’s greatest lessons. As he puts it, “No matter how much one has in material goods, no matter how many goals one may set and reach, inner peace and fulfillment only come when one realizes that he is a sinner and asks the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive his sins and come into his heart as personal Saviour.” Secondly, Wayne has learned that if a Christian will allow Christ to become Lord and Master of his life as well as Saviour, and be active for Christ right where he is in doing the little things, God will give him greater tasks to do. Because of these great truths learned, the man who once exploited people in need now gets his greatest joys from helping them. BH
fasts to meet in a café just across the street. Noth ing worked on the others, but it all made Wayne grow stronger. Meanwhile, at church, it got so that every Sunday, God seemed to be using the message to call Wayne to the ministry of the Gospel. At last, he talked it over with the pastor. “It’s late,” the pastor said. “You should have had your schooling while you were young and single. At 25, with a wife and two children to support — well, maybe God’s will for you is to raise your own family, serve in the church wherever you can, and give to the Lord’s work.” The pastor’s words made sense, but Wayne could not feel satisfied. Then came a prayer re quest from a small rescue mission out west. Two weeks later Wayne remembered the request and became burdened about it. Upon inquiry, he learned that the mission needed a young man to relieve the aging superintendent. The Lord seemed to work out every detail, and Wayne found himself in res cue mission work. Then in 1966, Wayne moved to St. Paul and became a director of the Arthur H. Savage Boys Club, a division of the Union Gospel Mission there. Since 1929, the Club had ministered to thousands of underprivileged boys in downtown St. Paul. To day there are graduates in all walks of life. In fact, about ten per cent of the St. Paul Police De partment is made up of men who were helped, as boys, by the Club work. In St. Paul, Wayne found a satisfying outlet for his sales abilities. For the first time, every sum mer camp was filled to capacity. “For one dollar a week, it was such a fantastic bargain that a fellow like me, used to drumming up business, couldn’t miss,” Wayne recalls. Similarly, the regular Club activities were made available to the boys at very low cost. A boy could visit free five times. Then, if he wanted to be a member, he paid from 35 cents to one dollar a year depending on his age. For this fee, he got full access to the gymnasium and equipment, tram poline, ping pong tables, a lounge, swimming pool, and crafts. The Club was open afternoons and evenings Monday through Friday. Saturday eve nings there was a social, and Sunday the Club opened for Sunday school and young people’s meet ings at 3 p.m. There were about two hundred mem bers. Many spent nearly all their free time there. It was more “home” than many of them had any where else. To reach the boys for Christ, Wayne relied mostly on personal and individual ministry, al though the Club had regular Chapel, Bible study, sings, and Scripture memory work. Wayne organized a gospel band among the boys. Called “The Sons of Thunder,” the group gave testimonies and played at functions all over the Twin Cities area.
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OCTOBER, 1969
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