THE SCOPE OF MISIONS
Ed ited b y Oran B . Smith Chairman, Dept, of Missions, Biola
James Stewart took it to Europe. Others have taken it to Japan, to China and to Africa, where it has been distributed in large numbers. Working through the Foreign Lan guage Translation Bureau in Chicago, the Berean Gospel Distributors, Inc., as they are now known, are able to steadily increase the number of lan guages and consequently their out put. The printing is all done at the headquarters of the organization in Indianapolis. Among the numerous exciting stor ies of salvation which have come to light as the result of this effective missionary program is the one about A1 Johnson, who confessed a bank robbery after reading the tract. In cidentally, the story of A1 Johnson is being filmed now by Missions Visual ized so that everyone might enjoy this tremendous blessing. Because of the unusual circumstances of the case, A1 Johnson’s confession was carried by newspapers around the world. The heart of this bandit was changed through “ God’s Simple Plan of Sal vation.” He made his startling con fession from the pulpit and over the radio last May in Topeka, Kan. Mr. Porter has indicated that his organization is bringing to America Kurt Wagner, a former bodyguard of Hitler, who at the close of the war became so despondent and dis couraged, said his hopes were all gone. The man to whom he was look ing as his god had gone and there was nothing worth living for. While going down the street in Frankfort, contemplating suicide, he picked up a little roll of a yellow paper and straightened it out. It was “ God’s Simple Plan of Salvation” in the Ger man language. As a result Kurt Wag ner was saved. The story appeared in Power and that story has gone all over the world. News from an evan gelist holding a meeting in Manheim, Germany, says, “ You will be glad to know that our best worker is Kurt Wagner, who says he was saved through the reading of your tract.” More than a million of these tracts have been sent to Korea; 5,000,000 to Jajian. A sample of the effective ness of this message in Japan can be seen in this episode ^related by Porter. “ Discouraged and hopeless, a Jap- CONTINUED ►
street comer that morning, and I surely am glad.” Pastor Porter reports that this ex perience made him realize that we need more emphasis on the simple plan of salvation. After much prayer, he carefully prepared a short gospel tract entitled, “ God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.” Then continuing in
International Missionary T wenty years ago God laid it on the heart of Ford Porter to write a tract, “ God’s Simple Plan of Sal vation.” The inspiration came through an experience he had in leading a young man to the Lord as he was riding a bicycle to work in the city of Evansville, Ind. Upon crossing an intersection, he saw the young man standing there waiting for the streetcar. The question arose as to whether he was saved. Realiz ing there was at least one good way of finding out, he pulled his bicycle to the curb and asked, “ Do you know the Lord Jesus and are you saved?” “ No,” the boy replied, “ I’m not, but Mother’s been talking to me and she’s been trying to get me to take Christ as my personal Saviour.” With the streetcar still five or six blocks away, Porter earnestly sought further to draw an expression of need from his new friend. “ Do you know how God saves sinners?” he continued. Several pointed verses from the Scripture helped to make the way of salvation clear. And right there on the street comer the lad trusted Christ as his perspnal Saviour. In reporting the incident to a B io l a class in missions, Porter, now pastor of the Berean Gospel Tab ernacle in Indianapolis, said he has never forgotten the sincerity of the grip of the young man as he gripped his hand and boarded the streetcar saying, “ I surely want to thank you, mister, for what you’ve done for me.” As Porter pedaled his bicycle up the street, he wondered if on such a short contact this boy could have really been saved. “Why, that whole thing took place in about a minute and a half.” A ll doubts were removed, however, about six months later when riding a streetcar, Porter saw a man on the back seat, and looking for further opportunities to witness for Christ, he introduced himself, “Young man, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour?” “Yes, sir,” was the immediate reply, “ I surely do. You know I had a very peculiar experience about six months ago. I was standing on a street comer, not far from here, and I don’t know who it was, but someone came riding along on a bicycle and asked me if I was saved. He made it very simple and plain. I was saved there on that
JORGE CHAVEZ In Peru a new voice for Christ. (See page 24)
prayer each morning for a week, he took the manuscript to the printer and ordered 2,000 copies, enough to put a tract in each home in Prince ton, Ind., with a few left over for other uses. When he told the printer he would need only 2,000, little did he realize that within the next 20 years more than 40,000,000 copies would have been printed and dis tributed in 34 different languages and in all parts of the world, as a result of stopping at that street corner and talking to that young boy. Pastor Porter has actually become an inter national missionary by means of this simple plan of salvation. Here is how the ministry expanded. A friend in Milwaukee wrote and asked if he could translate the tract into the German language, and he did. Then he received a letter from a missionary in Mexico who wanted to know if he might translate it into the Spanish language, and he did. Next came a letter from a missionary in South America who wanted to know if he might translate it into the Portuguese language. Later
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