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In this episode of Faith On Campus we hear from Howard Spencer, who has been serving with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) for 24 years. Now, at the age of 66, he’s at a point in life when many people would be thinking about slowing down and enjoying retirement. But not Howard! Instead, he and his wife are in the midst of preparations to head to Belgium to serve the cause of the gospel there.
When I asked Howard why they’re planning such a big move at this stage of their life, this was his response:
“In our culture there’s this mentality of, ‘You’ve done your bit, it’s time to put your feet up and enjoy your retirement.’ But that is a very materialistic, selfish mindset. Because God’s kingdom is growing, and he needs workers to expand that kingdom, and if people are just gonna sit there with their comfortable evangelical churches and lifestyle, the gospel’s not gonna go out into the world… and there are nations of the world that are struggling.”
And one of those nations that is struggling is Belgium. Belgium is about half the size of Australia (11.5 million people to our 25 million), but while Australia has 260 staff workers proclaiming the gospel on university campuses, Belgium has just 1! Howard says,
“This man there has been trying for the last 5 years to penetrate the mindset of the Belgian students with the gospel, and he’s making some progress, but he’s exhausted. He’s just one person trying to do all of this and he needs help!”
I was so encouraged by Howard’s example of seeking to use his life well to serve Jesus, even past retirement age. This was a great reminder:
“We’ve gotta have that mindset to be seeing God’s kingdom grow…. He’s the one we’re all gonna stand before, and he’s gonna say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” You know, he’s not gonna say, “Did you enjoy your cruise around the Mediterranean in your retirement?” He’s gonna be looking at whether we leave the fruit behind of lives that have grown in Christ.”
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