From Spark to Full Flame

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message.

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These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Hello, boys and girls.

This is Aunt Martha, and I have a story for you. Does God use boys and girls for His work? Does God call boys and girls into His work? Most of you remember the Bible story how a lad gave his lunch of 5 barley loaves and 2 small fishes to Jesus. What did Jesus do with that lad's lunch? He took it, blessed it, and had the disciples give the food to everyone.

It was enough to feed 5,000 men besides women and children. There were even 12 baskets full left over. Jesus did use that lad in His work.

Does Jesus use boys and girls today? Does He plant the seed for Christian service in tender hearts? How many of you are 10 years old? This story is for everyone, but especially the 10-year-olds. Let me tell you a true story of how Jesus touched the tender heart of a small boy. The name of this story is, From Spark to Full Flame.

This little boy's mama noticed how often that her third son enjoyed helping people, especially older folks or the handicapped. Maybe this was because Raymond himself had a speech problem. She was glad for his tender feelings.

She pondered in her heart about God's way for this son's future. During a tent revival where his uncle was preaching, Raymond felt the tug of God's Holy Spirit convicting him of his need to open his 10-year-old heart door to Jesus to come in. And when he did open his heart, the joy he felt was so great, he asked Jesus to clean away his sins.

He was so sorry for them, and now he had joy. His friend James had also taken Jesus into his heart as his Savior during those meetings. Raymond and James decided to spend time together often to pray in those early weeks.

It was during those prayer times that Raymond began to have an interest in tract work. Was this what Jesus wanted him to do? He was fascinated with stories of how God could use a simple tract to save a soul. The work of Ralph Palmer, the street corner man who gave out many tracts, inspired young Raymond very much.

Because his parents loved the Lord, they took their family often to hear testimonies given in mission conferences in other churches by those active in the Lord's work. These were stimulating to young Raymond. Someone with a burden for tract work had the publishing house in Scottsdale, Pennsylvania make brightly colored tract rollers.

When Raymond found out about those, he was able to get some. With excitement, he rolled some tracts, put them in these pretty rollers. As they passed people when they were traveling on trips, Raymond loved to carefully throw out a roller to them.

Boys and girls, you may not have brightly colored tract rollers, but you can neatly put a tract somewhere for someone to find it. It may be the very way God will use to save a soul. When a group began sending tracts by mail, Raymond would ride his bike there to help with this project.

Later on, there were youth tract meetings he really enjoyed. Church leaders inspired these youth to be actively serving the Lord. God was giving many opportunities to keep alive the spark he had put in Raymond's ten-year-old heart.

Next door neighbor Edith returned home from serving as a missionary nurse in Africa. Raymond felt an awe in his heart as she told stories and showed the relics and the contents of one battered suitcase. She told of using her cooking pot to cook food out on an open fire as she traveled to primitive clinics.

She even used this to sterilize needles and instruments she and her helpers needed. She had a recording of the African church leaders which she played on a reel-to-reel player. Her slide pictures brought wonder to Raymond.

He began helping her and going with her when she was asked to go to different churches to give her testimony of how God used her and others in his work in Africa. He helped her carry the heavy player and often ran it for her. His heart was excited about it all.

He found this so much fun. At Eshelman Hall, she and other missionaries would show their slides and Raymond always wanted to be there. There remained a tender heart in him towards the needy people he saw on these pictures.

God was faithful to keep alive that spark. Because he lived near a Christian high school, he was able to go through that school. Here, godly teachers continued shaping his life.

He wasn't usually a troublemaker, but when he did do some mischief, a stern look was enough to bring correction at home and in school. Respect for his parents and teachers was deeply drilled into his character. Along with other Christian school activities, Raymond helped with their young people's Christian association.

Groups went out to various places to share Jesus. He was asked to be in charge one Sunday afternoon at the county poorhouse. Here poor people and children were housed and most of such places were so bare and so ugly.

Raymond's tender heart hurt so much for these people as he taught Sunday school there that day. There seemed to be so little to bring happiness to the folks there. School days came to an end.

The Lord continued to keep alive the spark he had ignited in that ten year old heart. Years slipped by. Into Raymond's life came his lovely bride Reba.

And added years brought four children. Gifts from the Lord. Now boys and girls, this may not seem too interesting to you.

You like excitement. Maybe you like mysteries. Do you think living for Jesus can be exciting? Can living for Jesus have mysteries? Listen as I tell you more.

John was an ambitious young man who came to work in the area where Raymond's lived. He was really excited about this life of service for Jesus. That's the way Raymond felt too.

So they began Bible studies with John as teacher. Those times were so rich with blessings. The spark in Raymond's heart began to burn a bit brighter.

How would God lead? It was now 28 years since Raymond had sensed God's calling into tract work. But God had not forgotten. Remember I told you Raymond was fascinated with the street work of Ralph Palmer? A friend named Martin, who was a truck driver, wanted Sister Palmer to read onto tape her book she wrote about her husband's work.

He wanted to give this for truck drivers. So Martin asked Raymond to do this recording at his studio. As he did this recording in March of 1980, Raymond felt the Lord leading him to write something to put with the tapes of Sister Palmer.

Out of his wife's Bible he copied 101 sayings of Jesus, and had 1,000 of these printed. Some of these were put with Sister Palmer's tapes, and Martin and one of his trucker friends, Clay Rowland, took the rest. These two men were really excited about sharing Jesus with other truckers, so they gave 101 sayings of Jesus out to them.

We need more tracks, Raymond, they told him. I can't write, Raymond said. I only copied that one from Reba's Bible.

But we need more. Write something for the truckers, they coaxed. Raymond prayed.

God led him to write. Jesus said, You must be born again. He had used that material for a chapel service at his children's school.

Now he printed it up for the second track. Later that same year, Raymond's visited friends in South Carolina. These folks were working in prisons.

We need a track written especially for the prisoners, they told him. But I can't write. I copied the first one.

The second one was a chapel talk. Pray about it, Raymond. We need you to do this.

You must really pray with me, Raymond responded. And pray they did. The Lord gave Raymond the message for the third track.

Jesus said, If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. The Lord just kept leading until by 1985, Raymond had written a total of 20, Jesus said, tracks. And they were all printed in different colors.

The spark was now a glowing flame. In those first four years, a total of one million tracks were printed and given out. But in the fifth year alone, one million were distributed.

It was a good beginning. Boys and girls, do you think God uses things like songs we sing at home and at church to show us what God wants us to do? Raymond enjoyed singing. Especially did he love to sing the mission songs.

They were great songs. He didn't know what all they meant when he was a little boy. But as he grew and as the spark in his heart became stronger, the words became more meaningful.

One that he loved was, Speed away, speed away. Who needed to speed away? That was always a question in his young mind. Now the congregation where Raymond attends will sing this song for you.

What is the Savior's command? That the light of the gospel shine o'er every land. Glory forth in His name, as the gospel proclaims. Speed away, speed away.

Speed away. Speed away, speed away. Take the message of love.

Jesus, Lord and Lord, Lord of all, Father of all. First the Lord gave His own Son. To God on Calvary redemption was won.

Let His grace, what is day, Guide our progress, delay. Speed away, speed away. Speed away.

Speed away, speed away. Take the word that is right. To the nations in which Satan's kingdom is right.

For the Word is believed, and your faith will give peace. To the captives of Satan it will bring release. To the rest you may gaze.

There is no time to waste. Speed away, speed away. Speed away.

Now boys and girls, it takes money to print tracts and to make tapes. A Christian businessman explained to Raymond that if they incorporated into a non-profit organization, people could give donations and receive tax benefits. And this is what they did back in January 1, 1981.

Now here is one of God's mysteries. A young 20-year-old Christian man in Leonardtown, Maryland, which is south of Washington, D.C., called Raymond on the phone very early in the ministry. He had been so unhappy.

His folks beat him and were mean when they caught him reading the Bible. He was so heavy-hearted. What could he do? He went for a walk and met a strange man.

I'm in trouble. Can you help me? The young man asked. Call this number, 703-879-9430, and you'll get help, the man told him.

That was Raymond's number. The young man called and was comforted and encouraged by Raymond. Who was that man? How did he know Raymond's number so early in the ministry? Was he an angel? Surely it is God's mystery.

Do you think Raymond gets ugly phone calls? By 1995, his number has been on over 21 million tracks and at least 600,000 tapes. His number goes across seas on materials to many countries. Some call him collect from the other side of the world.

He has not received any ugly calls at all. Even the ones who disagreed were polite. God protects that phone.

Isn't that exciting? Several years after starting the tracks, Raymond found out that a large amount of money could be saved by having the folding done by volunteers. Then a board member gave the ministry a folding machine. After using it to fold several hundred thousand tracks, they just wouldn't go through it anymore.

Raymond was told the rollers needed to be cleaned. So he took it to a shop to have it done. After looking at it, the man said, this thing really does need cleaning.

Then as he took the front plate off, he asked in a puzzled tone, have you been folding tracks on this thing? He told Raymond the last person who cleaned it had put it together wrong. It was impossible for a piece of paper to go through this thing, he stated. Well, several hundred thousand tracks have gone through it anyway.

The amazed Raymond responded, that's the way the Lord works, doing the impossible. Isn't that exciting, boys and girls? The first response from a track came to Raymond in a phone call at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The call came from a man who had picked up a track left between the Salt and Pepper Shaker at a McDonald's in Covington, Virginia.

In several phone calls, Raymond was able to lead him to Christ, because someone was faithful to the Lord by obeying the Holy Spirit's urging to put a track there. Wasn't that a miracle? Someone gave a track to a woman working a tool booth on the Ohio Turnpike. She called for prayer several times.

She has been sent more tracks and tapes. Now she is on the road to spiritual victory. The Christian printer, who printed all the tracks for some years, began to run the tracks on his presses between other jobs or when he was not busy with other work.

He was able to store large quantities and kept them until the Lord sent the ministry money gifts to pay for them. Raymond and the board of directors agreed that they would not go into debt. If there was no money for postage, no tracks or tapes were sent, even though they were boxed ready to go.

These 20 tracks are now written in Spanish. Boys and girls, are any of you studying Spanish in school? If you want to have these to help you learn more Spanish, you may write for them. There is one track, Jesus Said You Must Be Born Again, that is translated into Arabic.

This is exciting because it was translated by a Christian Arab in the little town of Bethlehem. The Jews are still looking for the Messiah to come out of Bethlehem, which is now about 99% Arab. We know Jesus is the Messiah that they are looking for, and that he was born in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago.

Help us pray that the Jews will believe the words of this track, so they will really see Jesus as their Messiah. 5000 of this track have been sent to this Christian Arab, and now there is a church group up north of Nazareth in Israel that is reprinting these tracks, and we have word that they are available in every Arabic speaking country. Altogether, tracks are being printed in 9 languages so far.

Some have asked permission to translate tracks into their native languages. Boys and girls, have any of you read Pilgrim's Progress? John Bunyan, who wrote that book, had been living the life of a drunkard. God had a lady throw a track out of her kitchen window down to the street in the country of Spain.

John Bunyan read that track, which changed his life by its teachings, and he was saved. Every time you see this book or read it, remember it was a track that turned this sinner to Christ. Early in the work, Raymond put messages of various preachers on tapes to be able to supply Martin with tapes for the trackers.

Where would he get good tapes for the least amount of money? Boys and girls, when the Lord leads, it is so exciting to see what God will do. What will he do this time? Raymond heard that some of the United States government offices were throwing away cassette tapes, because they were going into floppy disks for computers. He went to the library where he found names and addresses of 100 different government agencies, and he wrote letters asking for those tapes.

Out of the ones who responded to that mailing was Tony. He worked in the Housing and Urban Development office in Washington, D.C. His superior, a very ungodly lady, saw that the letter came from a Christian. She called, Tony, this must be for you.

It's religious stuff, and you are religious. See what it is. Tony was a real born-again Christian and was leader of the Blood of the Lamb prayer group in D.C. This group of around 75 government employees skipped Thursday lunch to get together to pray and fellowship.

He was excited to learn of God's work needing tapes. When he called Raymond, they had a praise session together right on the phone. Then they planned to meet halfway for supper one evening, so Raymond could pick up several hundred discarded tapes.

Just think, gospel tapes made from government supplies. Over supper, Tony told Raymond about a friend of his who was involved in a gospel tent crusade in Johannesburg, South Africa, who certainly could use tracks. That tent held 34,000, and it was full and overflowing seven nights a week.

The prayer tent seated 5,000, where hungry souls were prayed for and counseled. Tony felt the tracks would be so helpful for follow-up work, so tracks were sent over there. Around this same time, Isabel Yoder of Heralds of Hope received a letter from a prison chaplain in Ghana who wanted literature.

Raymond was glad to prepare some tracks for him. People must really move around in Africa because letters keep coming from at least 23 African countries by now. Materials are boxed and sent to established ministries, preachers, and serious inquirers.

Let me tell you about the miracle box. When some pastor or ministry asked for Christian materials, Raymond, with volunteers, prepared boxes with tracks, tapes, and perhaps Bibles. The Lord led Raymond to ask at the post office for boxes.

That box was seven inches high, which was the exact height of the tracks. In that box went 1,100 tracks. The exact fit? How God was praised over that! Boys and girls, did you know God is interested even in the exact size boxes needed? When tapes were being sent, would this box be the right size? 135 cassettes fit in this same size box with no packing, all but a half inch in one corner.

Raymond said he always put a prayer in that half inch. Sometimes boxes with tapes were broken into. Cassette tapes are highly valued in some countries.

Raymond learned to put tapes in the middle and surround them with tracks. This worked better. It takes three to four months for these boxes to arrive by surface mail.

So, when we first get the request, each one who wrote was sent a packet by air mail to get there earlier to bring encouragement to them. This packet included one tape, 24 tracks, and a form letter, which added up exactly to six ounces, which cost $3.18. We still send these, but at times without a tape. Current cost is $3.50 postage for that packet.

Raymond thought it would be nice if the cost could be $3.16. Do you know why? Because John 3.16 is a salvation verse. The postmaster laughed, but said he had to follow the rules just like everyone else did. For some years, these miracle boxes were bought for 50 cents through the post office.

It is one of the supernatural ways God blessed the ministry. Then the Lord led Raymond to use shipping boxes his brother David had salvaged from a factory in Pennsylvania where he worked. This saved several thousand dollars.

God was doing it again. Though a bit different in size, the materials fit exactly. After some time, these boxes were no longer available, though.

Then the Lord provided boxes that were being thrown away at a local poultry plant. Again, these were the exact size for shipping tracks, New Testaments, Bibles, or tapes. But once again, the supply came to an end.

Raymond asked at a local box factory about the price of new boxes. Well, they would be between 80 and 90 cents each. That price seemed too high.

So he recently phoned another larger box company to ask about any overstocked or misprinted boxes. They sent a sample. Guess what? When it was packed with tracks, tapes, and New Testaments, even though the dimensions were different, again, the size was perfect.

He was able to buy 1,400 of these for about 9 cents each. He still called them his miracle boxes. At one time, loose literature could be mailed to Africa for $1.10 a pound, which was a good price.

But each box had to be mailed in its own M bag. But if the literature was books, it could go for 55 cents a pound. Boys and girls, one night God woke up Raymond with an idea.

What is a book? That day, he and the postmaster looked into the rule book. There it said to pass for a book, there must be eight or more pages, it must be fastened together, and have the general appearance of a book. Raymond bought heavy-duty hand staplers.

With one of these, he stapled straight down through a pack of tracks, not closing the staple on the other side. These passed as books. When over in Africa, the staple could be removed and the tracks could be given out.

A box of tracks weighing 44 pounds could be mailed for $24.50 instead of $45.10. Sometimes boxes come back from Africa because a person was not at that address. It is amazing what good condition these boxes still are in for all that distance traveled. I want to tell you more how God used Tony to witness for him.

You remember I told you he asked Raymond to send tracks to his friend who was involved with the Big Tent Crusade in Africa? Many accepted Jesus there and needed much help to grow in their new Christian lives. Jesus said tracks, along with others, were used to help them grow. Tony was really excited about Jesus said tracks.

He had a friend, Harold, who was working for a United States building contractor at an Air Force base in Izmir, Turkey. Do you know the name used in the Bible for Izmir in Turkey? It is Smyrna. That's one of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation.

Tony's friend was a Christian and was so glad to have Christian materials. He was not in the military, but received his mail through free military mail since he worked there. They were sent to Turkey for free by military mail.

However, the ministry had to pay postage to get them to New York City, but that was all. One box held New Testaments and he wondered what he could do with them in that Muslim country. But two weeks before he was to leave, he was going to go on a bus tour around the western part of Turkey.

Tourists from all over Turkey and other places were on this tour. What was there to see in Turkey? The Lord inspired Harold to give out 72 New Testaments and had the tourists to read about the seven churches mentioned in Revelation. He witnessed to all those on that tour.

Most did not know they were reading a forbidden book. Boys and girls, God does so many exciting things. These people may not ever have had a New Testament except in this way.

But there's more excitement coming. Someone from Tony's Bible study group had picked up one of the New Testaments Raymond had given. The very next day, that man received a letter from another friend who was a commanding officer in Beirut, Lebanon, saying a revival was breaking out among the marines there.

He was wishing he had spiritual helps to give them. He was in charge of these men and felt responsible for their souls. There were 1,200 marines in that airport compound all the time, but they took turns in three groups.

So in all, there were 3,600 with 2,400 men at all times on the ship anchored in the port there. This commanding officer was in charge of the men when they were on the ship. He was the one that one night gave his heart to the Lord and started telling other men about it.

Tony's friend in Washington, D.C., begged for materials to help these new Christians. Four days, now I said four days, after Raymond mailed boxes of tracts, tapes, and New Testaments at the Dayton, Virginia, post office, they were received on that ship. Again, after leaving New York City, they went free military air mail.

And this ship even had its own zip code. Who could think that the Lord would work this way? But boys and girls, a very sad thing happened sometime after that. There was a bombing of that airport and at least 251 of those marines were killed and many badly hurt.

Had some of them opened their hearts to accept Jesus because of the tracts and tapes and New Testaments? We hope so. Oh, how glad Raymond and his helpers were that God had arranged those things to be there at that time. Isn't that exciting? Later, Raymond heard that when the cleanup crews went in, they couldn't understand why there were so many cassettes around, most in ribbons or blown to bits.

Raymond watched for pictures of those happenings in news magazines, going over them with a magnifying glass, but he couldn't see any tapes. However, only God knows how these men were given their last chance to repent through these materials. Back in Africa, letters kept coming to ask for spiritual help.

Raymond felt led to send back a questionnaire to the most serious requests. Some of the questions asked were, How many do you have worshipping with you? Are there other Christian workers working with you? Do they have Bibles? If we could send you all the tracts you wanted, how many could you use? How do you use the cassette tapes? How many people listen? Out of 289 questionnaires sent, 211 returned with answers. We found out 1,251 pastors did not even have a Bible.

We found it impossible to fill all the requests. One had carefully figured he could use 721 tracts per week. Tape layers are much more available over there than one may think.

Battery-powered ones could be used where there was no electricity. However, individuals told of taking their tapes to places where there was a player. Even though the exact amounts could not be filled, materials were sent in large quantities to these 211.

Now, over the years, this number is down to about 100. But occasional boxes are sent as responses come reporting God's work there. Boys and girls, did you understand? There were pastors over there who do not have even a Bible themselves.

How many Bibles does your family have? Do you thank God you have enough Bibles? Are you learning some language besides English? We mentioned Spanish. Maybe some of you know other languages. In all African schools, along with their native language, they must learn English.

Most letters are well written in very polite English. When they want to wish you well, they will write, More grease to your elbows. When explaining that a car was being started, they write, The car was growling as it woke up.

Some write, I pray that your brook dry not. Meaning, may you have all your needs supplied. One wrote, I was almost going to give up because no man was willing to stand by me.

Even my people, whom I bank on, that is my parents, stood backwards. He meant they were against him for walking with the Lord. Boys and girls, you are so happy to be taught about Jesus.

Most of you have heard these stories since little. One rich man from Africa wrote he enjoyed what was written about Jesus and so much would like to go to see him. He asked to be told where Jesus lived.

Did he still live in Israel? He wanted his address and phone number so he could make arrangements to go. Raymond wrote back to him telling the story of Jesus to this very hungry man who knew so very little. Later, Raymond received a collect call from him from Africa.

He was glad to be able to help him more during those 20 minutes. Now wasn't that exciting? In Malawi, a Muslim who would not ever pick up a piece of Christian literature, bought some vegetables wrapped in pretty colored paper. It was a track that was torn up.

Someone probably wanted to be mean and tore up the Jesus said tracks. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but God used those torn tracks so that this Muslim would learn about Jesus. That's a real mystery how God uses the wrong someone may do to bring glory to him and good out of it.

This man had only a portion of the track, but the address was complete. Apparently, the few words he did have really stirred his curiosity over and over. Finally, he wrote so he could know what else the whole paper told about.

Tracks were sent to him after we received his letter. Did he become a believer? Only God knows. Boys and girls, you know machines are needed to duplicate or copy tapes.

Raymond started with a duplicator that copied one tape at a time. Then he was able to buy a machine that copied two at a time. Thousands of tapes were run on those two machines.

About 10 years ago, a gift to the ministry helped him buy two more machines that each copied three at a time. The Lord later directed him to buy a professional copier valued at $5,000 from a church in Washington, D.C., but he only had to pay $600 for it. Sometimes these machines need repairs.

The repairman offered to sell Raymond one that duplicated 11 tapes at one time, but he wanted $3,000 for it. Raymond told him he didn't have the money for it. Several months later when Raymond was there again, the man asked if the ministry could use this machine.

Of course we could use it, Raymond responded, but there still is no money for it. Take it along. I've come down to $1,500 for it, the man encouraged.

You can send me the money when you get it. Raymond hesitated because the ministry did not want debt. This time he felt an inner urge to go ahead, so he brought it home to the office.

And guess what? Next day in the mail was a check for $1,500. God had put it into someone's heart to send this gift for the Lord's work. The Lord knew about this excellent offer even before Raymond did.

The Lord did it again. Before Raymond bought that duplicator, it had run more than a million tapes, and since then more than 200,000 cassette tapes have been copied on it, and it has never needed major repairs and is still going well. Isn't God the miracle maker? The Lord has directed Raymond to various sources for the tapes.

He has been able to buy tens of thousands used tapes from a business in Canada. The tapes are scrapped by a university there, and a businessman gets them for the ministry. They are 90 minutes long, and 99% of them are good tapes.

They cost $0.065 each. The Lord arranges interesting ways to get them down from Canada. It's exciting just to wait to see what the Lord will do each time.

Raymond has a little parable about these tapes. Several of our supporters have collected and used discarded tapes. First, we give the tape a new birth experience by erasing the old life in the old message on it.

Next, we give the tape a right appearance by covering up the old label with a new one. Then we put an evangelistic message on the heart of the tape by recording a testimony, message, or music on it. The tape is then sent out into the world to preach the gospel to every preacher.

Let's go back to talking about tracts again. Last year in October of 94, a million tracts were printed in New Mexico and brought in by a Christian family free of charge. These were all shipped out by the 1st of February, 1995.

Then the ministry started looking towards buying another million. About that time, Raymond received a phone call from a person asking what the present needs were. Well, we just finished shipping the latest million tracts and hope soon to be able to buy another million.

How much does the million cost now? $9,500. Are you at the same address? Yes, the address is the same. Three days later, that man's check arrived enough to buy another million tracts.

Boys and girls, do you know how much a million tracts weigh? They weigh about four tons. That's about what two automobiles together would weigh. Now that the Lord provided money for the next million tracts, they were ordered again from New Mexico.

Now how would these get to the East? This looked to be a real problem and many prayers went up to the Lord. He had it all planned and when the time was right, He informed the printer to call saying that a family from Delaware was planning to pick up 2,000 Spanish hymnals in Fredericksburg, Virginia for them in New Mexico. They were willing to bring back the tracts.

Once again, the tracts were brought free of charge. The Lord did it again. Who said serving the Lord was dull? Raymond's friend Martin, who was so interested in tapes for truck drivers, died and is now with Jesus.

In the last few years, the demand for tapes for truck drivers has really picked up again. At one of the biggest truck stops in the world in New Mexico, the man who puts tapes there could use more than 1,000 a day. He also has requests from other stores and shops who want a box of tapes in their places.

We can't send him all that he could use. One night, Raymond was so tired he had had a big day. He had just fallen asleep when his phone rang.

It was midnight. A truck driver who had picked up some of the tapes in a truck stop in Georgia was at the local truck stop. Do you know what time it is? Raymond asked after hearing the request for tapes.

Yes, but I need tapes now. I promised several truckers I'd get tapes for them as I pass near you. I must get them so I'll have them when we get together in Pennsylvania.

So Raymond dressed, went to the office for tapes, and drove over to the nearby truck stop. And guess what? He and two other truckers had a time of Christian fellowship until 1.30 a.m. Over and over the Lord brings surprises. Do you like surprises? That was a real surprise for Raymond in the middle of the night.

Two years ago, a member of the staff met two Ethiopian evangelists at a local Bible conference. They were so pleased with the Jesus Said tracks. They wanted many of them.

Raymond mailed 10,000 as soon as he could over to them. Now people in Ethiopia are asking for tracks. We had never sent to Ethiopia before.

And missionaries from there are taking tracks to areas in the Islamic country of Sudan. For every letter received from Ethiopia, a box of 2,000 tracks with several New Testaments are being sent. At present, about 2 million tracks go out in one year and about 60,000 tapes.

The work continues to grow. The Lord brought that small spark he started in the tender heart of a 10-year-old to burn brightly in these 15 years, and it's still burning strong. The Raymond we have been talking about is Raymond Brunk, who is in charge of the track and tape ministry called Gospel Sunrise, Inc.

in Dayton, Virginia. Remember, if you are 10 years old, that's how old Brother Raymond was when he received his call from the Lord. If you would like to help with this ministry in any way, you can write to the address on the front of this tape.

Another song that made a strong impression on the young Raymond and still touches him deeply today is the song From Greenland's Icy Mountains. His congregation will sing it now. Listen closely to the words.

Goodbye for now from Aunt Martha. From Greenland's icy mountains From India's rural trends Where every sunny pasture Grows out their golden sand From many an ancient river From many a foamy plain They call her city river Clearer than from ever's chain What gold and spicy breezes Must open Greenland's eyes Though every prospect bleak And lonely that is far His praise will gladly shine For his proud colors show But even in his finest All's bound to wood and snow And greener so far by Where clear springs are so full of life Can we human be nice The land of life belongs Salvation, oh salvation The Lord most high proclaims Till each dream of desperation Has learned the means of What walketh in his glory And doeth he walketh for Still like a sea of glory His strength from old to old Till all our ransomed nations All have for sinners slain Redeemer, King, Creator Timeless returns to reign Boys and girls, we will complete this tape with other music. The birds in the night will howl Jesus saves, Jesus saves When the tidings of our crown Jesus saves, Jesus saves Faith in the cross awaits On her hips our Lord's proud hands Jesus saves, Jesus saves Once beyond the rolling tide Jesus saves, Jesus saves Down to death, heart and mind Jesus saves, Jesus saves King, he abides above the sea And for us, he doesn't care For us, he will give us a new life Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing our song, our song of pride Jesus saves, Jesus saves On earth, and in heaven's wide Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing it proudly through Sing in triumph for the true Jesus saves, Jesus saves Jesus saves, Jesus saves As the nations now rejoice Jesus saves, Jesus saves Shouts our praise, as bold and free Higher still, when Jesus came With our song of victory Jesus saves, Jesus saves Jesus loves me, this I know For the Bible tells me so There's no one student below They are weak, but he is strong The Bible tells me so Jesus loves me, he who dies Heaven's spirit through open wine He will wash away my sins Let his little child come in The Bible tells me so He's so good to me He's so good to me He's so good to me Praise his name Praise his name Praise, he's so good I need thee every hour Most gracious Lord No tender voice like thine Can this afford I need thee, oh I need thee Every hour I need thee Oh, bless me now, my Savior I come to thee I need thee every hour Stay thou near by Canstations lose their power When thou art near I need thee, oh I need thee Every hour I need thee Oh, bless me now, my Savior I come to thee I need thee every hour Most holy one Oh, make me thine indeed Thou blessed Son I need thee, oh I need thee Every hour I need thee Oh, bless me now, my Savior I come to thee I will bless the Lord at all times, this praise The humble shall with their arms be glad And the Lord with God in name together And deliver me from all my fear