One of my heroes, George Verwer, died on Friday, 14th April.
I first came across George as a teenager, when I read a copy of Come, Live, Die! My brother Dave had picked it up on a book table somewhere or other. I was attracted to the radical call to discipleship and felt, probably judgmentally in retrospect, that I had not really come across people who lived like this.
I had felt God’s leading in my life to serve the Lord among the least reached since even before I truly trusted Christ (I would have travelled over land and sea to make a single proselyte, just like the Pharisees). But my perception of the missionaries I had come across was that they did not live as radically as I thought they should.
Reading Verwer was adding fuel to the fire. But I was reading others too. Francis Shaeffer (who had also had a positive influence on George and his friends in the early years) was also radical but in a way that, I felt, acknowledged our creatureliness more coherently. Imagine my confusion, then, when I heard George say that he had bought a pizza at a take away. Reading his books and listening to his messages on tape, had led me to believe that eating out would be overindulgent! Clearly my perception of the man and his radical discipleship needed some rethinking.
George Verwer grew up in New Jersey, not far from where my wife Becky also grew up. He came to Christ at a Billy Graham rally, after reading a John’s Gospel, sent to him by a local woman, Dorothea Clapp, who had been praying for the children at her son’s school. That story, and a few others, attained the status of origin myths for Operation Mobilisation, shaping the philosophy and identity of the movement, especially in its first few decades.
In honour of George, here are six words, in no coherent order, that come to my mind as I reflect on his life and especially his impact on me:
Encouragement
I first met George when I went on my first OM ‘summer campaign’ in 1982. Every now and then, I got the opportunity to meet up with him at conferences or when he visited Nepal. In the midst of his very busy schedule, he always had time for people, even young men of little importance like me. And that went on - my last email from him, in response to one from me, was a couple of weeks ago - just one word: 'praying'.
Discernment
George sometimes seemed to have an unusual spiritual insight. In 1989 he visited Nepal just after I had been arrested and ordered to leave the country. He must have sensed a note of pride in my telling of the story, as his response went something like this: “I guess the Lord didn’t think you were ready for a longer stay in jail.” Ouch. I think it was just what I needed.
Communication
George was never an expository preacher, but he was a gifted gut preacher: He walked with the Lord, so when he preached he unburdened what was on his heart from his meditation on Scripture and his interactions with people around the world. It was never deeply theological or closely argued, but it was always fresh, always earnest, always challenging. I appreciated that.
Passion
George had a lifelong passion to get the gospel to every individual on the planet. And there can be few who have had more impact especially in getting literature to those who have not previously heard or read about Jesus; it wouldn’t surprise me if over a billion pieces of gospel literature have gone out through George’s influence as well as many thousands of gospel workers.
Generosity
One thing I always appreciated about George is that he never clung onto anything. He was giving things away all the time. He discerned his co-workers’ gifts and made space for younger men and women to take over an aspect of the work. And when one of those younger or older men left OM to begin a new organisation, he encouraged them to flourish, rather than resent them or see them as a threat. There are literally hundreds of organisations, especially in India, that are led by former OMers and which have been helped to flourish through gifts of literature from George’s Special Projects ministry.
Sensitivity
George was not always easy to work with. One gets the impression that in the early days he expected too much from the young people who worked with him. But George was always ready to repent of his arrogance or insensitivity. The story told by Peter Conlan of their altercation on the Silk Road between Istanbul and Ankara is very moving:
It was 1968, we were both young men, and I was driving a VW van packed with the Verwer family and team. Everyone was tired, thirsty and hungry. George was impatient to keep pressing on. I eventually slammed the brakes on and shouted to George to get out. To the stunned amazement of the team George and I faced each other with clenched fists. I said to George, ‘go on, Christian leader, hit me!’ For a moment we glared at each other and I waited for impact. Then George began to shake, tears started to flow and his arms were wrapped around my shoulders. Brokenness at the foot of the cross is not only his message, it is his life. (“Incurable Fanatic, Unshakeable Friend” in Global Passion: Marking George Verwer’s Contribution to World Mission, ed. David Greenlee; Secunderabad, India: OM Books, 2003, 194). (“Incurable Fanatic, Unshakeable Friend” in Global Passion: Marking George Verwer’s Contribution to World Mission, ed. David Greenlee; Secunderabad, India: OM Books, 2003, 194).
How differently it could have turned out. And how much spiritual fruitfulness might have been lost if they had borne a grudge against one another.
I thank the Lord for the life of George Verwer. He has finished the race and is now enjoying the glorious face-to-face intimacy with his Saviour who bought him at such a price. And I pray that a small part of his mantle might rest on me and on all true disciples.
