The first time I heard the name Luis Palau, I was driving around town listening to the Christian radio station, K-Love. Several times a day they feature a segment called, One Minute of Encouragement, where Preachers/Teachers share scripture and words of encouragement to everyone. For some reason, I’ve always found Luis Palau’s to be the most uplifting to me, so I was intrigued when I came across a story in Charisma magazine featuring him–“Latin America’s ‘Billy Graham’ Reflects on His Legacy as He Struggles With Stage 4 Cancer” by Joshua Olson.
In all honesty, I knew next to nothing about this amazing man of God, before I read this article. The beginning of his ministry is one of the most inspiring and hopeful that I believe I have ever read. This is what I discovered to be the most profound, here’s the excerpt from the piece:
“He vividly recalls the first person he ever led to the Lord. Palau was 18 years old and teaching a Sunday school class in Cordoba, Argentina, for 10 young boys. The quietest boy, Marcos, lived with his grandmother and came from a broken home. Palau confesses to this day he has no idea how Marcos came to church that Sunday, since his grandmother was not a Christian. But Marcos had questions for “Senor Palau,” and the young Sunday school teacher led him to pray the sinner’s prayer and accept Jesus in his heart.
About a week later, Palau received devastating news. Marcos had been riding his bicycle in the road and horsing around with a streetcar. His bike twisted beneath him and dragged him beneath the streetcar’s wheels. Marcos was killed.
“When he first received the Lord, I was so excited,” Palau says. “And the Lord took the little fellow home so quickly. But to me, it got into my blood: Once you experience leading people to eternal life, everything else is puny foolishness by comparison. … If you experience leading someone to the Lord, you don’t need anyone to kick you in the pants and tell you, ‘Go and do it.’ It comes from your DNA. It’s part of your life” (Olson, Joshua).
I had to read those words several times. So many emotions flooded my heart and mind. This is what I took away the most after reading those life-changing paragraphs:
Reflected in this article is the truth to the fact that God can take tragic circumstances, which occur to all of us, and use them as trajectory to not only save one man’s life, but possibly generation upon generation.
Doesn’t that give you the chills?! I cried in joy and awe as I thought of that grandmother–does she know that the death of her grandson potentially helped propel–through God first and the obedience Palau and his ministry team–an Evangelical Ministry, that since 1960, “have shared the gospel with an estimated 1 billion people in 48 countries” (Olson, Joshua).
God knew all the details of this encounter, and how, through obedience, many lives would be forever changed.
I am so glad that God knows the big picture of everything going on in my life and is willing, when I surrender to Him, to guide all of my steps and use me according to the plan He has for my life.
I am reminded that everything He brings me to, whether good or difficult, has a purpose and I may never know all the details. I do trust in God, because He does know the whole story.
Continue to use me today, God, in everything that may come my way. Give me Your wisdom, guidance, love, and provision so that I can help spread the Gospel of Jesus to all of those around me. Amen!!
All the Glory to God,
Shanon Crenshaw
Image of St. Augustine quote by @ahniart–Amy Kirk–“You are to pay special attention…”
Image of Jeremiah 29:11 by–Bible verse of the day. daily verses.net. https://dailyverses.net/jeremiah/29/11
K-Love radio station. One Minute of Encouragement. 13 September 2019. http://www.klove.com/ministry/1-minute-of-encouragement/
Olson, Joshua. “Latin America’s ‘Billy Graham’ Reflects on His Legacy as He Struggles With Stage 4 Cancer.” 1 July 2019. Web. 13 September 2019. https://www.charismanews.com/world/77006-on-fire-but-not-consumed
Heaven Sent Sentiments 