The Haystack Monument in Williamstown, Massachusetts
Good Morning, God!
Chance can led us in strange and unexpected ways, God. I recognized the name of the minister as we walked by her church in Williamstown. We met with her and she gave us a map to this monument!
Having been a “Congregationalist” since I married Kit I had heard the story of 5 young men back in 1806, praying together in a field when a thunderstorm came up. They took shelter under a haystack and during the storm they all committed to go “into all the World” to serve in the name of Jesus.
Hearing the story, I had smiled, God, thinking that it is easier to make such commitments to You when lightening is striking all around us. But, they kept that commitment and it lead to the establishing of The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission in 1810. Some of them went to India in 1812 and by 1820 missionaries came to Hawaii. All due to these young men — and Your Thunderstorm.
These missionaries came bringing the Good News of Your Love — and Literacy. They converted an oral language into a written one so that Literacy was almost universal in Hawaii by the 1850’s. It was quite remarkable!
Sigh, so many of us look back and judge them by our 21st Century standards. But, they were moved by Your Love and by Love of You.
And today? I vividly remember hearing the older women of Pohnpei sharing how hard it was BEFORE the missionaries came in the 1950s. The Good News brought by the missionaries changed the way men treated women — and each other. Those women were so thankful. Thank You, God, for reminding me to be thankful, too.
Story teller,
A Moment with God 
Leave a Reply