Linwood is an 11-year-old boy who is not yet a Jesus follower.
His grandmother has a burden for him and his parents, as they do not go to church regularly. She knows that if they turned their lives over to Jesus, it would radically change the environment of their homes and the life of Linwood.
And so she prays.
She was challenged with a question that many South Carolina Baptist churches are asking their people: “Who’s your one?” Who is that one person far from God but close to you? Who is that one that you would commit to pray for and share the love of Jesus with?
It didn’t take her long to write his name down.
Her prayer was for God to give him opportunities to be around strong Christian influences. As she prayed, God began to answer her prayer. She heard of a scholarship opportunity through the Janie Chapman Offering for State Missions to send her grandson to Camp McCall.
As he arrived at the camp, he was quickly drawn into a little boy’s paradise filled with waterfalls to explore, mountains to tame, zip lines to master, and a campfire fit for a chief. He listened to missionaries talk about their adventures and young men who told of their personal stories of how Jesus changed their lives. He watched their lives and noticed something different. Each night he hiked up the hill to a chapel where he heard about Jesus.
When the week was over, his grandmother went to pick him up. She watched him as he rushed to the car. He looked like a little boy again with no worries, stress, or adult problems to solve.
Linwood told her he had heard about Jesus and that he had not yet turned his life over to Him, but wanted to know about following Him. He then told her that he was challenged with the question, “Who’s Your One?” She asked him who his one was.
“My dad,” he said.
“Do you know who my one was?” she asked.
“Who?” he asked. She looked at him, and with tears in her eyes, said, “My one is you!”
Linwood wasn’t looking for the gospel, but the gospel came looking for him. If every life is going to be saturated with the hope of the gospel, it is going to take all of us working together through our relational connections to share. As we invest in offerings like the Janie Chapman offering and the Cooperative Program, lives like Linwood’s are impacted as well as those connected with him.
Who’s your one?