Gus’s extraordinary service

“Wash his feet with your tears, and wipe them with the hairs of your head, for where extraordinary love has been experienced, extraordinary love ought to be the outgrowth, and extraordinary service ought to be the consequence.” 

— Charles Spurgeon

Gus sewing one of 500 parachutes

Gus G. is an ordinary man who has shown extraordinary service to the persecuted Church.

Originally from Saskatchewan, Gus and his wife spent several years as missionaries in northern Manitoba. They also ministered for three years in various native reservations. Today, Gus lives at a senior’s home in Alberta .

In our May 2011 newsletter, we invited readers to sew parachutes that are used to drop Christian materials over guerrilla-controlled regions in Colombia. With the pattern VOM provided in hand, Gus began sewing. A year later, he has completed approximately 500 parachutes!

Self-taught and 86 years old, Gus received a more efficient sewing machine, which has aided in his work. He continues making parachutes as well as special pouches to hold shortwave radios pre-tuned to Christian stations.

So why does Gus spend so much time and effort sewing? He told VOM’s Ingrid Hajen that it is a way he serves the Lord and that it keeps his mind and hands busy. He prays that God will use his efforts for His glory.

Gus with a bag of completed parachutes

We are thankful for and humbled by the many Christians across Canada who, like Gus, use their time and talents to glorify God by serving Him. For Gus, service comes by sewing. Others show extraordinary service by ordinary things like writing letters, organizing events, or interceding in prayer for persecuted Christians.

Through ordinary activities, the Lord is doing marvelous things (Psalm 98:1)! How can the extraordinary love that you have experienced through Christ be expressed through extraordinary service to our persecuted family?

Join Gus in making a difference for Christ in Colombia! For sewing instructions and a pattern to follow, click here.