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Take - The Sojourners
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The Sojourners
Take
Lev 19:33-34
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. KJV
A sojourner is a traveler in a foreign land, a stranger, a temporary dweller. When we take a sojourn, we rest or take a stopover. On August 3 of the 2007 Pocket Full of Quarters’ journey, I took a three-day sojourn in Manchester, Tennessee. There I met The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner, Ron and Amanda Fuller.
I first heard from The Sojourner after he saw me on Arthelene Rippy’s television show, Home Keepers. The Sojourner was so excited. The calling of The Sojourner’s ministry is home churches. The vision is to set up churches in homes and to have the various home churches in each area occasionally meet together for events, socializing, and/or joint worship. The Sojourner himself is the pastor for three such fellowships or Pods. God gave The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner a vision for ministry that includes having Sojourners travel in RoadTreks to other areas for the purpose of evangelism and setting up home churches. When he heard my story, he could barely contain himself.
Immediately after watching the television show, The Sojourner wrote me an e-mail that was titled Praise the Lord. He said I was doing the vision and that he agreed with my husband that I was an apostle. He invited me to come to Manchester to share my story with the Sojourners and fellow pastors in the area. I prayed about it and immediately accepted.
Because of other ministry commitments, I only had a brief immediate window of time where it was possible to be in Manchester so The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner quickly went to work arranging the events.
I figured out ahead of time that God had great things planned for this brief sojourn because of how hard Satan worked to discourage and stop me from coming. If you read earlier stories, you know about the car trouble and other aggravating events that preceded my arrival in Manchester.
The kickoff to this sojourn began with dinner in the home of the Sojourners. Not wanting me to get lost, they met me on Friday night at the local KOA and I followed them over to their tiny 1 bedroom triplex. As I drove up, grazing deer in the field next door delighted me. I signed their guest book and we went back to the kitchen where Mrs. Sojourner prepared dinner as we got to know one another.
Tall and fun loving The Sojourner towers over everyone, always decked out in his brown or green safari clothes and hat. He is a storyteller who knows how to use the gift of gab to teach and inspire. His faith, varied life experiences, Biblical knowledge, and sense of humor hold audiences spellbound. He is sixty years old and the survivor of a heart attack, three strokes, and a stoning.
“I was stoned,” he joked and paused for effect. I stared at him startled, thinking immediately of the modern day interpretation of stoned, which means high on drugs.
“I always have to explain that,” he laughed. He went on to tell how a group of older teenagers stoned him when he was twelve.
“It left me blind in one eye,” he explained. “That’s why it seems as if I am staring at you. I was 12 years old when it happened. The doctors warned me that I was going to need a glass eye but God told me I wouldn’t. My mother had already picked out the eye but when the doctors operated, they were able to save the eye. It isn’t much use to me but at least it is my eye.” The Sojourner’s faith and positive attitude went back to his childhood.
Gentle quiet Mrs. Sojourner is petite, pretty, and looks like a teenager. “I’m thirty-five,” she insisted. “I wear my hair in a bun because when I wear it down, people think I’m a child.”
She smiled lovingly at her husband as she served him his meatloaf and vegetables. “He has a lot of allergies so I have to be very careful what I feed him.”
“I married a much younger woman,” The Sojourner explained. “We’ve been married 12 years. I was friends with her parents. I always disapproved of men marrying much younger women and no one was more surprised than I when God told me to marry her. We had never even dated so I thought I was crazy until God reminded me He told Hosea to marry a prostitute. (Hosea 1) Marrying Amanda certainly wasn’t as crazy as that.”
“Wait,” I said incredulously. “Are you telling me there had been no romance, no hand holding, no kissing? God just told you to marry her.”
“That’s right,” he smiled. “I was friends with her dad. I had been single for a long time. An extended illness cost me my nuclear family and much of my extended family because I was unable to work. God eventually restored my health but I didn’t expect to remarry. I had never even thought about her romantically until God gave me a heart for her. I fought the idea for six months thinking it certainly could not have been from God. God can be very convincing, however. I just went to her and told her that God said to marry her, once I was certain it was God’s plan for us.”
“Did you propose?” I asked. “Where you at least romantic about it? Did you say you loved her?”
“No,” he said. “I did love her by that time, but I just told her what God was leading me to do, fully expecting to be rejected.”
“Were you interested in him?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “Not at all.”
“What did she say?” I asked The Sojourner.
“At first, she just sat there and stared. Finally, she quietly said, ‘God told me the same thing.’ We were married nine weeks after we announced our engagement.”
They smiled at each other at my surprise. I could tell they’d told this story many times. Mrs. Sojourner said, “I warned him that I didn’t love him. I was only marrying him to be obedient to God. He was OK with that.”
“What on earth did your parents say?” I asked.
“They were understandably furious,” The Sojourner said. “I was twenty-five years older than her. Amanda was the first daughter to get married. She was only twenty-three and had been protected her entire life. She was raised in a very conservative Christian home.”
“Wow,” I said. “I can only imagine how they felt. Probably the only worse news she could have given them was that she was gay.”
The Sojourner laughed out loud. “You’re probably right about that. At first, her father refused to give her away but thankfully, he agreed just before the wedding.”
“Did you have a wedding and a white dress?” I asked. The Sojourner brought out the wedding pictures that showed a beaming Mrs. Sojourner in a beautiful long white dress.
“Well, obviously there is romance now. You two clearly love each other,” I said. I had noticed the tender touches and that they even finished each other’s sentences.
“It took me a little more than a year to realize I loved him,” Mrs. Sojourner said. “I don’t know why it took so long. He is the easiest man to love I know.” They smiled lovingly at each other.
“How are your parents now?” I asked. “Have they accepted Ron?”
“Yes,” The Sojourner said. “When Amanda gets off the phone with them, her mom says to tell Ron that they love him.”
The three of us talked until late into the night. We shared our testimonies and our ministry hopes and dreams. I heard about the Sojourner’s Fellowship Pods (Home Churches) and how The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner ministered together. They heard about the Pocket Full of Quarters’ journeys and my dream of others eventually going on the road.
“You have the same vision we do,” The Sojourner said. “God has told us to put people on the road. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because it is God’s vision.
“It’s so late,” I said, looking at the time. “I didn’t mean to keep you up so late.”
The Sojourners laughed. “We’re night owls. Three nights a week, I mentor a group of Christians in India. I’ve set up a chat room because when we tried to talk on the phone, I couldn’t understand them and the connections were not the best. They are setting up churches there and need help. We’ve gotten used to India’s time zone so we stay up late and sleep until noon.”
Saturday night, Monday noon, and Monday night is when their three local home churches normally meet. The Saturday night pod gave up their meeting time to allow me to speak. A friend offered a large vacant house as a meeting place. Someone else brought over a table and chairs for everyone. The Sojourners worked together to set up the sound system and helped me with my equipment. Other pastors and community members joined us for the event.
The group listened attentively for an hour, laughed in all the right places, and even asked questions. Afterward, they toured the RoadTrek and Belle begrudgingly put on a show with her tricks. I met a woman from England who had spent several years living in a camper as a missionary. I felt a little like I had found my people.
When everyone finally left, The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner insisted I return to their home for supper. Mrs. Sojourner had quickly learned my eating habits and prepared turkey sausages, cucumber and tomato salad, and string beans. I stayed until almost 1:00 am discussing our mutual ministries and making future plans. We ended the evening with prayer and communion.
On Sunday afternoon, we had lunch together and drove two hours to a worship service at the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The worship leaders for the service were Steve and Lisa Galiher. Steve is also the producer and occasionally hosts the national Praise the Lord Show. While Steve was leading in worship, I kept noticing he was making eye contact with me. Several times during the service, he said things that were the exact words the Sojourners and I had shared the night before. The Sojourner, Mrs. Sojourner and I turned to each other, smiled, and warmed to the affirmation of God.
After the service, Steve Galiher came down and greeted us. The Sojourner introduced me. “She’s an author and travels in a RoadTrek telling other people about God. I heard her on the Home Keepers show.”
“That’s it!” the pastor exclaimed. “I kept trying to figure out where I knew you from. I saw that show. Did you notice I was staring at you?”
“I did,” I laughed, pleased to be recognized. “I was impressed that you made such good eye contact.”
“How do I get a copy of your book?” he asked.
“I’ll go to the car and get you one right now,” I said. He didn’t have to ask me twice.
I ran out to the car and got both books and a card with a quarter. When I gave it to him, Steve thanked me and said, “I will be calling you.”
After the worship service, we stayed for a tour of the facility and watched a movie about the life of the apostle Paul. As I watched what Paul went through as a sojourner for Christ, I realized that my petty troubles getting to Manchester, Tennessee paled in comparison to sacrifices of the original apostles. I felt honored to be a sojourner for Christ.
On Monday morning, we met with a group of pastors for sharing and fellowship. I listened and learned from these men and women of God. I met a pastor who had spent time as a street evangelist in Puerto Rico. He and a group of other Christians had lived in their van and slept on the beach.
“When it rained, we’d sleep sitting up in the van,” he said. “Before we preached, we’d bath in the river and put on suits. No one knew we were homeless. ”
I whispered a prayer of thanks for my comfortable RoadTrek. I thought about Sojourner Jesus. He didn’t have a van to sleep in when it rained.
I left Monday afternoon spiritually renewed with a RoadTrek full of fresh fruits and vegetables, a rain jacket with the words “A Sojourner” embroidered on it, and a heart full of joy over a new friendship and ministry partner.
Over the course of the three days, we’d prayed together, quoted scripture, and ministered to each other. I’d met fellow sojourners and watched The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner as they ministered everywhere they went.
As I left, The Sojourner said, “Cheryle, you are a Sojourner now. We want to help you any way we can. You can use our affiliation in any way that helps you. Just let us know what we can do for you. You have the vision.”
The Sojourner and Mrs. Sojourner are quite a team! Together, they lead a powerful army for God. Twelve years ago they took the yoke of Jesus by marrying on faith. The seemingly hard yoke of starting out in a loveless marriage with a big age difference truly turned out to be easy, as the scripture promised. Now, deeply in love, they make life easier for each other and for sojourners like me.
(To learn more about the Sojourners ministry, visit their website at www.sojournershub.org )
(To see the Sojourners, go to the Photo Gallery and look for the files called Tennessee – Manchester – The Sojourners.)
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