| Article by Joel Hempel
Fish with What You Have When I was ten, my older brother Bill talked me into entering the Stark County Youth Fishing Fair in Ohio. At seventeen, he was already an accomplished fisherman. I had no interest in fishing. But, trusting my big brother, I let him sign me up. The rules for this fishing contest were simple: Use only a bamboo fishing pole and worms as bait. Standing around Crystal Park Pond with poles in hand were a couple hundred kids. At the sound of the horn, the fishing began. No sooner did my bobber hit the water when it was yanked downward by some mysterious force. Not knowing what was happening, I stood there! “Pull up!” My brother commanded. “What?” I didn’t know what he meant. Before I could figure out what was happening, Bill’s hands grasped mine, and with a sudden jerk, we (with only my hands touching the pole and his hands gripping mine), “I” caught a thirteen-and-a-half-inch Yellow Bullhead Catfish. After instructing me on how to take the fish off the hook and place it onto the stringer, I carried it down to the judge’s tent. And how did I do? Well, you are welcome to come over and see my second-place prize, a tacklebox minus the tackle I now use for tools. A couple of years ago, I taught a class called “This is My Faith Story.” The course intended to prepare the class to “fish for people,” or as St Peter put it, to “. . . always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope that is in you . . .” (1 Peter 3:15). Although I was the teacher, I was also a student with my fellow Glendalians. What did I learn? Well, just like I can’t fish for fish like my brother, when it comes to fishing for people, I am no Scott Jonas! I think it is absolutely wonderful that as Pastor Scott is fishing in the rehab pond (as he put it), he is so naturally outgoing and friendly that he knows the names of a dozen therapists and thirty fellow patients, and looks for ways to be and share the Gospel! Even though his left side is not yet what he and his therapists are working towards, he is ministering with what he has. I don’t know what I admire more, his outgoing nature, attitude, or courage. I’m just pleased he is who he is. And my guess is he would say the same about each of us. When fishing for people, God does not call us to be Scott Jonas. He needs us to be the gifted persons we are, to fish with what we have, and to trust he is working through us as we care for others in the name and with the love of Jesus. Pastor Scott is right; we can trust the Holy Spirit to do the work of evangelizing as we pray for opportunities to offer a gentle and respectful Gospel testimony. | 
