And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
By Beverly Lomosad
The life of Bill Wilson, the founder of the world’s largest children’s ministry, Metro World Child, is only a fraction of the story told without Dave Rudenis in it. The two crossed paths on July 14, 1960 in what could only be a divine connection. Bill was 12 years old when Dave, an auto mechanic who liked to race cars and served in his church as a deacon, found him. That day had been the third-straight that Bill sat on the exact same spot where his alcoholic mother had dropped him off and said: “You wait here. I will be back.” She never did come back. Dave was on his way to see his son, who was in hospital with leukemia, when Bill caught his attention. He stopped and asked the boy if he could help.
“I’m just hungry,” Bill replied. Dave fed Bill, took him home, then later arranged for him to attend a church-run summer youth camp. And that’s where Bill first heard the story of Jesus Christ and committed his life to Him. Bill went on to earn a degree in theology and carve a path in Christian ministry. In 1980, he founded Metro World Child, which currently reaches more than 250,000 children every week in 13 countries through Sunday School classes, personal visits, and mentorship programs.
To this day, Bill keeps his memory afresh of the day when he first met Dave. Each year, he goes back to and visits that street corner in Florida’s Pinellas Park, the exact spot where his mother had abandoned him, where Dave had rescued him. That’s where, he said, his life changed forever.
At 17 years old, Joseph also felt the weight of the world fell upon him when his own brothers threw him into a pit in a plot to kill him. They only spared his life after seeing an approaching caravan of slave merchants and sold him into slavery in a last-minute change of the murder plan (Genesis 37). But God was with Joseph (Genesis 39:2, Genesis 39:23). And in the unfolding of God’s grace, Joseph rose to become the Pharaoh’s second-in-command 13 years after arriving in Egypt as a slave (Genesis 41:41). In the pinnacle of his triumph, Joseph said what pretty much summed up his life story: God had turned into good the evil meant to harm him (Genesis 50:20). God knows how to make everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
CALL TO ACTION
A life with God starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
- PRAY OUT LOUD: “Father in heaven, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Amen.”
- WHAT’S NEXT: Be part of a good, Bible-based church.