When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a garbage man...

LOGOI
4 hours ago
3 min read

They were big and strong and looked so cool riding on the back of that strange looking truck. Like superheroes, they’d jump off and land with their feet running before the truck would stop. Then, they’d grab a big metal trash can filled with who-knows-what and fling the contents into the back of the truck as if it were light as a feather.

Sometimes they’d grab a big heavy plastic black bag and toss it from 50 feet away (or maybe it was just five feet) into the back of the truck. Then, while I was still gasping at their amazing physical strength, the truck would start moving again and they’d jump back on the back of the truck like ninjas and zoom away to the next house.

Things are a lot different today with fancy new trucks and robot arms doing most of the work. I understand there are certain areas where my childhood heroes are still at work and wowing little boys with their feats of strength.

Missionaries used to be our “heroes,” too. They were off in exotic lands with strange people and huge obstacles to overcome. They required skills and ingenuity like Indiana Jones. Every other year or so they’d come to your church and tell their amazing stories complete with fancy wardrobes, slideshows, and show-and-tell objects from their adventures.

The primary way you’d hear about them was at your church’s mission conference, which were highlights of the year. For some of you reading this letter, it was the missions conference at your church where you first heard of LOGOI. You may have even heard my dad speak or maybe even heard the Thompson family sing in our matching red coats.

Today, you can have your very own “mission conference” in the comfort of your living room as you read online stories and watch missionary related videos. At LOGOI, we provide a succinct report with our monthly Missionary of the Month updates designed to help you “see” who our missionary heroes are and how God is using them right now today.

Since LOGOI’s founding back in the 1960s, our purpose has been to help “equip God’s [Spanish speaking] people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). To accomplish this purpose, local pastors and teaching leaders were invited to attend pastor conferences where they would receive on-the-job Bible training designed to help them proclaim the Gospel in their churches and communities. We’d leave them with printed Bible courses and resources they would use throughout the year. It was a beautiful part of our ministry that helped establish LOGOI as a Bible equipping ministry local pastors could trust.

Today, the only thing that has changed is our delivery system. My father needed printed books, airplanes, and long extended travels to reach, help, and encourage local pastors. It was an expensive and time-consuming effort where my father often traveled more than half the year. Today, the internet has enabled us to provide the same ministry to pastors and leaders at a fraction of the cost. It has also opened the door for tens of thousands more to study God’s Word. My father would be absolutely thrilled.

I read a report that said that switching to automated garbage truck collection is saving an average of $16,000 per year, per truck. Back in my father’s day, it cost some $300 per year to train and equip one pastor. Today, our cost is closer to $30 per year. Not bad.

I tend to be nostalgic and miss the “good ol’ days.” I can picture those strong men jumping off the garbage truck and tossing bags. I can also picture my father boarding an airplane and heading to South America with boxes full of Bible courses and materials. I’m smiling thinking of how they excelled in their time with all that was available to them. May the Lord encourage us to do the same with the time, technology, and opportunities available to us as we serve Him."

"Forever,"