THE POWER OF ONE
Harold & Sally Shank

Ruth and Mike were different. Ruth was a grandmother; Mike a student. Ruth was the daughter of a German woman who immigrated to Milwaukee; Mike grew up in the same southern town where his great-grandfather lived. Ruth clung to her family; Mike moved away from his. Most of Ruth’s relatives worked in the huge Milwaukee factories; many of Mike”s had been school teachers or professional people.

It”s doubtful that Ruth and Mike ever met. Yet what Mike did changed Ruth’s life because the Gospel travels through networks of human relationships. It moves from one person to another. While we may know the person who told us about Christ, we may have no idea who led our teacher to the Lord. Although we can name the person who learned about Christ through us, we may have little idea of our own “grandchildren” in Jesus. Even though Ruth and Mike are not aware of their relationship, we watched the Gospel travel from one to the other.

While a student in Milwaukee, Mike took his soiled jeans and dirty bedclothes to the Laundromat. As Mike loaded the washer, another young man named Tim put quarters in the dryer. As they sat on the purple plastic chairs, Tim noticed that Mike read from his Bible. Tim had questions. Maybe Mike had the answers. Mike was a Christian. Tim was searching. Soon the two were talking. The conversation wasn”t about soiled clothes, but about stained lives. As clothes cycled through the wash and rinse, Mike and Tim talked about life and Jesus.

A conversation that started while washing clothes led to a washing of Tim”s soul. After that first meeting, Mike and Tim studied again. Mike offered biblical answers to Tim’s difficult questions. Once Tim started on the Christian walk, he felt a need to tell others. Tim shared the Good News with his wife, Judy. Suspicious of what Tim had learned at the Laundromat, she resisted. He continued to teach her about the Christ of Scripture. One night, he baptized her in their bathtub.

Judy told her friend Audrey. Soon both Audrey and her son, Steve, came to church. Because of what they heard from Judy and then at church, they, too, became followers of Jesus. Steve started dating the girl who would become his wife. Christy not only fell in love with Steve, but with Jesus, too.

One night, Tim and Judy shared their new treasure with Greg. From their days in a rock band, Tim knew about Greg”s search for meaning in life. His investment in sex, drugs, and alcohol only landed him in a California rehabilitation hospital. Tim”s excitement about Christ touched Greg. One cold January morning, he went to the third floor or an office building where a young church rented facilities. Greg would recall that visit often.

“I sat on a broken folding chair, singing songs I didn’t know with people I’d never met, but I decided to return. There was something about the love in that room that drew me back.”

In the following weeks, an older Christian named Raymond befriended Greg. Raymond knew all about 2 Timothy 2:2, “what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” What Paul did to Timothy, Raymond did to Greg. What Timothy did to others, Greg did to his friends.

The first friend Greg touched was Jeanne. Her parents loved Greg but despised his faith. They encouraged the courtship, but discouraged church attendance. Rising early Sunday morning, they read the Bible before going off to church. It wasn”t long before Jeanne asked to be baptized.

While Greg worked with Jeanne, Tim and Judy moved to a lower flat. Two single girls, Carol and Sue, lived upstairs. Soon the back steps became well worn as the relationships among the four grew. Friendship lead to talk about Jesus. Carol followed Christ first. Later Sue took the same step.

Greg and Jeanne began talking to her family. When they told Jeanne”s brother, Tom, about Jesus, Tom called his sister-in-law, Vickie. Vickie passed it on to her mother, Caroline. Caroline and Vickie both embraced Christ and then started working with Tom. Tom was willing to be a conduit, but never became convinced that he should follow Jesus.

Meanwhile, Tim”s classes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee allowed him to meet other searching people. Just as he had gone to the Laundromat wondering about life, others took their questions to college. Tim wanted to be there for others just as Mike had been there for him. In one class, Tim met Angie. Two years before, her search led her to a cult group that practiced mind control and took all her money. Now she wanted out, but there didn”t seem to be any doors. Tim knew the way and helped Angie find freedom, not slavery, in Christ.

As Christ drew Angie out of the cult, she held on to the hand of her dear friend, Martha. Martha held on to her husband, Stan. Soon all three found relief and salvation in Christ. Martha”s mother, aghast at what the cult had done to her daughter, saw the healing that Christ brought to Martha”s life.

Martha”s mother was, you guessed it, Ruth.

Because Mike was willing to be used by God, a remarkable chain of events unfolded. Mike reached Tim. Tim touched Judy, Greg, Carol, Sue, and Angie. Through Judy, Christ came to Audrey, Steve and Christy. From Greg the line followed Jeanne to

Mary and Caroline. Angie linked with Martha, Stan, and Ruth. Fifteen people came to know Christ because one man was willing. A woman Mike would likely have never met, with whom he had almost nothing in common, came to Christ through the power of one.

The links in this chain were not forged in one week. The relationships in this network began long before Mike loaded up his dirty clothes. The domino effect of one man talking to another moved slow motion through a period of about six years. Not every story has ended on a positive note. Some on the chain have lost their love for Christ.

What Mike did that night in the laundromat continues to have its effect. Mike started a process that led Tim to Greg and that eventually led Greg to Raymond. About two years ago, Greg stood before the congregation as they selected him as one of their first two elders. From rock band to angel band. From high on drugs to high on Jesus. From following the scene of alcohol to leading the flock for Christ.

Paul to Timothy to Timothy”s convert to the next generations, and finally to us. From Mike to Tim to Greg. The Gospel travels through human networks. Each person in the chain is critical. The power of one makes a difference.

“The Power of One: Soul Mining” was originally published in 21st Century Christian (April 1995) 10-13.  Used by permission.