Seeds of Change
by Rich Cundall, InFaith Board of Trustees
One hundred years ago, the faithfulness of one man changed the trajectory of my family's lives. In 1911, InFaith missionary C.A. Fahlgren recognized that there had been no gospel presence in Saline County Kansas for several decades. So he knocked on the door of Charles Buck, the trustee of the local school. He had two questions for Charles, "Can I use this school for a Sunday School on Sunday mornings? And will you teach the Sunday School?" Charles Buck responded that he didn't even know how to pray! To which Fahlgren replied, "You teach the children and I'll do the praying."
Through teaching the Sunday School, Charles Buck realized that he was separated from God because of his sin and that Jesus was the only answer. C.A. Fahlgren lead Charles Buck to faith in Christ. Charles' wife and children, Carlton and Nita, soon followed and received Christ.
After a Christmas program one year—while riding home on the back of a horse-drawn sleigh—little 6-year-old Carlton said, "I'm going to be a preacher when I grow up." Everyone laughed. Nita said, "And I am going to be a missionary just like Mr. Fahlgren!"
Flash forward a few decades and we see that Carlton became the pastor of a large church in Eugene, Oregon, and Nita would marry and together with her husband serve with InFaith. She and her husband were responsible for starting over 100 Sunday Schools and planting over ten churches.
Nita's three children all entered the ministry—one a pastor's wife, one a founder of a large Christian school, and the other a missionary with InFaith for over forty years.
While the story of Charles Buck may not be significant to many, it is to me. Charles Buck was my great-grandfather. I am Nita's grandson. My uncle served with InFaith for decades. And the ministry in which I now serve became a church under the guidance of my grandfather.
A conservative estimate is that over 10,000 people have been added to Christ's kingdom because of the seemingly insignificant work of Mr. C.A. Falhgren—a humble, forgotten InFaith missionary who was used as a powerful servant of the Almighty God.
And if the truth were told, Mr. Fahlgren's faithfulness and God's mighty work has been repeated thousands of times over the last 200 years of our mission.
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Could God be calling you to be the next "C.A. Fahlgren", starting ripples of change that will affect generations to come here in the United States? If so, find out more about what it means to join InFaith. Or take the first step here.
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