Sunday Chronicles #278. 12/26/21
(This story, which I wrote from information in the Assemblies of God Foreign Missions files, and posted Nov. 14, 2015, has been the most read of all the blogs. There is rarely a day that one or more readers doesn’t log on to it. It is truly a testament to our God who is not willing that any of His creation would be without the knowledge of His love.)
Jasper Toe stood on the beach at Garraway Bay, Liberia, looking out at the mighty Atlantic Ocean. At the direction of an inner voice, he had walked seven days from his inland village to get to this point.
Back in his home village, Jasper had faithfully followed the tribal animistic religious rituals, but something was lacking. At night he stood outside his hut and looked up into the star-studded sky. Surely, he thought, there must be a creator, but how could he know him? One night in December, as Jasper looked at the sky, his heart hunger reached a point of desperation and he cried out, “If there is a creator God, help me find you.”
Vivid instructions came to him: Go to Garraway Beach. You will see a big box on the water, with smoke coming out of it. (Jasper had never seen a steamship and didn’t know what one was.) A little box will come out of the big box, and the people in the little box will tell you who I am.
Jasper had followed those directions, and now he waited on the beach, scanning the horizon. He had never heard the name of Jesus, and he had no idea that day—Christmas Day, 1908—was a time of celebrating the birth of God’s Son on earth.
God had started preparing the answer to Jasper’s prayer about 10 years earlier when He called a young man named John Perkins, son of a devout Methodist lay minister, to go to Liberia as a missionary. In 1900 John and his young bride, along with a party of eight other missionaries, arrived in Liberia. However, the party was ill-fated. In the first three months malaria and tropical fevers reduced their number to two. John Perkins survived, but his young wife died.
Under difficult circumstances, John stayed in Liberia. In time he married Jessie Arms, a missionary serving with the Methodist Episcopal Church. While home on furlough in 1906, the Perkinses attended a Pentecostal meeting in Toronto, Canada, and were baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking tongues.
When the Perkinses were ready to return to Liberia, their missions board disapproved of their Pentecostal experience and withdrew their support. Believing that God would direct them, they went back to Liberia as faith missionaries in 1908, without the support of any missions society. Several other Pentecostal believers accompanied them to help in evangelizing Liberia.
While crossing the ocean, the group spent time in prayer seeking God’s guidance. John Perkins felt they should disembark at the coastal town of Garraway. However, Garraway was not a usual port of call, and the captain argued that going ashore there was too dangerous. The large ship could not get close to shore, and anyone going ashore would have to be transferred to a small boat. Also, the captain feared for their safety. “It’s cannibal country. People go in there and disappear,” he said.
However, the Holy Spirit’s direction to John was urgent: You must get off the ship here. This is where I want you to go. John told the captain, “We’ve been praying, and God has told us to get off here.”
Finally, the captain relented. He put the missionaries and their belongings in a small surf boat and sent them ashore, where Jasper waited to greet them with great joy. Using hand signals and a few words of tribal languages and broken English, Jasper communicated that the missionaries should follow him. Perkins’ earlier service in Liberia included language study that helped him communicate with Jasper.
Jasper led them back through the jungle to his village, where the missionaries learned his language and shared the Gospel. Jasper was their first convert. The Perkinses settled in Newaka, built a mission station, and opened a school. In a few months an outpouring of the Holy Spirit brought revival. Miraculous salvations and healings occurred. Young people, called to the ministry and trained by John Perkins, went to other villages to share the Gospel. Liberia was being evangelized.
In 1918, the Perkinses joined the newly-formed Assemblies of God. Jasper Toe became a leader in the Liberian Assemblies of God. H. B. Garlock, missionary and regional director for Africa at that time, described Jasper Toe as the godliest man he ever met.
The Perkinses ministered in Liberia until 1935, when age and health made it necessary for them to return to the United States. They shared their missionary vision in churches and homes until Mrs. Perkins’ death in 1941 and John’s in 1949.
On Christmas Day 2008, the Liberian Assemblies of God celebrated their 100th anniversary. They date their establishment from the day Jasper Toe waited on Garraway Beach to welcome missionaries from the floating box.
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Personal Notes: Today we stand on the brink of another year: 2022. We can say with the Prophet Samuel, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (1 Sam. 7:12). Knowing God’s faithfulness to His promises, I know He will not desert us now. We must continue to pray for His will to be done in our lives as we face this year’s challenges. Let us not forget to pray daily for those Christians who are suffering for their faith…some in prison; others hiding in caves until they can find a way to escape to safety. As for me personally, I still struggle to gain strength. I appreciate your prayers. Please pray especially for strength in my knees to help me get up and down. If you have prayer needs, you can send requests for prayer to me via Facebook or e-mail. Peace, jwb
Out of Church Tales 