Joe and Charlotte began to attend our church when I was the new pastor at Chapel in the Hills in Tucson many years ago. Although I had served on the staff of larger churches, this was the first time I was on my own after graduating from seminary.

I was pretty young to be leading a church. The church was small. A secretary came in one morning a week to print the Sunday bulletin. The church treasurer was a volunteer. Our attendance was small and our resources were limited.

Joe and Charlotte lived in the neighborhood and they actually attended a larger church across town. But they started coming to our Sunday evening services and to our mid-week Bible study. They were school teachers and loved kids. They had served with a ministry providing children’s Bible programs in rural areas of Arizona. And they rode a tandem-bike along the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans during two summers.

They offered to lead our first summer Vacation Bible School to reach children in the community. I was so thankful to have the help of this remarkable couple. They came with ideas and experience that were invaluable. VBS was a success and we met a number of new families in our area.

There is a similar couple in the Bible. Their names were Priscilla and Aquila and they worked with the Apostle Paul on a number of occasions. Paul said that they had actually risked their lives to help him. Later they started a church in their own home (Romans 16:3-5) and they provided solid Bible teaching to a budding evangelist named Apollos (Acts 18:26).

I believe God loves to bring older, seasoned people into our lives to help us in our career or ministry. Let me encourage you to watch for an Aquila or Priscilla who is willing to help you grow and learn. And be willing to use your knowledge and experience to be an Aquila or Pricilla to help others. You will be glad you did and they will too. 

You can find more stories and articles by Mark Hopper at his web site – letmarkencourageyou.com. His book with 365 stories and articles (one for each day of the year) is available for $25 which includes postage – contact him at markh@efreedb.org.