By PASTOR MARK HOPPER

Pastor Mark Hopper

I am a big Indiana Jones fan.  At the end of the the first movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, there is a scene where the Ark of the Covenant is packed into a wooden crate and wheeled into a huge warehouse.  It is clear that it will be lost and forgotten among the thousands of other similar crates stored there.

When my wife and I recently traveled overseas some of our luggage got lost.  Our flight from Lisbon to Moscow was delayed and we missed our connection in Milan.  Our luggage should have been transferred with us on the later flight but instead it ended up in “Lost and Found.”

When we finally got to Moscow, our luggage was still in Milan.  The Russian airline personnel assured us that our luggage would be sent to Moscow the next day.  Unfortunately, we were being driven to a city 200 miles away and could not wait for our luggage to arrive.

A few days later, we received an email informing us that our two lost pieces of luggage had arrived in Moscow and we could claim them at the airport when we returned to Moscow in about two weeks. Thankfully we had a document from Aeroflot Airlines that showed we did have two pieces of luggage in storage at the Moscow airport.  But, the airport is a big place and when we got back to Moscow, I went to a variety of offices and ticket counters trying to find the location of the Aeroflot Lost and Found.

Finally, at the end of a maze of hallways and corridors, I found a locked, steel door that said, “Lost and Found”.  When I rang the bell, a stern, uniformed attendant greeted me with suspicion.  She didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Russian.  But, when I showed her my document she allowed me to come in.

Behind her desk was a storage room filled from floor to ceiling with unclaimed suitcases, baby strollers and car seats.  I am convinced that if you have ever lost a child’s car seat, it is probably at the Lost and Found at the airport in Moscow.  There were dozens of them! The room looked like a scene right out of that Indiana Jones movie.

The stern woman actually was very helpful.  She pointed to the huge storage room and gestured to me to start looking for my lost bags.  It looked impossible. I expected that the luggage would be organized by flight numbers or by airlines.  Instead, suitcases were piled on the floor and on racks all over the room.  It was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. It would have been easy to give up hope, but I knew our bags were here somewhere.  The airline had sent us an email stating that our bags were here.  Finding them, however, was a challenge.

It is amazing how all luggage looks alike.  One of our bags was gray.  It seemed that most of the other bags in the room were gray, too.  But thankfully, my wife’s bag was bright pink.  We found it first. Now I knew that our bags were really here and I redoubled my effort to find the gray one, too.

After looking for almost half an hour, my new friend, the stern lady official pulled a gray suitcase out of a stack in a far corner with our names on it. Amazing; there it was!

This whole adventure reminded me of a passage on prayer in Matthew, Chapter 7: Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you. Seek and keep on seeking, and you will find.  Knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened for you.”

I am sure there many lessons that can be learned from this experience.  First, I recommend that you buy only bright colored suitcases in case they end up in a Lost and Found in a foreign country. Second, never give up.  When you face an impossible challenge, keep going.  Persistence and determination can pay off. Third, I believe God still answer prayers.  My wife and I prayed for a safe journey on our travels overseas.  And, we prayed that we would find the lost luggage, especially the bright pink one that was filled with gifts for our grandchildren.

Pastor Mark Hopper is from the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Ave. Sunday services are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. For more information, call (909) 594-7604 or visit http://www.efreedb.org.

BY PASTOR MARK HOPPER

Pastor Mark Hopper

When our children were young, we always read them a story or two before they went to bed.  So it is no surprise that our children do the same with their children.  Maybe it is a universal requirement.

Recently we enjoyed spending time with some of our grandchildren.  One of my jobs was to read a bedtime story to one of our grandsons.  He is 6-years old, and growing and learning so much. Instead of reading your typical nursery rhyme or children’s story book, we decided to read a fascinating biography about the life of a man called, “Uncle Cam”.  His parents have a number of these easy-to-read biographies about famous Christian leaders and missionaries.

Uncle Cam’s real name was Cameron Townsend.  He grew up on a small farm in Southern California in the early 1900s and eventually launched a world-wide organization called Wycliffe Bible Translators that helped rural and illiterate people to read and write.

In addition to his literacy work, his goal was to translate the Bible into the languages of these people so they could know about God’s love for them.  And, he wanted to improve their personal lives by teaching these people skills in agriculture and raising livestock.

One particular chapter really caught our attention.  When Uncle Cam was working among a group in rural Mexico in the 1930s, he received an unexpected surprise.  One day the President of Mexico actually came to visit him.  The President had heard of the good things that Uncle Cam was doing for these people and he wanted to come and see it for himself.

My grandson and I were so surprised and excited when we read this.  I’m sure that is a bedtime story that we will remember for a long time.

Pastor Mark Hopper is from the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Ave. Sunday services are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. For more information, call (909) 594-7604 or visit http://www.efreedb.org.

BY PASTOR MARK HOPPER

Pastor Mark Hopper

We don’t get a lot of rain in Southern California in the summer.  In fact, we usually don’t see a drop of rain between May and November.  We get most of our rain in the winter and spring.

On our recent trip to Central Europe, we experienced the exact opposite.  It rained day after day for a week.  The creeks were full and the hillsides were covered with lush green grass.  It looked like a picture postcard. We all enjoy a light drizzle or an evening shower, but this rain wouldn’t quit.  It rained hard for days.

The farmers may appreciate all the rain, but young grandchildren and visiting grandparents can get a little cabin fever after a week of rain. Usually we got out each day to walk or ride bikes to a local park.  It is fun to get out and the grandkids loved the play yard at the park.  But it was hard to go anywhere with rain every day.

One solution we found was to drive a few miles to a nearby town and go to the shopping mall. This provided a good alternative and got all of us out of the house.

One of the best things about this part of the world is enjoying the outdoors.  It can be cold and barren in the winter, but spring and summer are beautiful.  We love it and the grandkids do, too.

Whether you live in Southern California or Central Europe, rain and water are essential. In the Bible it says, “God has shown His kindness by giving us rain from heaven and crops in their season, providing us with plenty of food and filling our hearts with joy,” (Acts 14:17).

The rain and the weather are good reminders of how blessed we are to live and enjoy the world that God has made, even when it is more rain than we would like. I’m sure we all hope to see some more rain soon in Southern California.

Pastor Mark Hopper is from the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Ave. Sunday services are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. For more information, call (909) 594-7604 or visit http://www.efreedb.org.