By NavStaff Lonnie Berger
(excerpted and adapted from his book Every Man A Warrior)
The coffee phenomenon of Starbucks had been born in Seattle. Arlyn and Hannah had watched, thinking it might be a new trend. They wanted to be on the ground floor of this new industry and so they moved to Omaha and started with a coffee kiosk inside the entrance of major shopping mall. By the mid 1990s Arlyn and Hannah’s new venture was a smashing success.
Although successful, they were aware their lives were void of true peace and purpose. Now in their 50s they decided to try church. Within six months they both gave their lives to Christ. About a year after this decision I met them and they agreed to join me in a discipleship Bible study. They threw themselves into the discipleship process with the same zeal that had started their business. Arlyn and Hannah had succeeded in the world and it had not brought them joy. Now spending time with Jesus, having Quiet Times and meditating on the Scripture was an exciting daily adventure.
As Arlyn and Hannah grew in their love for Christ, their lives dramatically changed, especially in how they viewed their 70-plus employees. Before Christ when a problem worker surfaced, the employee was promptly let go. Now Arlyn and Hannah, who knew the heartache of living without Christ, began to view each employee as an individual with the same emptiness. They began to pray daily for their staff to find Christ.
When it was discovered that one employee had a drug addiction, the couple paid for him to attend a rehab program. They promised his job would be there when he got out if he could stay clean.
Other workers with problems were called to the office, listened to and then Arlyn and Hannah would politely ask, “Would you be offended if we prayed for you?” Most of their employees were college students and somewhat bewildered being on their own for the first time. They welcomed prayer and many of them cried openly. Hannah was always there with her hugs. The workers and store managers witnessed the transformation of Arlyn and Hannah. Arlyn started opening their weekly business meetings in prayer and gave generous bonuses at Christmas. One major change was the Christmas party was no longer laden with booze.
Soon they began talking with their family and employees about how Christ had changed their lives. Their faith message was credible because Arlyn and Hannah had begun to model their Christian faith before they began to share. Arlyn and Hannah were happy; and they showed sincere love and compassion for their staff. Even though they demanded high ethical standards, their business was a fun place to work.
Over the next four years Arlyn and Hannah led two family members and four employees to Christ. Their love for God seemed to overflow to the people around them. Arlyn and Hannah beamed with joy, seeing God use their lives for something eternal.
Then it happened! Arlyn had not felt well in some time and was having severe headaches. An MRI revealed a rapidly growing tumor on the brain. Immediate surgery was needed and the test revealed what they had feared—it was malignant.
It had been just four years since Arlyn and Hannah had given their life to Christ. With their training in discipleship, they had consistently spent time in the Word and prayer. Their love for God had grown significantly—and it was clear they would need Him now since they were facing the fight of their lives.
The employees were deeply concerned and at the same time somewhat curious. Would the God that Arlyn and Hannah so openly talked about make a difference? For the next two years the employees watched intently as Arlyn fought his cancer, first enduring the chemo and then the radiation. Arlyn lost weight but never his smile. He joked with employees how his looks had improved after shaving his head bald because of the hair loss. He was still a joy to be around, even though they witnessed firsthand his pain and physical deterioration.
Soon Arlyn was in a care facility. His mind and speech had been unaffected and within a few weeks he had gotten the personal story of each of his nurses and caretakers. Once when we had our heads bowed closing in prayer, a young nurse came in. She was startled by our prayer posture and began to apologize. Arlyn just smiled, asked her to come in said, “Can we pray for you?” He already knew her story.
Arlyn took her hand and began to pray. He prayed for her, her little girl’s illness and her family to be reconciled. His heartfelt prayer touched her pain and the young woman began to weep. Arlyn continued to pray and in the next two to three minutes he prayed over every aspect of fear she was feeling. It was a kind and gracious act and I felt privileged to see God’s love flowing through Arlyn to her.
After six months at the care facility, Hannah planned a surprise birthday party for Arlyn. More than 60 people showed up. Most were employees from the coffee shops and others came from their church. It was a mixture of two extremely different groups of people all gathered around Arlyn. After cake and ice cream, one of the men from church asked if we could pray. We held hands; churched and un-churched alike and together bowed our heads praying for Arlyn. I had prayed many times with Arlyn and Hannah for the people working in their business. I was a bit concerned that they would feel uncomfortable holding hands with strangers and praying, so I looked up. To my surprise what I saw on the faces of these young people was a deep longing for truth. Most of them had their eyes open and were watching as people prayed. They had witnessed firsthand Arlyn’s coming to Christ, his changed character, his joy and hope in the midst of pain. It seemed that many were longing for this same peace.
A few months later Arlyn lost his fight with cancer and went home to the Lord. His coffee stores were all closed for the funeral. Fifty-some employees sat together at the back of the church, showing their love and respect for this man.
Arlyn and Hannah had instructed the pastor to share the Gospel message, which had so radically changed their lives. We all bowed our heads at the end of the sermon and were asked to raise our hands if we too, like Arlyn, wanted Jesus in our lives. Ten hands lifted at the back of the church.
Because of the way Arlyn had lived his new life in Christ, in his death, 10 new people came to Jesus and eternal life in Christ.
Arlyn and Hannah had been Christians for only eight years when he died, yet their lives touched many others and were responsible for some 16 people coming to Christ. They had learned to walk deeply with God, prayed constantly and loved people sincerely. Even though they had been Christians for a relatively short time, God had used them significantly for that which was eternal. Their lives had made a difference!
To read more stories like this or go through Lonnie Berger’s Discipleship course for men, visit his website at: www.everymanawarrior.com.
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Posted September 1, 2010, 7:29 am | No Comments »
Each Thursday morning, before he arrives at 6:30, a local restaurant has his tables set for his Scoutmaster’s Bible study. He takes time to share truths from the Bible with the waitresses.
