A few months ago I received a letter from a gentleman
who had been connected with Crusaders for many decades. He informed
me that he had found a large number of previous annual reports and wondered
whether I’d be interested in receiving them. I accepted his offer
with great interest. When the reports arrived in the post a few days
later I quickly started to skim through them, keen to see how Crusaders
has changed and persevered over the years. One annual report really
caught my eye! The report reflected upon the year 1945 and Crusaders
survival of the 2nd World War. It proved to be one of the most inspiring
reports that I have read in a long time.
The opening paragraph was a bold declaration of God’s faithfulness…
“For the 2nd time in its history, the Crusaders Union has passed
through the test of war; and the 2nd test has proved more searching
than the first. In the war of 1914 – 1919 many Classes lost their
younger Leaders and their older Seniors at the call of King and country.
In this war, not only have Leaders and Seniors been removed, but compulsory
evacuations have caused entire Classes to melt away overnight; the claims
of National Defence have resulted in the commandeering of many Class
meeting-places, with little hope of finding suitable alternative accommodation;
and at times not a few of the Classes remaining have gathered quite
literally ‘under enemy fire’. YET through all these trials
God in Whom our confidence is fixed, has strengthened and sustained
us; and at the end of the European war the Crusaders Union not only
is still afloat, with colours flying, but once again is forging ahead.
The Crusaders Union Annual Report 1945 “
As I continued to read, I found one story after another demonstrating
the incredible courage and commitment of our leaders. One particularly
Crusader class ran in a seaside town on the South Coast. The group had
been running for 15 years when in September 1940 the Leaders decided
they had to close down as the Battle of Britain was beginning and all
local schools had been evacuated. Stoppage was only for 3 months; by
Christmas the class had re-opened in the house of a leader who lived
a short distance from the town. For 5 months things went well with a
small Sunday afternoon class. One Sunday, when the Crusaders arrived,
they found half the house missing and the rest shattered. The house
had sustained a direct hit from a high explosive bomb in the early morning
of that day. Undaunted the class moved to the house of another Leader,
and with the exception of one Sunday on which one of a stick of bombs
fell 20 yards from the new meeting place, where the afternoon was spent
cleaning up, the class met their ever since. 4 of the pass and present
meeting-places of the Class have been damaged by bombs during the was,
but, as the Leaders declare "The good hand of our God has been
upon us, and He has enabled us to carry on with a sturdy nucleus".
How could leaders keep leading under such circumstances? Why didn’t
they just give up or take a very long break? I think the answer lies
in the way they sized up God as opposed to sizing up the situation they
faced. They were able to keep going because they knew that God was for
them and as the Psalmist says
“He is faithful in all he does.” (Psalms 33:4 )
Friends, let me remind you today that GOD IS FAITHFUL. Whatever situation
we find ourselves in. Whatever difficulties we may be experiencing in
running our groups. God is faithful. He has promised to ‘meet
all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’
As we keep moving forward let encourage one another again that this
awesome God we serve is ‘able to keep us from falling’.
You can be confident today that “He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
A huge Amen to that!
