Emad Agib Kaldas. His name appears twice in my materials at home. His name is in the July, 1996, edition of The Gideon Magazine in the section entitled "With The Lord." I also have his name on a photograph taken in 1987 at the Gideon International Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. The photograph shows him walking away from me. He is on his way to the open-air witness meeting being held that day.
I hosted Mr. Kaldas for lunch on Thursday of that week. I have never forgotten the experience, or the man, and have referred to him many times as I have spoken about the Gideon ministry. We stood in a Sheraton Hotel buffet line with the table spread with many kinds of food. As I prepared to pay for his lunch I noticed that he had only taken a banana and an orange. We sat down and talked and he told about his conversion as an Egyptian soldier during 1968/1969 while in the Sinai Peninsula. He described the difficulties of Christian evangelism and placement of scriptures in Egypt. As he described the problems faced in his country by Christians, we finished our lunch and he prepared to go down to the open-air witness.
I will always remember his voice and face. Tears were in his eyes and his voice was husky. Why? Because in his country he could not attend a public street meeting where the claims of Christianity were made and an invitation extended to onlookers to accept Christ as Savior. He told me that in his country he could not take tracts and Scriptures out into the streets and give them to people he would casually meet. The freedom to go out that day and publicly witness for his Lord was an opportunity that he was going to experience and enjoy and treasure in his memory. He was visibly moved. I have never forgotten that moment.
And now, ten conventions later, Emad Agib Kaldas has departed this life for a better home.
In that same Gideon magazine I also saw the name of Tommy Smith from Conway, Arkansas. I used to drive through Conway when I went to visit my father in northeastern Arkansas. I never met Tommy Smith, but I'm sure he too was a fine Christian. Tommy Smith and Emad Agib Kaldas both were transformed and transferred, compliments of the Lord of Hosts. Death is not the end, is it. Death is merely a change from what we are, to what we will become. Just like caterpillars becoming butterflies.
Caterpillars don't know that they will become butterflies. As boys, we used to collect caterpillars and there was never much that was impressive about them. They crawled and creeped and were hairy and ugly. When they were stepped on, they became squishy goo. I don't think any of us would want to live life as a caterpillar.
But, you know, within a caterpillar there beats the heart of a butterfly. Somewhere in that squishy goo, a signal is sent. At the right moment the caterpillar climbs, inch by inch by inch, high up onto a leaf and cements itself into position. And, then it dies - sort of. The air chills, the skin hardens, life ceases - sort of. A change starts to happen to that old squishy goo. What used to be is no more. Old things pass away, and all things are new. New structures, even a new personality, and wings too. Can you believe it! Wings yet! Hey mom, look I can fly! Well, not quite yet. First, the warm air of spring comes and that old hardened shell begins to crack as the "something" inside begins to flex its new body.
Can you imagine! The cocoon cracks a bit, and fresh air enters. A bit of a struggle, with a twist and a thrust, and this strange creature is soon drying off in the bright sunlight. And then the old caterpillar brain is saying, "What are these long antenna things on my head, and these heavy funny wing things on my chest." Soon, soaring on the winds of spring, the butterfly is enjoying a life totally different from the life of a caterpillar. Liberated and free, the crawling caterpillar has been transformed into a winged butterfly and has escaped into the heavens.
Well, I thought of Emad Agib Kaldas, Tommy Smith, Peter Pascoe, Phyllis La Plante and so many others who lately have passed from this life to another. The "caterpillar to butterfly" scenario is hardly fitting to describe the transformation of an earth-bound child of God to one of the King's redeemed. Just as it is impossible to be a caterpillar and comprehend life as a butterfly, so too we do not have the mental capacity to understand the riches of the glory of God and the eternal dwelling he has prepared for those who love Him and his appearing.
I'm afraid that we spend so much time accumulating stuff on this earth that we begin to act too much like caterpillars, always crawling around looking at the ground and eating too much dirt. My goodness, Lord Jesus, set me free and let me soar. Let my thoughts be your thoughts and let me know my destiny.
I hosted Mr. Kaldas for lunch on Thursday of that week. I have never forgotten the experience, or the man, and have referred to him many times as I have spoken about the Gideon ministry. We stood in a Sheraton Hotel buffet line with the table spread with many kinds of food. As I prepared to pay for his lunch I noticed that he had only taken a banana and an orange. We sat down and talked and he told about his conversion as an Egyptian soldier during 1968/1969 while in the Sinai Peninsula. He described the difficulties of Christian evangelism and placement of scriptures in Egypt. As he described the problems faced in his country by Christians, we finished our lunch and he prepared to go down to the open-air witness.
I will always remember his voice and face. Tears were in his eyes and his voice was husky. Why? Because in his country he could not attend a public street meeting where the claims of Christianity were made and an invitation extended to onlookers to accept Christ as Savior. He told me that in his country he could not take tracts and Scriptures out into the streets and give them to people he would casually meet. The freedom to go out that day and publicly witness for his Lord was an opportunity that he was going to experience and enjoy and treasure in his memory. He was visibly moved. I have never forgotten that moment.
And now, ten conventions later, Emad Agib Kaldas has departed this life for a better home.
In that same Gideon magazine I also saw the name of Tommy Smith from Conway, Arkansas. I used to drive through Conway when I went to visit my father in northeastern Arkansas. I never met Tommy Smith, but I'm sure he too was a fine Christian. Tommy Smith and Emad Agib Kaldas both were transformed and transferred, compliments of the Lord of Hosts. Death is not the end, is it. Death is merely a change from what we are, to what we will become. Just like caterpillars becoming butterflies.
Caterpillars don't know that they will become butterflies. As boys, we used to collect caterpillars and there was never much that was impressive about them. They crawled and creeped and were hairy and ugly. When they were stepped on, they became squishy goo. I don't think any of us would want to live life as a caterpillar.
But, you know, within a caterpillar there beats the heart of a butterfly. Somewhere in that squishy goo, a signal is sent. At the right moment the caterpillar climbs, inch by inch by inch, high up onto a leaf and cements itself into position. And, then it dies - sort of. The air chills, the skin hardens, life ceases - sort of. A change starts to happen to that old squishy goo. What used to be is no more. Old things pass away, and all things are new. New structures, even a new personality, and wings too. Can you believe it! Wings yet! Hey mom, look I can fly! Well, not quite yet. First, the warm air of spring comes and that old hardened shell begins to crack as the "something" inside begins to flex its new body.
Can you imagine! The cocoon cracks a bit, and fresh air enters. A bit of a struggle, with a twist and a thrust, and this strange creature is soon drying off in the bright sunlight. And then the old caterpillar brain is saying, "What are these long antenna things on my head, and these heavy funny wing things on my chest." Soon, soaring on the winds of spring, the butterfly is enjoying a life totally different from the life of a caterpillar. Liberated and free, the crawling caterpillar has been transformed into a winged butterfly and has escaped into the heavens.
Well, I thought of Emad Agib Kaldas, Tommy Smith, Peter Pascoe, Phyllis La Plante and so many others who lately have passed from this life to another. The "caterpillar to butterfly" scenario is hardly fitting to describe the transformation of an earth-bound child of God to one of the King's redeemed. Just as it is impossible to be a caterpillar and comprehend life as a butterfly, so too we do not have the mental capacity to understand the riches of the glory of God and the eternal dwelling he has prepared for those who love Him and his appearing.
I'm afraid that we spend so much time accumulating stuff on this earth that we begin to act too much like caterpillars, always crawling around looking at the ground and eating too much dirt. My goodness, Lord Jesus, set me free and let me soar. Let my thoughts be your thoughts and let me know my destiny.
You know folks, there will come a moment in time, whether at death or when Jesus returns, that our bodies are going to do something very strange. We are not that much different from the caterpillar. We are kind of squishy and gooey too, when you think about it. And, somewhere within each of us, a transformation will soon take place. Paul says "we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye." None of this winter to spring business cooped up in a cocoon. Instantly, at once, now, presto, pronto! I like to repeat what John said on the isle of Patmos as he closed his final book, "Even So Come Lord Jesus."
I am ready to go home, aren't you?
I am ready to go home, aren't you?
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