George Verwer died over the weekend. He was small in physical stature, but bigger than a giant in his spiritual influence. If in fact the Kingdom of God is already in the world but not yet in all of its glorious fullness, and that is a fact; then George Verwer was one in whom the Kingdom of God was more fully present than in most of the rest of us. One proof of this truth is that there are those, maybe even many, who read these posts and have never heard of him–who he was and what he did.
I was in that group until 1991. I had moved to Waynesboro, Georgia where shortly after arriving I heard of a Christian Literature Distribution ministry that was one arm of a larger body known as Operation Mobilization that was located here in our town. My ears perked and my heart raced when I heard, “they sell really good Christian books at really good prices.” Sold. I made my way there. I met a man that day I found a little odd but we became and still are good friends. His name was Don who was clearly Dutch when he told me that his last name was “Veldboom.” I heard of George first from him. And I knew without asking the kind of influence that George had had on Don.
Don would call some months later to tell me that George would be in town and he wanted me to meet him. I asked if George might speak in our church. I met him. He was small physically, all over the map in his conversation, dressed in a jacket on which the map of the world covered front and back. He was as we say in the south, “nothing to look at,” and different in so many ways. I had read his personal history before he came, was eager to meet him, and was anticipating with genuine interest what he would say. What he said was not spectacular, no earth-shaking sermon with one exception: the One who formed and fashioned the earth had poured out His Spirit upon this man and into this man. It was so real and radical for me. I had never at that point been anywhere to do anything at all related to missions. I had no interest beyond giving money, offering prayers, and wondering why anybody with a good life here in the good ole USA would even dare to think about it. He was used of God to cause me to begin to think about it.
What made George so unique? What it was for me was simply that he could have acted as the special man he was as seen by others. He never did. He occupied a position of powerful influence, but to be around him would be never to know that simple fact. He walked in humility. Such humility that he was very open about the sins he battled and the struggles he faced. He was the epitome of what it means to be one who is pursuing holiness in the Lord, without which according to the writer of Hebrews no one will see the Lord. He was an extraordinarily anointed man of God who sought to live an ordinary life consumed by a passion for Jesus and an equal passion for those who needed Jesus. He trusted God fully. Until the end of this life. He is now home. His last video blog post was not about him, but about the need to reach the world with the Gospel until all have heard and have been given the opportunity to come to Jesus.
One more thing. This happened more than once, but I am going to end by telling you about one. I was going through a tough patch as a pastor. I showed up one Sunday morning at church not really wanting to be there. The phone rang. One of our men who had arrived before me answered. He turned to me and said, “some guy is on the phone and insists on talking to Pastor Al.” I took the phone, “Hello,” The response, “Hello Pastor Al, this is George. I was praying early this morning and God laid you on my heart with a heaviness so I called you just to pray for you for today,” and he prayed, wished me a good day and hung up. “Who was that?” my friend asked as he saw the tears in my eyes; “what’s wrong?” “Nothing,” I said; “it was George Verwer, but it sounded to me like the voice of Jesus.” That happened more than a few times. That is George. And that is how closely he walked with Jesus. He now walks with Him side by side. But I just wonder, from my times with George, if Jesus can even get a word in the conversation. I know the truth. He can, between the awe that George would sense in the majesty of the grace of God that would save a sinner like him. That is how he saw himself. He never got over the greatness and the grandeur of the grace of God in Jesus Christ that caused him to receive the gift of the daily indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. He lived every day “almost home.” He is now home. Praise be to God.