Mort and Jenny Whitman are St Louis area missionaries serving with International Students, Inc (www.isionline.org) on the campus of the University of Missouri in St. Louis. They minister to the international “mission field” that have come to the USA as students. Past indications are that one of every four such students returns to his/her home country to become a national leader.
You will be warmly moved by a gripping story that Mort had experienced and shared on radio. It is titled … “Mort Whitman re Chinese Communist University professor healed of cancer saying ‘It must have been Jesus!’” … and is available for anytime listening by clicking on http://haroldhendrick.com/content/view/648/5/.
But in that same flow of conversation, we discovered impacting similarities about each other: (1) we were both converted to Christ as young men and (2) we both with through a bible memory effort called the Navigator Topical Memory System.
Sponsored by the Navigator ministry, the simple plan calls for memorizing selected short scripture passages … usually a verse or two at a time … related to a number of relevant topics faced by all of us. The plan urged us to “Review! Review! Review!” each short passage so that it became entrenched in our minds and hearts.
One of the first scriptures memorized focused on how a young man could cleanse his way … by taking heed, thinking about and obeying the word of God. “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119: 9, 11). In repeating this verse … as with all the others … over and over (“review, review, review”), it became fixed in our minds.
Saying them over and over resulted in the inevitable … meditation on the Word of God.
Mort and I agreed that this scripture memory impacted us for the remainder of our lives! The words of the word of God did then … and now … would flash in and through our minds for a half century now! It affects every decision, virtually every action … though neither of us is perfect … but planting our lives deeper and deeper on Jesus the Rock … and the word of God. No matter what came, we couldn’t get away from the simple but tremendous life-changing, life directing plan of God as expressed in His Word.
We couldn’t get away from its power.
And then upon my listening to the great radio preacher Chuck Swindol, he included a personal story of when he was in the U.S. Marines in Okinawa. He was introduced to and went through the Navigator Topical Memory System. Pastor Swindol had the same kind of report that Mort and I experienced… that the memorized word of God … and the accompanying meditation on it … has brought the three of us … and tens of thousands of others … to this very day.
Today all three of us are still impacted by the word of God … including scriptures learned and meditated on … from 50 years ago.
Learn more about the Navigators and their memory system and how you can take part at www.navigators.org. The Navigators was birthed by Dawson Trotman … and now I have a grandson named after him … Dawson Hendrick, son of David and Cortland Hendrick.
Mort and Jenny must raise their own support to continue in their important work. To donate, click on http://www.isionline.org/Donate/MortandJennyWhitman.aspx .
Recent unrest in the St. Louis, MO area has cost them their house. I urge you to help them, remembering that “…God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, in that you minister to the saints, and do minister.” (Hebrews 6:10)