I just learned that Tony Campolo passed away. When I was a new believer in high school, I heard Tony speak a few times and was encouraged greatly by his enthusiasm for following Jesus. I ended up devouring many of his books. I remember being inspired to serve Christ with my whole life a few times when I heard him speak. One particular time, I remember accidentally stumbled into this music festival at Six Flags in Georga, and there he was, passionately pleading with the crowd to follow Jesus. It was a significant moment in my early Christian life.
During my freshman year in college at the University of Kentucky, I was discovering the power of prayer and had, for the first time, been writing out my prayers in a journal. It was always exciting to see how God would answer prayer and then be able to go back and fill in the journal exactly how God did it. (I recently found that journal and spent some time in it…Wow! Many of the prayers I prayed he answered 20 years later)!
I remember one prayer I wrote in that journal after hearing Tony speak was that he would be able to come to the University of Kentucky and speak on campus. I began praying about that. I believe I even made some basic attempts to see if I could play a part in bringing him there, but I didn’t get anywhere, and I soon let it go…but I continued to pray.
Fast forward to the last week of classes in my freshman year. It was finals week, and I was walking on campus and spotted a flyer on a board that advertised a speech by Dr. Tony Campolo in the Singletary Center on campus the very next week. I couldn’t believe it! Granted, it was an odd time to be having him, I thought, and I’m not sure it was adequately advertised, but it happened. I attended and was encouraged again by Tony, but most of all by a God who does cool stuff like that—meeting us where we are to show us His faithfulness in ways we can hear it.
-Gavin
Join simple/house/organic church friends from the region on Sunday, December 15 from 11-1 in Lexington for a Christmas Celebration gathering. Details here.
