God Opens Doors for Bill in Incredible Ways
A few months ago you read about Bill’s ministry at Fort Meade, now read how things happened behind the scenes.
Truly, God works in amazing ways. As Bill was traveling through eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter (who were visiting from California), he received a call on his cell phone on Friday from a chaplain at Fort Meade. He informed Bill he could speak on Sunday. Bill was previously told he would not be speaking for another month, so while he was traveling he did not have any prepared messages, notes, Bible, or appropriate clothes. The chaplain informed Bill that 95 per cent of the 700 people who attend his chapel service are African-American and would expect Bill to wear a suit and tie. Not wanting to lose this tremendous opportunity at Fort Meade, Bill accepted. Petty Officer First Class Joseph R. Ravitts, U.S.N. went on a mission to get Bill the needed clothes (suit, tie, shoes, and black socks).
The following account concerning this was written by
Petty Officer First Class Joseph R. Ravitts, U.S.N.
I work in a U.S. Navy technical facility at Fort Meade, Maryland, a base where all branches of the Armed Forces are represented. For several weeks, my wife, Mary, and I had been trying to set up a speaking appearance with Bill at one of the Army chapels. Circumstances which included changes in the arrangement of what chaplain was in charge of what place and holding a joint outreach kept the date in doubt for a long time. Then, an available time got finalized on short notice. We learned on a Friday that Bill would speak to an adult Sunday school group made up of military service members with their spouses and some grown children that were coming Sunday morning. He would also share his testimony for a large chapel service.
As an added complication, Bill was traveling light and didn’t have any clothes appropriate for any but the most casual of worship settings and the Sunday school group was used to a dressed-up, dignified worship service in the African-American tradition. On Saturday morning, therefore, armed with information a chaplain had obtained about Bill’s clothing sizes, I set out to find a secondhand store where I could buy him a suit.
The only local thrift shop with which I was already familiar (having been based at Fort Meade for less than a year) turned out to be closed; so, as a torrential rain began, I drove toward home to search the phone book for other possibilities. Partly due to the rain impairing my visibility, I missed an exit on the highway, and had to maneuver around to get back on my route. It was in the midst of this maneuvering that a Salvation Army store popped up right in front of me! The Salvation Army store provided a suit and shoes that exactly met our needs for Bill. God’s providence continued to be evident on Sunday morning, as the regular teacher (also going on short notice) kindly accommodated Bill taking the class. This teacher later remarked that the things Bill said were exactly what the people needed.
This initial engagement at Fort Meade was a flurry of struggling with details, but it opened the way for future military ministry to come there.
