Story Power
UP A CREEK…WITH A PADDLE-WHEELER!
“Attempt something so impossible, it’s bound to fail unless God be in it.” Then tell the story. Enter this story at your own risk, a life-changing risk. June, 1908, missionaries Royal Dye, MD and his wife Eva captivated Oregon with tales of adventure in the Congo-heart of Africa. No trains reached the realm where they wanted to share the gospel. No toads could penetrate the croc-infested swamps. Hand-made, arm-powered dugouts were the only means of getting hundreds of miles upriver. Dr. and Mrs. Dye made a simple request at the 56th Oregon Christian Convention. The request was so great it was bound to fail…unless God be in it. Dr. Dye opened the morning session: “We need a steamboat to ply the great rivers of Africa. One can be built for a mere $15,000.” Considering a home in those days cost nearly $2,000, his request was, well, something so impossible it was bound to fail…unless God be in it.
Folks got together over lunch and simply talked…until a young Northwest Christian College student walked up and said, “I have a $150, let’s start the boat!” Like the youth who donated a “Happy Meal” at a Jesus’ event to feed 5,000, so student James Blood took a step of faith. People could feel the life-blood pumped into the convention. Eva Dye preached (!) the afternoon sermon. Thirty-two young people gave their lives to full time Christian Service. Then Davis Errett, uncle of the founder of the Christian Standard, Isaac Errett, told the great gathering about the young man’s faith. $2,132 was immediately pledged. Pastor Ritchey, of the nearby Newberg went throughout the state and received additional transfusions of cash.
Stories are tapestries weaving people together. Stories become participatory. Other states heard Oregon had raised $10,000. They joined in and supplied the rest. On the other side of the U.S., in Pittsburgh, the hull was laid, the decks were welded, the steam engine was installed just in time. 50,000 Disciples came together in Pittsburg in the fall of 1909 for the Centennial Convention. Thousands descended on the shipyard to christen the new boat, the “Oregon”. I don’t know if they broke a bottle of champagne over her bow, or Welch’s Communion juice, but the dream was now reality. The arteries of the Congo River could be reached to tell the simple story of Jesus. Never underestimate the power of story, especially if God be in it. The good ship “Oregon” inspired greater ships by larger states, the “Illinois” and “Missouri” teamed up and steamed up the Congo, bringing a message of Hope.
We rediscover ourselves as a faith movement in stories. The 2008 Oregon Christian Convention is retelling the story, re-encountering it and entering it anew. The original ship’s bell will ring the stories to life at the Convention.
Stories cause us to choose, to follow. We can’t be passive observers. We are called to be pioneers again. Author Barry Lopez tells us:
The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them (people). If the stories come to you, care for them, and learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves.