Why Writing and Saving Letters is so Important
After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Exodus 17:14 NLT
Photo by Alexandr Popadin on Unsplash
After Uriah Smith married them in his home, my great-grandparents, George T. and Eva Kerr, served as medical missionaries on Africa’s Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, on October 3, 1895. The sacrifices they made during that time were tremendous, including burying two of their children. Through the generations, my family has treasured the personal letters that they sent back home to the States during those years. These letters serve as memorials of how God was with my grandparents in their struggles and triumphs as they spread the Gospel. They also remind us that, even in our lighter afflictions while spreading the Gospel, many others have suffered, struggled, and ultimately were overcome by the grace of God.
When my great-grandfather was in his late teens, he kept a journal. I was privileged to read it several years ago when I first became a literature evangelist. My great-grandfather wrote in his journal that he became a literature evangelist to get away from his family, but he ended up being converted. I found it interesting because, through the journal, he spoke of being converted over and over whenever he had a deeper revelation and experience with God. His journal was priceless to me when I began my literature evangelism ministry and serving Jesus. I have also experienced and continue to experience deeper and deeper conversion experiences.
I share this because we live in an age that no longer writes handwritten letters. Too often we text and delete, and nothing is preserved for future generations. Many of us keep up with social media, which is good, but it changes the context of our writing because our posts are public, not personal. There is a family from Texas that I have been friends with since my ministry there in the early 90s. They actually write their friends and me a personal Christmas letter. When I get their letter, usually each January, I will write them back a handwritten letter. Even though my handwriting is atrocious, I enjoy the nostalgia of writing an old-fashioned letter.
I hope that we all are keeping future generations in mind whenever we write, and make sure that our stories and testimonies are preserved to help encourage and strengthen those who follow us. My great-grandfather, George T. Kerr, had no way of knowing how greatly I would be encouraged by his handwritten experiences as a literature evangelist, when he was writing in his persoanl journal over a century later. Only in heaven will you realize how others have been blessed by your encouraging letters and notes as well.
