| Garrette
and Frances Bostick were commisioned in 1940 by Faith Temple of Jacksonville
to the work of the Blue Ridge Mountain Bible Mission in the poor rural
areas of western North Carolina. To encourage support and inform the membership
of Faith Temple concerning the success of the Mission, Garrette wrote letters
home. These letters were then published as articles in a religious newspaper
that was published by the church.
Garrette had often remarked
that he would like to turn these articles into a little book. The title
he envisioned for his book reflected the nature of the ministry to which
he was called; the ascription of authorship revealed a simple ambition:Fishing
From Mountain Streams by the Mountain Preacher. Garrette died on March
28, 1965—a Sunday, on the way home from preaching
at a church—and never saw this desire fulfilled.
Some years ago, Frances (my
grandmother) gathered up all the articles and passed them on to me as a
sort of legacy for the family. She told me of Garrette's desire merely
as an indication of his interest in writing, but it gave me an idea, and
this little book is the result. I sent an earlier copy to my grandmother
and she responded with this letter:
Thank
you so very much for the book you made from the articles Garrette wrote!
It came a few days ago.
I started
reading it right away. I could hardly see the print for crying. It brought
back such a flood of memories, some bad and some good. The bad memories
were because of the hard times we had then (they were really hard, believe
me!) I never like to stress that part of our life in the mountains though,
because it was worth it in the end. There are many in heaven now, who might
not have been there, because of us giving them the Gospel. Oh yes, they
probably would be there through someone, but we would have lost out on
the joy and the rewards.
If
I ask myself the question, "Was it worth it—the cold, and sickness and
no electric lights, no bathrooms, poor living conditions, etc.?" I can
always answer, "Yes, a thousand times, yes!"
Just
as a child is born into the world because of someone (the mother) suffering,
souls are born again because of Jesus' suffering—also the hardships that
many have to endure to reach those people—or so it seems to me.
Thanks
again for the work you must have put into getting the book together. I
know you did it as a labor of love to the Lord, and I know Garrette would
love it. I would that many could read it and their lives be touched in
some way.
This is a part of my family
history, my heritage. It is a window into my grandmother's life and work
as well as an account of Bible ministry in the Blue Ridge mountains in
the 1940s. It is also a bit of my spiritual legacy, because Granny has
had an influence on all of us grandchildren (she still prays for us regularly).
Psalm 92 says that "the righteous
will flourish like a palm tree" (v. 12) and that "they will still bear
fruit in old age" (v. 14). Whenever I read that, I always think of my Granny.
Her ministry has always borne fruit—and still
does. I offer this collected account of her early ministry with Garrette
in the hope that her story and work will continue to touch lives. |
