God gives us faithful men and women to lead us and shape us in our journey towards Christ. A. Reid Jepson was a mentor of mine. If you do not have a mentor, find one.
By Mark Harris
The classroom was empty, but I was sure it would soon be full. A junior at Biola University, I was excited about my developing relationship with God and expecting the gospel of Jesus Christ to reach the world in my lifetime. A leader in the Student Missionary Union (SMU), I had arranged a prayer meeting to petition the Lord on some pressing missions concerns. I had invited a dear friend, Reverend A. Reid Jepson, a long time pastor and missionary with the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) and the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), to address the group. Reid had traveled many times behind the Iron Curtain and had dozens of examples of the powerful work of God in his life to share.
I had invited all of the active members of the SMU and many personal friends, selected the time and place to coordinate with their schedules, and even used my meager college income to buy a few refreshments. Reid had known my mother for years, had taught me many things about the Lord, and he was the most faithful Christian man I knew. Always punctual, he arrived about 20 minutes before the prayer meeting was to begin. I arranged and rearranged the chairs, the missions materials and the snacks, and we chatted as we waited.
The minutes ticked by and no one came. The time to begin grew closer and still no one came. The start time passed and still the room, except for us, was empty. At 15 minutes past the start, I began to grow angry with every passing moment. No one was coming. What was wrong with these people? Don’t they know that Reid Jepson is an amazing Christian leader? Didn’t they remember how many times I had invited them? Didn’t they care about spreading the gospel to non-Christians? Didn’t they know or care how humiliating this was to me?
Reverend Jepson saw the consternation in my eyes and heard it in my voice. “Mark”, he said, “Don’t be hard on your friends and don’t be hard on yourself. I have sponsored plenty of church meetings to which no one else came. This doesn’t mean that they are rejecting you and certainly doesn’t mean that they have given up on Christ, or even their dedication to missions. Keep steady in your faith. Let’s you and I just pray for missions together.” And so we did.
The servant of God
A few details about A. Reid Jepson’s life:
- Reid Jepson graduated from Nashua High School in Chickasaw County IA, in 1936.
- He worked for Far East Broadcasting Company
- His wife was Mary Grace
Reid traveled extensively in his pastoral and missionary work. For many years he bought his airline tickets at World Travel Bureau in Whittier, California, located next to the William Penn hotel. WTB was managed and later owned by William Shneider. Reid’s favorite travel agent was Shirley Harris, my mother.
In 1988, Reid Jepson sponsored me to go to Hong Kong and take Bibles into China. He always followed my life and my career, even when I was grown and married and we were separated by thousands of miles. He always prayed for me and my family, and sent me a book he had published including vignettes about his service to the Lord. I last visited his wife in the late 1990s. She said that he, though wracked by pain from metastatic cancer and struggling even to walk, had just left on a trip to preach the gospel at churches in Cuba. A. Reid Jepson went home to be with the Lord in 2002.
Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ is being spiritually transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. It is a lifelong process that begins at salvation, progresses daily and will only be completed in glory (Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13, 1 John 3:2). The cost of discipleship is high, for we must truly die to ourselves (Galatians 2:20). Disciples are sacrificial, relational and transformational. We must put service to the Lord before everything else. However, the rewards are far greater, for he will abide in us (John 15:7). Jesus spoke often about discipleship. He commanded us to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) and spoke at length about what that meant. He was honest about the blessings of discipleship (John 10:10) and about the cost (Luke 14:26-33, John 15:18).
Being Disciples
The book Growing True Disciples by George Barna lists several aspects of the nature of discipleship.
- 1. Disciples must be assured of their salvation by grace alone.
- 2. Disciples must learn and understand the principles of the Christian life.
- 3. Disciples must learn to obey God’s laws and commands.
- 4. Disciples must represent God in the world.
- 5. Disciples must serve other people.
- 6. Disciples must reproduce themselves in Christ.
A. Reid Jepson was a true disciple of Jesus Christ. By devoting his time and talents sacrificially to the Lord, by caring enough for me to invest in my life, and by letting me see the Spirit of God in him, he has helped me to be transformed even as he was. If anyone is interested in the life of a simple pastor, missionary and mentor, he is on the internet.
I appreciate and am blessed by this snap shot of my Dad’s ministry and influence. I did not always have a full appreciation for his tireless efforts to support and spread the work of the Lord. I thank the Lord often for the legacy of faith Dad left me and many others.
I enjoyed reading the article. Many memories of his visits to WV and listening to him share his faith to any one who would listen. Judy Boggess
As a seven-year-old, I was at The City Bible Center, founded by R. M. Maxwell, my father, Clyde L. Ferguson and two or three others, when Reid Jepson preached his first sermon in a former auto dealership at the corner of Virginia Street and Hale in Charleston. I was always in Sunday School and morning and evening services — we next met at 419 Broad Street, where the Bible Center was located until I left Charleston with my mother after she and Daddy were divorced. I have often thought of the lessons I learned at the Bible Center and they have an influence on my life today.
Alexander Reid Jepson was a miracle of God for my life. I met him on one of his missionary trips when he came to Cuba, in the city of Santiago in eastern Cuba. A man passionate about presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to lost souls. Even with his health broken by cancer, he did not stop doing what God entrusted in his hands. I was his assistant and guide on a mission trip to Guantanamo City, Cuba, where we visited several churches.
On the last trip he made to Cuba he was already very broken by cancer, but that did not stop him from doing his missionary work. Many times I had to offer him my hand in support and wait for him to take a breath to continue the march. He always tells me about his beloved wife.
It all started when he knew I was an art student, so he asked me to make a small portrait of him. One day he wrote to me and told me to keep the little portrait you made of me on the desk and I always remember you. Before Alexander left with the Lord he asked me a favor and told me….. I WANT YOUR FIRST CHILD TO HAVE MY NAME……. I remember a gift he gave me, it was a miniature Bible that could only be read with a microscope of 100 x, One of his projects to bring The Word of God to the communist countries of the former Soviet Union.
Impossible to forget that great man of God. One of my sons is named after him, so everyone at Casa knows who Alexander Reid Jepson was.
Thank you for your service to the Lord with Pastor Jepson, and for your wonderful testimony written here.