Why Didn’t You Come Sooner?

Name: Why Didn’t You Come Sooner?
Brand: William Carey Library
SKU: 9780878080045
Price: 16.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Why Didn’t You Come Sooner? - MissionBooks.org

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by: Richard Varberg (Author)

Why Didn’t You Come Sooner? is an insightful and fascinating true life tale of 40 years of missionary service in the Philippines. Author Richard Varberg tells of his life through four decades adjusting to a new culture and climate, developing effective strategies for planting churches and equipping local pastors, while also maintaining his own relationship with Jesus Christ through many trials and triumphs. Mr. Varberg sailed to the Philippines with his wife Elenor and their three-month old son, Paul, in 1958, twelve years after the U.S. ceded its sovereignty over the region. With their Iowa farm behind, the Varbergs raised five children overseas (three of which are still serving as missionaries in the Philippines). Impacted by the title query posed by a father grieving over the possibility that his son died without Christ before the gospel reached their village, Mr. Varberg gained a new resolve early in his ministry and an unforgettable account on reaching the unreached. Masbate Baptist Bible College and more than one hundred churches founded through the Varbergs’ ministry continue today under Filipino leadership.

Endorsements

In a day of short-term commitments, these stories bring a needed emphasis on a life-long calling to become so immersed in another culture and language that its people are attracted to the One who did that for us all. Along the way there are delightful accounts of danger, stretched faith, and transformed lives.
J. Dudley WoodberryDean Emeritus and Senior Professor of Islamic Studies, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary
Veteran missionary Richard Varberg has collected powerful true stories gleaned from his forty years of front-line missionary work in the Philippines. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in missions, especially for those who are training for the missionary task. It is filled to the brim with keen insights that will help both younger and older missionaries to be more effective in their ministry.
Larry W. Caldwell, PhDacademic Dean and Professor of Missions, Asian Theological Seminary, Manila, Philippines
This book stirred my soul. Dick and Elenor Varberg are two of the finest missionaries I have ever known and the way God used them, protected them, is using their children and continuing to multiply their 40 years in the Philippines is phenomenal. I would love to see this book placed in the hands of tens of thousands of youth during the years they are considering their future. Eternity is at stake! I do not know how a person can better invest their life.
Bob Rickerpastor and author, former president of Baptist General Conference
Jesus told his followers to go into all the world with good news. The stories of going have inspired people since the book of Acts. I'm glad Richard Varberg as added his journey to the story.
John Ortbergpastor and author, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
Once I started, I could not stop reading this book of stories told by Dick Varberg. He shares instructive episodes from a forty-year career of advancing the gospel throughout the islands of the Philippines. You'll read of prison threats or worse, of dreams in the night in which Christ spoke directly, of tough-minded negotiations that settled disputes, of architectural and construction ingenuity, of harrowing trips in outrigger canoes, and always the hand of the Lord at work to save, to protect and to guide. Be ready to laugh aloud and to shed tears as you read of courage, hope, and transformation.
Leland Eliason, ThDExecutive Director and Provost, Bethel Seminary of Bethel University