The Holy Spirit gives gifts to all believers, and empowers all to serve (1 Corinthians 12:7,11; 1 Peter 4:10-11). No believer is insignificant. No God-given ministry is irrelevant.  No sacrifice for Christ is inconsequential.

Don McClure was a missionary in Eastern Africa from 1928 until 1977, when he was shot and killed by militants in eastern Ethiopia. While living in a particular village, he and his wife, Lyda, provided schooling and housing for boys. One year, they were expecting 80, but 150 appeared. They somehow managed to take in 120.

Among those who stayed was a boy named Orop, known for his completely flat head on top. Though eager, Orop was unable to learn. After a year of schooling, McClure told him not to come back so that another boy could take his place.

Orop was undeterred. He continued to come to the school and would stand outside at the windows. McClure told stories about Jesus to the boys, and then Orop would go and tell the stories to other boys in the village. However, he told them inaccurately, leading to confusion. The missionary had to intervene and forbid Orop from telling any more Bible stories!

In his biography about Don McClure, Charles Partee shares McClure’s own words about what he did next for Orop:^[1]

Finally, I told Orop that when I went out to a village to preach, he could carry God’s Book (my Bible) for me…Every day he was waiting for me as the sun came up and would carry God’s Book to the designated village and gather the people, who would be singing hymns when I arrived. Orop was serving the Lord in the only way he knew how. He was always faithful in his task and proud of his part in it.

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