A friend in our neighborhood told us that her sister lived in London so we arranged to go to church with Peggy and Andrew on Palm Sunday. It would take quite a while to share the journey Susan and I took on the red double-decker buses to get to the right section of London – which we discovered to be a huge city. Then, after sitting through a service, God sent a special servant to reveal we were in the wrong church. She gladly escorted us a few blocks to the correct location and we made a happy connection with new friends.
After a wonderful English meal at their home, Andrew shared a bit about their lives. Andrew’s family was Jewish and moved to London from Hungary when he was a boy. As a teenager in the late 60′s, Andrew was interested in Christianity but wanted to find out if it worked. “I decided I would give a church a period of time to determine if this Christianity made a visible difference in lives. I would go to the same church several months before making a decision. Sadly, I found no notable difference that made me say, ‘That’s the life I want! I’m going to become a Christian!’ I remember attending one church for nine months. The preaching was great and the singing was great, but never once, in all nine months, did a single person speak to me. I heard about a place in Switzerland and said to myself, ‘If I don’t find something real there, I’m ending my investigation of Christianity.’”
At the same time, Peggy, a child of American missionaries in Iran, was on her own quest. “I just had tons of questions. And though my parents were strong Christians, I could not get satisfactory answers. I was not alone in my generation. We wanted real answers… not rhetoric. So I joined scores of other young people who went to this haven in the Swiss Alps to seek truth.”
This haven was called L’Abri, which means ‘the shelter’, and a family named Schaeffer simply opened up their home to young people seeking answers. Andrew said, “You’ve got to realize that many of these kids were rebellious youth impacted by the revolutionary thinking and living of the hippie movement. But Mr. Schaeffer would let a kid say anything and ask any question. Often, the beginning of the dialogue was anti-God, anti-establishment, and full of disrespect. But once Mr. Schaeffer started talking, the hardest of hearts would melt at the simple truths that speak to our deepest needs. Francis and Edith Schaffer were patient, kind, and loving. And he was a great teacher.”
“So,” I asked, “Was it the teaching of Francis Schaeffer that made you want to become a Christian?” “Oh no,” Andrew replied, “I heard good teaching in many of the churches I attended. I was searching for something that worked in a person’s life. What influenced me the three months I lived at L’Abri were the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer and their children. This family lived out what Jesus was all about. They opened their homes, they lived sacrificially, and they laid down their lives for people they didn’t even know. That’s what influenced me.”
That was also what influenced Peggy, who found Christians unafraid to tackle her toughest questions. Andrew and Peggy met at L’Abri, married a short time later, and for almost forty years have lived out the same type of lives in London that they witnessed in Switzerland. Their home is always open for brothers and sisters in Christ and for seekers of truth. Another couple also joined us for lunch on Palm Sunday. Connie is a science teacher from the West African country of Ghana. She had recently been baptized as a result of studying the Bible in a group led by Peggy. Her husband, Richard, is a graduate of the prestigious Oxford University, but is not a Christian. Maybe one day he’ll also find Jesus to be the answer we’re all searching for.
How beautiful is the Body of Christ!
“Let us live up to what we’ve already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Philippians 3:16-17