Dear Supporters, Brethren and Friends,
Part 1
I have put off writing this report multiple times. The temptation is to just provide information about the day-to-day activities in my work. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but I feel that wouldn’t be an honest reflection of what things have been like. I hesitate to be completely transparent because it might seem like it is a plea for help. It isn’t. It is just my effort to give an honest assessment of how I see this work and what has transpired since my last report. I believe you should know these things if you are to continue to share in this work with me.
Jeremiah says what I have been feeling lately…
Jeremiah 9:1–9 Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the desert a travelers’ lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. 3 They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord. 4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. 5 Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity. 6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the Lord. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people? 8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him. 9 Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
I in no way see myself in step with this great prophet who suffered more than I could ever imagine. However, he says what I feel. I have so many times wished that I could get away from these men. They are liars and are treacherous. I continue to be mocked, lied to, and disdained by them though I have loved them and sacrificed for them. I have not cheated or defrauded them. I have prayed for them and mourned their loss. For twenty years I have hoped that the next group would finally be different. I have excitedly waited for them to get out and be a part of something better, but it never happens. In recent months four men have had to leave the transition program due to lies and deceit. It is the same story, just different faces. Yes, just like in Jeremiah’s day, there are a few that are different, but they are very few. It seems one or two a year are all that really love what is right and good. The rest are as Jeremiah describes.
Part 2 – Jer. 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
I wrote the above part of my report a few weeks ago but couldn’t gather the courage to send it out. I worried that some might read it and see it simply as me complaining or seeking kudos for my plight. That was not my intent and if you read further, you will see why now I decided to send it.
Paul wrote many times stating his concern for his labor being in vain.
Galatians 4:11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
Philippians 2:16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
1 Thess. 3:5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
He also alluded to this in his letter to the Corinthians (3:10-15). I don’t think this means he regretted his work or was going to quit. It is simply a realistic evaluation of things. Much of my work is in vain, almost all of it. This story will explain…
Christian was baptized in May of 2023. I started meeting with him shortly before then. I have recorded that I met with him over sixty times one on one for a half hour to an hour in most cases, not including classes of mine that he attended and worshiping with him on most Sundays at Lawtey for over two and a half years. I attended his GED Graduation just a couple of months before his release. I picked him up the day of his release and worked with him in our transition program for about six months meeting many times one on one with him, worshipping with him at Middleburg and in classes. I don’t know how many hours I spent with Christian, but it was in vain. A few months ago, it became clear that Christian was involved in deceit and secret sin. He was asked to leave the transition program, and he moved back to where he lived before prison. This week he died of a drug overdose. He was 29 years old. He leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter and a child in the womb of the woman he was with. It is hard not to say as Paul said, my labor was in vain.
I pray that not all my work is in vain. I will continue to rejoice in the one or two yearly who love what is right and good.
Daryl Townsend