Berry Picking For Jesus
In the early years of our ministry we met a "mountain preacher," one of them that hunted down the moon-shiners, and their customers, and anyone else who ventured by the preacher's way. Now I know most would describe a mountain preacher as a six-foot three hell-fire, brimstone bellowing John the Baptist. But the mountain preacher we met was a five-foot Church of the Nazarene minister named Florence Walling. Florence and her husband Jess preached in the mountains of Davis Creek, West Virginia for many successful years.
Florence said when she first went to Davis Creek not many took a likening to her. Being a woman, a minister, and small of stature was not to her favor. She wasn't having good success adding to her congregation, until one day God spoke to her and changed her way of searching for the "new converts" that she had prayed for. Florence said late one evening she went out to her favorite berry patch to pick berries for some pies, but when she saw the patch she was disappointed. Others had been in before her and scarcely left enough for one pie. She picked all she could find, and then went back home. She said as she entered the kitchen and set her berries down, God spoke to her and told her to do a strange thing, to go back and pick the rest of the berries. Florence marched back to the patch, like the faithful solider she was, and gave another try. When she arrived it was just as before, but that didn't stop her, she began to get into the briers and the thistles and to lift up the berry bushes. When she did, she found the largest and the sweetest berries she had ever seen. As Florence began to pick the hidden berries God spoke to her and said, "These are the ones I am sending you to, the ones others have over-looked." The years passed and a great revival took place in Davis Creek, West Virginia many came, many that others had over-looked!
We were privileged to attend Florence's last revival. She was asked to return to Davis Creek to minister. As we came into the church a tall man with a pressed pair of bibbed-overalls walked down the aisle He had been made a deacon in the church when Florence was the pastor, still there, still a deacon, and still faithful, he was one that others had over-looked, you see he was one of the moon shiners Florence asked to come to church, no one else had ever asked him, they thought it would have been useless, but the "Berry Picker" for Jesus had not passed him by. Soon after the revival meeting in Davis Creek, West Virginia Sister Florence went home to be with Jesus. I can just imagine Florence going into her mansion with a beautiful berry pie on the table with a "thank you" note written by the Master's hand beside it.