never underestimate your sphere of influence

Imagine if right now, somebody that you have never met was being influenced by the things you are doing. Now of course.. we are all being influenced by the actions of others but I mean on a really personal level.

Imagine that halfway across the world, there was an individual learning from you and being inspired by you-- the catch is.. you've never met this person.

Rick, a pastor from the states traveled to South Africa alongside his wife. If I recall correctly, he was going to support her but was unsure if there was another purpose he was supposed to serve. Within a few days of the trip, the Spirit led him on an excursion to check out one of the local churches in an impoversished part of the country.

The pastor of this church addressed Rick by name and asked what brought him here. As you can imagine, having never seen this man before, Rick was confused and asked how he knew him.

The pastor explained that once a week he walked an hour and a half to the post office in town which was the only place that had internet. He downloaded pastor Rick's sermons, learned them and then preached them to his congregation each Sunday.

Wow. Imagine what Rick must have been feeling at that moment. Across the world there was a pastor that was using Rick's messages to teach the people of his congregation and Rick had no idea.

When I heard this story I was in awe. God works in the most beautifully mysterious ways. He has made great tools available even to those in places where technology is scarce. He brought those two individuals together to share in that moment. He is good!

Never underestimate the power of your sphere of influence.

Let us let this motivate us to lead by example because we never know who is watching.