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Foreword
George Verwer took me out of my comfort zone over forty years ago. As fellow students at Maryville College in the hills of Tennessee we met together from time to time to pray. After one of George's typically fiery passionate loud prayers I began a rather phlegmatic prayer. I was stunned when in the middle of my prayer he suddenly stood up and shouted, "I got it!" I asked, "George, what do you got?" His answer: "We should go to Mexico in the summer." That was the first he had mentioned Mexico to me and he wanted an immediate positive response. I said I would have to pray about it.
We were quickly back on our knees and a few minutes later he again put the question to me, "Well, are you ready to go?"
"George, it takes longer than that."
I'll never forget the pained look on his face as he lamented, "Why does it take people so long to see it?"
I did 'see it' and I did go. I saw it as a strictly one-off trip with George and Walter, another Maryville student. This mission would be short-term. Since I was planning to transfer soon to Wheaton College, I expected my friendship with George and Walter would also be short-term. Maybe we would never see each other again. That's life.
That was September 1956 and we have been close friends and colleagues ever since. George is still in regular contact with Walter.
Long-term relationships - that's what I think of when I think of George. He is in touch with a number from those Maryville College days and from just about every other chapter of his life.
In January 1960 I attended George and Drena's wedding. George invited me to speak at the reception after the main ceremony. It is the only time in all these years that George has rebuked me for my preaching. I had unwisely divulged to the wedding guests that George would probably give away all the gifts they had brought and so beautifully wrapped! George questioned the appropriateness of my comments - but he did give away many of the gifts!
Let me give you just one example of what George did with his earthly possessions in those days (why do I say "in those days"? He hasn't really changed all that much over these years.) While preaching in a small church in greater Mexico City, he was overwhelmed by the generosity of a collection that was taken. It was not so much money but he knew the people had given sacrificially. The pastor accompanied George to his van to say good-bye. George asked the pastor if he had a suit. "No", he replied.
George responded, "I have plenty of clothes". It was night and the pastor could not see what was going on. George took his suit off, handed it to him and drove off. It was quite a sight to see a young, skinny George Verwer in his underwear around midnight knocking on the door of the Christian bookshop where the team was staying!
George and Drena's wedding was special. Even more beautiful was to celebrate with them their fortieth anniversary. As I looked around at the several hundred people there, I saw Ph.Ds and ones who had had only the most modest education. There were the wealthy and the poor. There were leaders of major Christian organisations, as well as individuals who did not profess any form of Christianity. There were those who were apparently very successful in their private and public lives; there were also some who found coping with life just beyond their reach. We all had one thing in common. We were George's friends - long-term friends, that is.
Other pictures come to mind when I think of George. He is a risk-taker. He loves to live on the edge. You might say that his comfort zone is breaking out of his comfort zone. He only really feels secure when he's risking it all.
Apart from frequently riding the wildest roller-coasters, which he thoroughly enjoys, George's risks do have some greater purpose to them. Since coming to know the Lord through a Gospel that a praying woman sent him and the preaching of Dr Billy Graham, his one all-consuming passion in life has been to be a channel, whereby people would become long-term friends of Jesus. To be such channels, George maintains, we have to leave our comfort zones. So be prepared for some new challenges as you let George share his vision through this powerful book. In the midst of it all you will be encouraged and ministered to by God's long-term grace.
Like its author, Out of the Comfort Zone dodges no bullets and ducks no issues. This is a major challenge for Christians of the twenty-first century. One last word, coupled with George's passion is a commitment to balance. I appreciate the wisdom God has given George on a number of pressing issues that face missions today.
Dale Rhoton