Always Abounding

Editor’s Note: This writer approached me recently concerning her desire to spend time in the presence of seasoned Christians in order to glean their wisdom and to put these interactions into article form for Christian Ladies Fellowship. This is the first of several interviews that she has written with the intent to help and motivate a younger generation of Christian ladies to examine how much more of their lives can they give to God. I know each reader will be encouraged through these unique interviews by Abigail Medford.

An Interview with Mary Powell

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. – I Corinthians 15:58

Mary Powell has been a pillar of Christian womanhood in her church for decades. Throughout these years, she has impacted hundreds of lives. Anyone who has observed her as she was serving the Lord––teaching her Christian school class, interpreting for the deaf ministry, assisting at a nursing home service, singing in choir, working in the bus ministry, or leading a soul to Christ––cannot help but be inspired by the enthusiasm and dedication she has for the work of the Lord. Mary Powell has been one of my personal heroes for many years, and when I consider her life of service, the phrase I Corinthians 15:58 comes to mind, …always abounding in the work of the Lord.

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with her to discuss her testimony and service for Christ. She was a fountain of wisdom as we sat on her spacious front porch drinking lemonade, watching bluebirds and cardinals eat from her bird feeder, and avoiding some particularly-aggressive yellow flies. She shared that her motivation for serving the Lord comes from the fact that she has never gotten over her salvation. She was saved later in life, and she felt that God, like in the song, “had to reach way down” for her and her husband. Neither grew up in a religious home, and by the time she reached the age of 30, she was under constant conviction for the way they were living. A persistent soulwinning couple named Al and Jenny Bradbury brought Mary Powell and her two young sons to church in 1980. She was saved during that first church service, while her husband and boys accepted Christ a few weeks later.

Since that day over 40 years ago, Mary Powell has thrown herself into Christian service, anxious to make up for the years without Christ. With the encouragement of her husband and her pastor, she attended night school, becoming a teacher. Her Christian school teaching career spanned 36 years. She and her husband started a deaf ministry from scratch, mainly for her deaf son and his friends from school, then expanded from there. The Powells also ran a highly-successful church bus route that often had 100 riders each week. Over the decades, she was an integral part of almost every single ministry available in her church.

Though she and her husband are both “officially” retired now, they continue to spread the Gospel all over the country through a unique ministry that arranges soulwinning outreach opportunities at state, county, and local fairs. During one particular journey, they attended 12 fairs, passed out over 25,000 Gospel tracts, and personally led at least 1,000 souls to Christ. Undaunted, Mary Powell told me that, despite their recent health difficulties, an ever-changing world, and advancing age, they still plan to continue giving the Gospel at more local fairs in the upcoming months.

How has Mary Powell continued abounding in the work of the Lord? Here are a few tidbits of wisdom from her that will encourage every Christian to continue pressing on for Him:

  • If God has a plan of service for the Christian, He will put that desire in her heart.

While she professed to have never particularly liked children at one time, God changed everything when she got saved. After surrendering her life to God during a message by Dr. Jack Hyles, she discovered that God gave her a true love for children in her heart. This unique love carried her throughout her 36 years of teaching in a Christian school. All of her work in the ministry has been done through what she described as a “burn” within her: an inescapable desire to do what the Lord has for her.

  • A lack of service is usually driven by a lack of faith.

She observes a younger generation of Christians who know the spiritual words to say, but they are hesitant to act on them because they do not have a deep faith in God’s ability to do what He promised. In her years as a teacher, she often reminded her students, “Don’t say it; DO it.” She said that if we can trust God for our salvation and trust that His Bible is true, we should also be able to trust that He will enable us to what He has commanded for us to do: give out the Gospel, serve in the ministry, and fulfill His will in our lives. God has never failed her, and her experiences stepping out in faith have given her an unwavering trust in Him.

  • True Christian service is selfless.

Mary Powell has given almost her entire adult life to the service of the Lord. While some might consider giving up a Sunday morning to ride the church bus to be “enough” for God, this stalwart lady gave the bus ministry her entire weekend by doing visits, cooking meals, and chaperoning activities before Sunday morning even arrived. While some may “sacrifice” to spend a cursory few minutes doing daily devotions, Mary Powell rose at 4:30 a.m. to spend time with God during her teaching days; now, she spends several moments before her official devotion time with her husband to get her heart prepared to meet with God! Her selflessness kept her serving in the deaf ministry when the fruits of her labor were scarce. It kept her teaching full time, long past when many Christians would have quit. It still drives her today, spreading the Gospel through the fair ministry, even though she has every excuse to rest on her past accomplishments for Christ.

Of course, these are just a few of the many lessons to be learned and wisdom to be gleaned from the incredible testimony of Mary Powell. She is a shining example to a younger generation of Christian women that a life spent in selfless service to the Saviour is a life worth living! Through her example, we can all be encouraged to be …stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

by Abigail Medford

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