From Jim Burke

IT’S A SMALL, SMALL WORLD

“The LORD asked him, ‘What is that in your hand?” (Ex. 4:2a)

I’m not much by the world’s standards. Most of the time I am even kept out of sight. During Jim’s recent trip to Japan I remained in his pocket until he needed me. My body consists of an inexpensive plastic. My total monetary value is less than a dollar. But…..boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy did I have a great time!

The trip to Japan was really nice. At the airport, different people had different reactions when I spoke. Some smiled when they saw me, some giggled when they heard me, and some didn’t have a clue what was going on. They just sat wide-eyed with a glazed look in their eyes.

The second day after we had arrived in Tokyo, we went to the park. Jim decided to take me out of his pocket. I think he wanted to talk to himself without looking stupid. He managed to do the former without doing the latter.

I saw a couple sitting with their young child, and said simply, “Hello there, how are you doing?” The five year old child looked at me in amazement. There were probably three reasons for this. One, I was obviously a foreigner. Two, he had never seen a pocket puppet before. And three, he didn’t understand English. Other than that, he wasn’t surprised at all. Laughter is good in any language, and that is exactly what he and his parents did.

Now, not knowing Japanese, you might wonder why I spoke to him at all. That’s a very good question. I even asked Jim. He said that you never know what God might do when we use what is in our hand for Him. As it turned out, the boy’s father spoke to me in English. Who would have ever guessed? The young father had taught himself English, and had even visited Silicone Valley, California. He had also gone to Yosemite and loved the country.

From that humble beginning Jim developed a friendship with the man and his family. Jim performed some magic tricks for the family before they had to leave. They exchanged e-mails, and Jim met with the man a couple of days later at a coffee shop. He was able to share the gospel with him. Jim gave another pocket puppet, just like me, to the man to give to his son. He later told Jim that his son went to bed with it each night.

So………….you never know what God might use. God asked Moses what he had in his hand. Moses didn’t know how God was going to use his staff to demonstrate his mighty power. But Moses used what he had.

I happened to be in Jim’s hand. Hmmmm…..What do you have in your hand?