The Ripple Effect of Faith
“Steamboat Rock is an epicenter of God’s work in Iowa!”
That statement was made to me as I was reminded earlier this month of the ripple-effect that a single encounter with God can have across time and generations.
I recently got to have a lunch with a gentlemen named Ken Bauer. I served on worship teams with Ken and his wife, Bev, back in the early 2010s. They were nearing retirement at the time, and I was at the beginning of my time in vocational ministry, and they had much insight to share on life, family, and church community. During my lunch with Ken, we caught-up on what was going on in each other’s lives and reminisced on some fun and funny memories of working in ministry together. And over the course of this conversation a fascinating connection between Ken’s faith-story, my faith-story, and Steamboat Rock Baptist Church revealed itself.
I will simply share a few “wavetops” of these ripple effects and trace them back to a moment in time at Steamboat Rock Baptist Church.
Fall of 2006 – In my first week as a freshman in college and still very young in my faith, I attended a Navigator’s Ministry meeting on campus at the University of Northern Iowa. I signed-up for a small-group and got connected to a group of young men that would be formative for our lives and solidifying of our faith in Jesus.
Sometime in the mid-1960s – During his time in college, my friend Ken’s faith was greatly impacted and deepened through the Navigator’s Ministry at UNI. During this time, he was mentored by a gentlemen named Dr. Bob Bremner.
1961 – Dr. Bob Bremner helps found the Navigator’s Ministry on campus at the University of Northern Iowa.
July 1955 – Dr. Bob Bremner establishes a medical practice in Steamboat Rock, Iowa. While living and working in Steamboat, Dr. Bremner heard a missionary named John Rhodes speak at the Baptist Church (that’s us!). This encounter with the missionary profoundly impacted Dr. Bremner and led him to move to Cedar Falls and help establish the Navigator’s ministry on campus at UNI.
John Rhodes, a SRBC supported missionary -> to Dr. Bob Bremner -> to the Navigators Ministry at the University of Northern Iowa -> to Ken Bauer -> to John Day.
All ripples from a missionary supported by Steamboat Rock Baptist Church.
Most of you will have no connection to the names in this story, but in some ways that’s the point. We just have no idea the impact a simple sharing of our faith, or an act of Christian hospitality can have and most of the time we will never get to see it. But occasionally, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we will catch a glimpse of the ways God works out His Kingdom here in Iowa and into our own lives. And this month I got the privilege to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom impact that God has worked starting right here in Steamboat Rock.
So, continue to share your faith in both word and deed because generations from now Iowa could look very different as a result.
