The Christmas season is for going.

Yeah, this is probably not the first thought that enters your mind as you finish the year and prepare for another holiday season full of the joys of beloved traditions. But if we take a deeper look at Christmas, Christ’s birth marks the beginning of his earthly mission, a task he had been entrusted with by his Father who sent him. As he was sent, so also are we sent (Jn 20:21). What better time of year to consider our own obedience to God’s command to go? What better time to set aside that which holds our attention temporarily to embrace that which bears eternal significance?

Christmas was the season for going for BMM’s missionary founders, William and Genevieve Haas. Nancy Freund, BMM’s Publications Manager, recently released The Reward Unseen, a new biography of William Haas that documents this eternal perspective. I’d like to give you a taste of this excellent account with several extended quotes emphasizing the Haases’ fixation with the eternal.

The Master’s order

Starting with the Haases’ 1909 wedding, we pick up the story of their decision to lay aside earthly pleasures. William had already made his decision, but when he asked Genevieve to marry him, she was faced with the same choice. Would she be willing to give up a comfortable life in the US for the unknowns of pioneering missions in Africa? In their local newspaper, Genevieve is quoted as declaring,

“I am willing to go with him—I am willing to give my life’s work to the people in that far off country in order to follow the Master’s order to ‘go ye and preach the gospel to all the world,’” says the bride. “I am willing to sacrifice the pleasures of this country, willing to give up all in that grand work.” (p. 34)

After 16 months of prefield ministry and the birth of their son, the Haases left for Africa for the first time during the Christmas season.

The air was bracing with the bite of December’s ocean breezes when William, Genevieve, and 18-month-old Billy boarded the S.S. Adriatic in New York harbor on December 2, 1911. As William stood face forward on the deck, thoughts of the Zande [the African tribe they hoped to reach for Christ] filled his mind. He was now 38 years old, and the wait had been long. Many years of hardship fell behind him, and the unwritten days ahead anticipated far more. He was no longer afraid, at least not enough to keep him attached to American soil. For the rest of his fears, God would be his sufficiency. He was so proud of his brave wife. Having had much less time to prepare her heart and mind for what lay ahead, she jumped in eagerly. She was willing to suffer also. (p. 42)

Earthly joys fade in comparison to heavenly rewards.

The most striking aspect of the Haases’ lives is their eternal perspective. As they journeyed during Christmas 1911, God began to reward their faith with resolve to pursue His work.

On board their ship, the Haases celebrated Christmas as they traveled down the Red Sea, reaching the spice-laden port city of Aden in Yemen … They celebrated New Year’s Day on the Indian Ocean. Skirting the horn of Africa, their month-long ocean voyage came to its destination in Kilindini Harbor, Mombasa, British East Africa (roughly the same area as modern Kenya) on January 3, 1912. A new year would bring an entirely new life for the Haases. (p. 44)

The beauty of missions—seeds of the gospel planted in fruit-bearing lives that scatter even more seeds—William and Genevieve could see it right in front of them. It took their breath away that God chose them to be part of something so stunningly transcendent. When all of earth’s worldly pursuits and prizes faded with the grave, the gospel’s yield would never fade. The permanence of their work, done in God’s leading and God’s way, would only grow eternally brighter. (p. 45)

What has a hold of your heart this Christmas?

Of course, one doesn’t develop this sort of faith instantly. God works in various ways to shape and purify us. This was the case with William Haas. His earlier experiences through deep trials bear this testimony.

With each agonizing loss, William set his heart less and less on this world’s joys. It’s not that he didn’t desire them or keenly feel their loss, but the stripping away of what he held dear only made the pursuit of heaven’s imperishable treasures seem more brilliantly desirable. (p. 25)

As you enjoy Christmas and New Year’s festivities, contemplate your own heart’s attachments and what God may be asking you to do. Consider this challenge: What lies between you and the mission field? Perhaps you’ll find that some of your earthly joys are keeping you from even greater heavenly pleasures.

I trust that William and Genevieve’s testimony encourages you to point your dreams and ambitions toward what will last into eternity (Col 3:1-2; Dan 12:3). I encourage you to get the book and find out more! You will be greatly challenged and motivated.