In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. Acts 14:16-17a

Who knows how long the people watched the sycamore tree. But when Albert Brandt stopped to camp under it in the 1940s, the day they longed for had come.

The gospel is for all—that’s the message of the Bible. The Apostle Peter said, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35). It’s God’s desire that all peoples be reconciled to Him and receive His forgiveness and love. Scripture also says that “In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness” (Acts 14:16,17a).

Missionary Don Richardson called these pieces of evidence “redemptive analogies.” These are practices or beliefs a culture has that parallel or illustrate the gospel.”[1] Richardson told the story of Albert Brandt, a Canadian missionary who found “thousands of Gedeo tribesmen in Ethiopia believing that Magana, the Creator, would one day send a messenger to camp under a certain sycamore tree.” Magana was known as the Supreme God and the people believed that they could not get close enough to him to offer sacrifices for their sins. “Unsuspectingly, Albert [Brandt] camped under that tree and an awesome response to the gospel began, bringing 250 churches to birth in less than three decades.” Richardson said, “These breakthrough narratives can be multiplied by the hundreds from the history of missions.”[2]

No matter what era in time, country, or culture in this world you live in, the gospel is for you because the God of the Bible is for you.

[1] Culbertson, Howard. What is a redemptive analogy? Accessed January 10, 2023. https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/analogy.htm.

[2] Richardson, Don D. “Redemptive Analogy.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: The Notebook, William Carey Library, Pasadena, CA, 1999, p. 289.