Heritage

This picture is of my grandfather, Ernest L. Friend (center, white suit) as the missionary pastor of "All Tribes Assembly of God" in Accra, Ghana, West Africa in the late 1940's. My mother played the little pump organ to the left of the pulpit for their worship services. This photo commerates the dedication of this church. This was quite an accomplishment as the "All Tribes" refers to all of the different tribes in the area coming together in one church. Before, their warring history against each other prevented this due to their former hatred for each other. You can see three of the chiefs of these tribes standing to the right of the pulpit. J. Roswell Flower, an early Assembly of God leader is standing just the left of my Grandfather. So this was a significant day. Many of the people in the background to the left in the white suits were Bible school students my grandfather mentored. My mother's family left Africa for home in December 1948. They continued to pastor churches stateside for many years until about the time I graduated from Bible school myself in 1981.

All of this is to say I am very grateful for my godly heritage. My mother and father are also Assembly of God pastors. I was raised in a pastor's home and frankly I always thought it was a pretty good life. I never saw the lure of a life outside of knowing Christ as something to be desired and feel I was spared the consequences of making poor choices associated with that kind of life. My life has been blessed. I have a godly wife who has helped us to raise our two sons. We look forward to see God bless their lives and their families.

I encourage you to live your life in a godly manner and begin your own godly heritage for your children and their children. Let them see you read your Bible and go to church with them. Pray with them and ask God to bless their lives. It is never too late to begin a spiritual legacy that will last generations to come.