 “So, what are you young people doing?” My future wife, Wendy, and I were standing in the lunch lineup at the annual missions conference at Briercrest Bible Institute. We were greatly encouraged that a pleasant elderly couple took the time and interest to befriend a couple of young people totally unknown to them. Like us, Archie and Grace McCaskell had driven many hours to attend the conference. We explained that we hoped to get married, and then work towards serving the Lord on the mission field. We learned that they lived on a farm near Redvers, Saskatchewan. They told us to be sure to come and visit them. And so began a decades-long friendship, paused only when the Lord Jesus in His wisdom and time called His faithful servants home to be with Himself forever. What especially impressed us about Archie and Grace was their unselfish love and interest in others. We could see Jesus in them! In Philippians 2:20, Paul wrote about his beloved Timothy, “For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Archie and Grace sincerely loved and cared for others. They never possessed great earthly riches, but they freely shared with others of the treasures they did have. For Wendy and me, that was a source of encouragement and strength. They became part of our team of prayer warriors and rope holders. Who or what is a rope holder? The concept is taken from Acts 9:23–25 as Paul was delivered from those seeking his life in Damascus. These friends delivered him by lowering him through the wall in a large basket (presumably using ropes). Before William Carey, the father of modern missions, left for India, he told his friends, “Saving souls can be likened to a man drowning in a deep well and a volunteer can do nothing unless there are people who will hold the rope for him to be lowered till he reaches the drowning man, and then pull them up to safety.” Carey added, “I will go to India as a volunteer to seek sinners drowning in the well of sin. But I can’t do it alone. I need rope-holders. Will you be my rope-holders?”  The Character of the Rope HolderWhat helped shape Archie and Grace so that they became such beautiful rope holders? A few glimpses from their lives will help us understand their success. In fact, these glimpses reveal that it was not in their own strength they lived and served, but through their Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. As they steadfastly submitted to the often difficult circumstances the Lord allowed, Archie and Grace increasingly became conformed to His image. Our first glimpse is from World War 2. Archie and Grace had married, but the distance of war separated them as Archie served overseas. While he was in Europe, their son Keith was born. When Archie finally returned, Grace and young Keith met Archie at the railway station. When Keith saw his dad for the first time, he enthusiastically ran towards him and shouted out, “Daddy, daddy!” How could he do that, when he had never even seen his dad? Only because his loving mom had through faithful prayers instilled in their young boy a love for the dad he now was about to meet for the first time. No doubt, she had also shown him a picture or two many, many times. Grace and Keith had faithfully prayed for their loved one. That quality of keeping the memory alive is rope holding at its finest! As Wendy and I served overseas and in Canada we were privileged to benefit from the same quality of commitment and obedience to the Lord. The McCaskells lived in a small and simple farmhouse, a little more than 6 miles west of Redvers. A powerful glimpse revealing the hardships they at times endured is when, during a particularly harsh winter, their dear Redvers friends, Carl and Mary, decided to drive out to the isolated farm for a visit. They did so in late February or early March. When they arrived, Archie and Grace told them, “You are the first people we have seen since Christmas!” We conclude that the character of Archie and Grace was not developed in a vacuum, but as the Lord tenderly guided them through both joys and hardships… The farm thrived, and so did the McCaskells’ involvement in church. Well into retirement years, they served faithfully in the local church and through home groups. They took Bible correspondence courses, as they wanted to continue to grow in the knowledge of Jesus and His Word. And, they continued to help Keith and the family on the farm. On one precious visit Wendy and I were even privileged to help out with the potato harvest! In the years leading up to Wendy and I departing for the mission field (and while we were home on furlough), Archie and Grace continued to encourage us. They helped arrange so that we could speak in local churches and at home meetings. They supported us financially and through their faithful prayers. Even though my family to this day can’t see or know the full impact of those prayers, I am sure it was considerable. Archie and Grace helped hold the ropes, for which we are eternally grateful. We were the beneficiaries of that faithfulness which by the Lord so carefully had been honed during the preceding often challenging decades.  Holding FastFollowing our service on the mission field and some further studies, our family served in a church not far from Redvers. Of course it was through Archie and Grace we had come in contact with the church in Maryfield. Again we benefited from their faithfulness. And because we lived nearby we could be there when the Heavenly Father in His wisdom decided that it was time to call His servants home to heaven. We were honored to visit Archie in Redvers Hospital, shortly before his home-going. Even though he was quite weak, he was clearly encouraged when I said to him, “At this point, you may be physically frail, but that light of the Lord in your eyes still shines brightly!” How encouraging to see a godly man finish well! Some years later Grace joined her husband in the heavenly mansions. At Archie’s funeral service I read a Bible passage reflecting his deep love for the Word of God. The passage, Psalm 119:30–35, describes well his life of dedication and obedience, and why he and his precious Grace were able to serve as such steadfast prayer warriors and rope holders.
 Wendy & Hans Elgby A Rope Holder’s LegacyThis article is not written just to remember and honor Archie and Grace, but also to see what lessons we can learn from them. We must beware lest our fast paced and secular world rob us of the true riches and service such as Archie and Grace clearly had found. The Lord lovingly shaped and guided this fine couple. Jesus lived in and through them. Archie and Grace remained faithful through both joy and at times deep personal sorrow. They continued to look beyond their own sphere, to see how they could be used by the Lord to be a blessing to others. The challenge for us then must be to seek to emulate them. Let us also take a genuine interest in others. Let us live for more than what benefits just us. Let us live to be a blessing in the lives of both friends and strangers. Under the Lord, let us make and take opportunities to minister. We certainly should do this for the sake of others, but ultimately so that Jesus Christ may be honored and glorified. For both those hoping to serve the Lord on the mission field and for the rope holders, may we not neglect the basic disciplines of the Christian life but be faithful in prayer, Bible study, hospitality, and giving. “Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” 
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  A call is heard from far away From over sea and land Of lives expiring every day Like an hourglass of sand. To the ears of our hearts They call without words, From the world’s farthest parts They’re desperate to be heard. With broken souls and hungry bones They cry for what they do not know; With blind eyes and hearts of stone Day by day their needs grow. They don’t just need water, But they crave the Water of Life The orphan and slave made son and daughter, They’re craving peace an end to strife. You know what they crave Though they do not; From heaven to cradle to cross then cave One man, one God their lives He bought. Only the Way, the Truth, the Life Only this God, this sacrificial Man Can bring relief to their souls and end their strife; Will you hear their call and be His hand? How will they learn what they do not know? How will they hear if we do not go? Go. Make. TeachAnd Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:18-20 Go—it can be a scary word sometimes, but it is what we are called to do.
We are called to go. Go to people who long for something more, to people who are broken, to people who are lost. We are called to go to those far away and those nearby because they are all far away from the kingdom and the kingdom is what they need. We are called to go, and we are called to make. To make broken hearts whole, empty bellies full, and wounded bodies mended. We are called to make an orphan beloved, a sinner a saint, and a lost one found. To make disciples of wandering souls. We are called to go, to make, and to teach. To teach the blind to see and the deaf to hear and dead to rise. We are called to teach the beloved to love, the saints to forgive, and the found to find. Go. Make. Teach—tasks that would be impossible for us to do on our own. But we are never alone. Jesus has filled us with the Holy Spirit and He will be with us, helping us and guiding us, until the end of the age when Christ returns. So, we never have to be afraid to go. We never have to be afraid to make. We never have to be afraid to teach. Let us therefore go and make and teach in the Name of Christ who commissioned us. Tags:
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Putting It All Together8/1/2023  “Some assembly required.”
As long as I’ve been able to read, those were always welcome words. I loved to put things together, whether children’s toys, cheap furniture, or Lego bricks. So, it’s probably natural that I enjoyed working with Fellowship Focus. A magazine requires a lot of assembly. There are no instructions, and parts don’t seem to fit, either by topic or length or mood. Editors usually try to build a loose template, so when a story comes in, they have an idea where it should go. The back cover, and the pages inside the back cover are what people look at first, so you try to put the good stuff there — good stuff like people stories, heartwarming stories. A few years before I became editor, the Fellowship adopted the vision statement “We will be a fellowship of churches that equips and inspires one another so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed by every member of every church at every opportunity.” This led to a column called “Catch the Vision” on the back cover of each issue. This was a personal interest story about how a reader found an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. We solicited stories from our readers, they responded, and usually we had a pool of stories to choose from. The centerfold pages are valuable real estate in a magazine because they display a long story or a lot of photos. Each spring the centerfold promoted the annual Connect meetings and the Connect project. One of the best centerfold stories to run while I was editor was Terry Schultz’s “Too Busy for Outreach” (Jan/Feb 2016). By using a flow chart and hard questions, Mr. Schultz helped us determine whether we were really too busy to talk about Jesus, or whether we were making poor excuses. Tags:
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4/11/2025
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