Outside of Lufkin, Texas, on Hwy 69, there is tiny town called Rockland, a few miles north of Colmesneil.
Back in the mid-1970s, while working for the Lufkin Daily News, I was pastor of Rockland Baptist Church for a short time.
That was well over 40 years ago and I have never written about this experience before. But I was told a story there one night I will never forget.
One of the deacons of the church and I had gone out on visitation one Thursday night. After making a few visits, we returned to the church where we had met up. He said, “Before you go, I want to tell you a story.”
He began to tell me about a man who had been pastor of the Rockland Baptist Church for more than 20 years. He said the old preacher had thought of himself as a failure because he was never able to grow the attendance of the church very much, and during the two decades or so that he was there, had very few converts.
After he retired, the old preacher went to Beaumont on some business that would require him to stay overnight in a hotel.
As he entered the hotel, walking on a cane, he saw a sign stating there would be church services at 7 p.m. that night in the hotel ballroom on the second floor.
The tired old man checked into his hotel room, expecting to go to sleep shortly. But as he laid on the bed staring at the ceiling, he thought, “They are trying to have church down there tonight. I guess I should go.”
He did.
As he arrived a little late, he was surprised to see that the large ballroom was packed with 200 to 300 people, sitting in folding chairs. He took a seat on the back row.
The music was beautiful and everyone could feel the presence of the Lord throughout the entire service. A young evangelist then preached a powerful sermon, and when the invitation was given, a large number of people came forward to accept Christ as their Savior.
As the service was about to close, the young evangelist said, “Before we leave tonight, I want everyone here to go to someone and give them a hug and tell them how much they mean to you.”
The old preacher stood there, watching the people as they went across the aisle to hug one another. He thought surely no one knew him or would come to him.
Suddenly, the young evangelist stepped out from behind the pulpit and made his way to the back where the old preacher was.
He called him by name, told him how wonderful it was to see him again, and told him he loved him.
The old preacher stammered, “I’m sorry. Who are you?”
The young evangelist replied, “Don’t you recognize me? I’m Jimmy! I grew up in Rockland. You led me to Christ when I was 12 years old. You taught me more about the Bible than anyone else. It is because of you that I am able to spread the gospel today.”
The old preacher returned to his hotel room with a wonderful feeling that maybe his ministry at Rockland had not been such a failure after all.
Dan Eakin is the editor of the Silsbee Bee in Silsbee, Texas. He is also interim minister at Woodrow Baptist Church in Silsbee. Eakin is a former News-Record staff writer and longime minister at Collinsville Bible Baptist Church.