The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is one of the lesser-known spots in America. On July 4, 1901, just two months before his assassination, President William McKinley set aside 59,000 acres of untouched prairie and forest just west of the historic Fort Sill. Within 30 days, gold fever launched America's last major gold rush. The official designation of the area as a forest preserve moved the land from Native American control to federal control. The army, previously tasked with keeping settlers off the Native American land, watched as 20,000 people poured into the area. By 1904, the fever broke as the minerals all panned out.
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt redesigned the area as a “Game Preserve.” In 1907, the American Bison Society moved 15 Bison from the Bronx Zoo to attempt to save them from extinction. Quanah Parker, the Comanche leader, greeted them when they came off the train. Buffalo had disappeared from the Southern Plains nearly 30 years earlier. The Wildlife Refuge helped save them. It also helped save Elk, Texas Longhorn, and the Black Capped-Vireo (a bird). Intentional, unified effort changed a dire forecast into a cause for celebration.
Last week, with the “Happy Campers” group from our church, we traveled to the Refuge to camp and hike and watch the wildlife. On one of the hikes, we looked to the mountain horizon and saw two huge boulders perched on its edge. I had seen them pictured on a postcard in the Visitors Center’s Gift Shop. The rock formation has a name. Take a moment to look at them and see if you can guess its name. They are named after fruit. Do you see it? On the left is an apple. On the right is a pear. It's called, “Apple & Pear.”
Imagination is the place where discouragement goes to die. It is the place where hope is born. It is the place where, through faith, we believe that God can bring good out of bad. It is the place where resurrection overcomes death. Driving around the Wildlife Refuge it would be easy to see how the place could have been carved up and settled. Instead, some brave leaders thought of a new future. Without effort and imagination, things don’t change, they just continue until they fall apart.
Our church is in a season of discernment and imagination. We are asking ourselves what God wants us to do next? I’m asking our church to pray that we can help influence the 2033 goals of getting the Bible translated into all the remaining languages of the world. It's time that we fulfill that part of the Great Commission. Our Worship Horizons 4C Team is seeking God’s leadership with the help of the Malphrus Consulting Group. Please be praying for God’s holy imagination to sweep through our church. We will be amazed at what God wants to do.