Dr. Delron & Peggy Shirley
Teach All Nations Mission (TAN) is a global evangelical educational ministry birthed from the teaching ministries of Delron and Peggy Shirley. The name Teach All Nations Mission was chosen to carefully indicate exactly what the heart of Delron and Peggy’s mission is.
TAN’s commitment is to establish a solid foundation in the national pastors and leaders so that they can help enrich the people. The vision is Christian teaching materials (in English and the local languages) in printed form and on audio and video, providing scholarships to Christian colleges and Bible schools for promising students, assisting in establishing and building of Bible schools, and broadcasting via the internet, radio, and television.
The main purpose of my trip to Taiwan, the first destination on my three-stop Asian odyssey, was to deliver the graduation speech at Charis Bible College’s commencement ceremony. In addition to the graduation, I taught in the school and spoke at an event for alumni of the school and pastors and partners who support the school. I also had the privilege of ministering in a church pastored by the husband of one of the school’s alumnae. My second stop was in the Philippines where I ministered in two churches that are associated with the school and spoke at a dinner for students who are going through the school’s distance-learning program since the school is not yet registered in the country. In addition, I had an opportunity to meet a pastor whose ministry closely parallels the vision of Teach All Nations – holding training conferences for pastors and leaders to help equip them to better fulfill the callings upon their lives and ministries. As we were concluding our time together, he humbly asked if I would lay hands on him and impart a blessing upon him to fully accomplish his vision. The final leg of my Asian odyssey took me to Hong Kong where I taught at the local campus of Charis Bible College and spoke at their graduation service. During the reception following the graduation, I learned that one of the graduate’s mother and sister and the guest of another student had been so stirred by the presence of the Lord in the meeting and the messages that had been shared that they accepted the Lord as Savior even without an evangelistic presentation. In every stop, I was warmly greeted by students who were excited to have the opportunity to meet in person one of the teachers that they had been studying under on video tape. Many came to me to share testimonies of how the lessons I had shared impacted their lives.
One last concept that I’d like to explore before we leave the story of the Apostle Paul is the fact that he was a survivor. We have already seen in II Corinthians 11:23-28 that he lived through tremendous difficulties that could have crushed even the strongest of men – prisons, beatings, starvation, exposure to the elements, you name it. But he not only survived these circumstances – he thrived spiritually in them! In the story that we are about to study, you’ll see that the apostle was able to “keep his head above water” when it looked impossible. But not only did he come through alive, he was able to rescue two hundred seventy-six others who would almost certainly have died had Paul not been there. And if that were not enough, he was able to instigate a revival on the island where he landed, bringing healing and salvation to many. Now, if that’s not maximum impact – I don’t know what is!
Yet, he realized that not all believers fared so well in trying times. When he told us in I Timothy 1:19 that some believers have made shipwreck of their spiritual lives, it seems to me that he was drawing upon his own personal experience of having survived three literal shipwrecks (II Corinthians 11:25) as a source for this nautical metaphor. Furthermore, it would seem to me that a shipwreck survivor might be able to give some worthwhile advice on how to come out alive on the other side of spiritual shipwreck. To begin our study, let’s turn to Acts chapter twenty-seven that records what is possibly Paul’s fourth shipwreck. As we read through the chapter, I’ll stop just short of each point where a lesson is to be found, enumerate the principle, and then go on with the reading of the text to see how that truth is revealed in the saga.
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