NOTE: The following article appeared in our July 2000 Newsletter. A little Action-Packed fiction to help us reflect upon the great work of evangelism...Enjoy!
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
The sun beat heavily on my trim, yet muscular body glistening with odorless perspiration. "Now this is the life!" I thought to myself as I looked out from my rocky perch. "There's nothing quite as relaxing as free climbing the Grand Canyon!"
A bell rang out in the distance. . . or was it my cell phone? I reached down to take the incoming call when suddenly, in that brief moment of distraction, the ledge beneath me gave way. Before I realized what was happening, i was falling in midair with nothing but the Colorado River awaiting me 3,000 feet below. If my calculations were correct, I would be hitting the ground in 15.3 seconds. I had to think fast.
"All right now, stay calm and don't panic." I reassured myself as my ruggedly handsome 6-foot frame plunged another 800 feet. I reached into my pocket and felt around. There was a Swiss army knife, a bungee cord and a stick of gum. . . just what I needed. I quickly chewed the gum and used it as an adhesive to secure the knife to one end of the bungee cord while attaching the other end to my belt. Then without a moments delay, I hurled the cord above me towards a tree branch that conveniently extended from the cliff just 30 feet above the sandy shore. To my great fortune, the knife caught the branch and the bungee cord stretched 29 feet 6 inches. When the cord reached its maximum tension, i unclipped it from my belt and allowed myself to gently fall the remaining 6 inches into a pile of sand...safe at last. There was only one thing left to do.
"Hello?" I panted as I spoke into the receiver, "sorry to keep you waiting. I was temporarily indisposed."
It was Headquarters (HQ) on the line: "Sorry to bother you on your vacation, but we've got a very special mission that we need you to attend to right away."
"Go on," I retorted as a cool breeze rustled through the curly locks on my full chest of hair.
"We have an important message of life and death proportions that we need you to deliver to a Mr. Race. . . Adam Race. All you'll need to do is find him and get him to listen."
"That sounds simple enough. Is he hard to find?"
"Actually, that won't be a problem. He's rather hard to miss."
"Is he dangerous?"
"No, he's harmless. . . rather pathetically so, if you ask me."
"OK, then what's the big deal? Are you sure you want to waste your best and most handsome agent on a case like this? I thought this was called 'Mission Impossible'?
"Well, there is just one catch."
"What's that?"
"Adam Race is dead."
"He's what??!! Th...that can't be! How in the world am I going to get him to listen to me?!"
"I'm sure you'll find a way. You always do."
"But he's dead! D-E-D dead!"
"Right! And that's why it's called 'Mission Impossible.'"
"Well, yeah, but our jobs have never been impossible impossible. They've only required our audiences to suspend a moderate level of disbelief. This. . .this. . .I can't do this!"
"I know. And that's why you'll need some assistance. First, I want you to get in touch with Mr. X. He'll be able to help you. But he's sometimes difficult to find. You see, he moves about like the wind. Nobody knows where he comes from or where he's going. In fact, it might be better to wait for him to come to you." (CLICK)
I flipped my cell phone back in my pocket and stood silent for a moment. "Mr X?" I murmured repeatedly under my breath as I restarted my free-climb up the 3,000 foot cliff. "Who in the world is Mr. X?"
TOMORROW: The Mysterious Mr. X