“and so where James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”’
~ Luke 5:10
Hi James and Ellen,
Your grandpaa grew up on a farm. There is a lake not far from the farm where your grandpaa’s ma and dad are still living. The lake is called Lake Goldsmith. Your grandpaa’s ma and dad liked to go fishing. Sometimes when your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa’s aunts and uncles would go fishing with your dad’s grandma and grandpa. Everyone would take food for everyone to eat while they were fishing. Your grandpaa’s grandpa was a farmer, too. Your grandpaa’s grandpa homesteaded the land that he farmed. A homestead is land which no one else had owned or had farmed. In South Dakota where your grandpaa lived through his high school years, the land was divided into square miles. The land in each square mile was divided up into four sections which different farmers owned and farmed. Gravel roads intersected about every mile other gravel roads. The farm where your grandpaa grew up on was right across the road from his grandpa’s farm. The house where your grandpaa’s grandpa and grandma lived in was not much further away than the townhouse is where you are living to where your Aunt Lynn and Uncle Kris used to live in their townhouse. The land which your grandpaa’s grandpa owned goes right up to Lake Goldsmith. Some of the land was used for a cow pasture. When your grandpaa’s ma and dad went fishing in Lake Goldsmith, they would drive through the pasture to get to the lake. They would sometimes fish at a place that they called the ‘steep bank’. They also liked to fish at a place they called the ‘big rock’. Your grandpaa’s dad was really good at catching fish – such as bullheads, perch and crappies. When your dad goes fishing today, he uses a rod and reel. When your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa used a cane pole to catch fish. Your grandpaa used worms as bait to catch fish. Your grandpaa is hoping that he will be able to take you fishing someday. Your grandpaa sometimes would take your dad fishing. Your dad is a good fisherman. A good fisherman knows how to catch fish.
People have always fished. People sometimes fish just for fun. Most of the time though people fish so that they will have something to eat. When your grandpaa fishes now, he uses a hook to catch fish. A lot of people fish using a net. When Jesus was on planet Earth – which was nearly two thousand years ago, people fished. There was a good size lake located about twelve miles from where Jesus grew up – which was in Nazareth. Luke – in Luke 5, calls the name of the lake Lake of Gennesaret. This lake has other names – such as the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias. Jesus seemed to like being near water. Jesus also liked teaching people about His Father. Luke tells us the story of Jesus after getting into a boat one day asking the owner of the boat to go out a little ways into the Sea of Galilee and then teaching about His Father to the people who were there to hear Him speak. After Jesus had finished speaking to the people, Jesus asked Simon – the owner of the boat, to take his boat out to deeper water. Jesus asked Simon to let out his net to catch some fish. Simon told Jesus that he had fished all night and that had not caught anything. Simon decided he would do what Jesus had asked him to do. Simon rowed out to deeper water where he let out his net just as Jesus told him to do. What do you think happened? There were so many fish in the net that it began to break. Simon had to ask his friends to come and to help him take the fish to shore. Their boats were so full of fish that they began to sink. Simon knew he had seen something really amazing. Simon realized that Jesus was someone special. Simon suddenly felt frightened to be around Jesus. Simon knew he was not like Jesus. Simon heard Jesus talking to the people. Simon heard Jesus explaining what God was saying in His word. Simon knew that he was a sinner. What do you think Jesus did next with the guys who had brought to the shore all the fish that Simon had netted in his net? Verse 10 says . . . “and so where James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”’ Jesus has these three men – James, John and Simon follow Him – as His disciples. Simon is better known today as Peter. Jesus chose twelve disciples. Why do you think that Jesus chose disciples? Jesus chose them to not only follow Him but also to teach them – so that they would be able to teach others what they learned from Jesus’ teachings.
Your grandmaa and grandpaa are missionaries. Missionaries are like fishers of men. Your grandmaa and your grandpaa are looking for men and women who want to be taught what God’s word says. God’s word is the ‘bait’ to follow God. God’s word catches men and women with the truth. Your grandmaa and grandpaa use a tract to talk with people. This tract is easy to use because it uses verses from the Bible. Your grandmaa and grandpaa use this tract when summer teams are here in Guatemala. Your grandpaa will let your dad or your Aunt Lynn explain to you what a summer team is and what a summer team does. One of the things that your grandmaa and grandpaa do when a summer team arrives is to take the team participants on busses. Your grandmaa and grandpaa ask the summer team participants to read this tract to the guy or to the gal who sits down next to them. Your grandmaa and grandpaa ask the summer team participants to see the person who sits down next to them on the bus as someone who God has sent there to hear His word. Your grandmaa and your grandpaa have found it scary to do this but . . . one of the first times that they did this on a bus, they heard one of the young guys reading the tract in a very loud voice. He was reading Spanish like it was English to the person sitting next to him. They noticed that everyone had gotten quiet in the bus so that they could also hear what this young guy was reading. God has guys and gals ready everywhere to be caught.
Luke 5 (20)