It was both humbling and exhilarating to be with a gentle giant - a man who loves God with all his heart - and who has been taken to places by the Lord. Last count was that he had spoken in over 225 different cities outside the UK and visited 38 different countries. All while making his base in a hospital that serves a catchment area which is among the poorest in Europe - the east end of Glasgow, Scotland.
What made the evening special was an opportunity for each person to introduce themselves and themselves and how God had shaped and formed their lives so far. We were amazed to see God's goodness operating in such different ways. There were stalwart veterans of the faith - as well as people who were newly discovering God's work in their lives. We had folks from traditional Christian homes who realised that Jesus was calling them - and others from faith backgrounds outside Christianity - who were called into a relationship with Christ through the witness and friendship of others in the Lord.
Prof Imrie chose to talk on an unusual topic - the baptismal place of Jesus. Look at John 1, 3 and 10 for biblical references to Bethany - on the other side of the Jordan river. Prof Imrie was recently there and was amazed to be shown the place where an ancient church was being excavated - which the first century Christians believe is the site where Jesus was baptised by John. The man who showed him this was an energetic young Jordanian Christian - the head of the archeological team that is developing the site! It was very moving for Prof. Imrie to come down from Mount Nebo - where Moses had looked into the promised land - and be challenged in his faith by a fellow Christian in a mainly Muslim country.
The evening was too full to report in detail - and we want to meet again to continue the fellowship and mutual encouragement that every one got in abundance. But we will just mention this. Prof. Imrie was asked about how he deals with success. His response was to turn the question around: "you are only as good as your last paper" he mused. Many people have had good work done prior demolished because of a poorly written paper - something where the reader knows that it doesn't ring true.
This theme was picked up later in a discussion about Darwinism in which Prof. Imrie said that "we are dealing in the currency of truth". In science - as in religion - if there is any duplicity or cheating it will be found out - and the consequences are a loss of trust. The good news is that in Jesus we have an absolute and rock-solid grounding in truth - and as a clincial scientist Prof. Imrie sees truth in his surgical work and research as well. He said that it is wonderful to know that some of the techniques and procedures that they developed in pancreatic surgery are being adopted in many other places. The value of a rejected manuscript - is that it forces you to rework the paper - and usually results in a better one. The temptation to publish before sufficient work has been done is high - but God has helped him and his team to avoid the pressure to publish before having done everything needed.
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If there were any regrets for the evening there were only two:1) the time slipped by too fast - leaving everyone hungry for more opportunities to meet and fellowship together
2) their were so many others who would have been blessed but did not come.
The challenge remains how to reach out to the largest number of Christian doctors in the greater Mumbai area. We would probably plan a programme for the end of April. Suggestions are very welcome.
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