{"id":4704,"date":"2025-06-17T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T12:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4704"},"modified":"2025-06-17T08:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T12:56:00","slug":"small-potatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/17\/small-potatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Potatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

During a public ministry that lasted almost 60 years, Douglas Coe was one of the most influential spiritual leaders in Washington D.C.

Known as the \u201cstealth Billy Graham,\u201d he impacted others through gracious, under-the-radar partnerships with Republicans, Democrats, and everybody in between, not to mention religious groups and denominations of every stripe. \u00a0

Coe was instrumental in the conversion of Chuck Colson; contributed to the progress of the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt; helped establish the National Prayer Breakfast; and was a key player in the creation of a program to provide spiritual and relational care for children of servicemen and women around the world.

As pastor John Ortberg reports in his book If You Want to Walk on Water, You\u2019ve Got to Get Out of the Boat<\/em>, he also helped a \u201cnobody\u201d named Bob make a difference in a faraway place.

Bob was an insurance salesman who had no formal connections with anyone in government circles.\u00a0He became a Christian and began to meet with Doug to learn about his new faith.

One day, Bob came in excited about a statement in the Bible \u2013 the place where Jesus says, \u201cAsk whatever you will in my name, and you shall receive it.\u201d\u00a0

\u201cIs that really true?\u201d Bob demanded.\u00a0Doug explained, \u201cWell, it\u2019s not a blank check.\u00a0You have to understand it in the context of the Bible\u2019s whole teaching on prayer.\u00a0But yes \u2013 it really is true.\u00a0Jesus really does answer prayer.\u201d

\u201cGreat!\u201d Bob said.\u00a0\u201cThen I gotta start praying for something. I think I\u2019ll pray for Africa.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of a broad target,\u201d Doug said.\u00a0\u201cWhy don\u2019t you narrow it down to one country?\u201d
\u201cAll right.\u00a0I\u2019ll pray for Kenya.\u201d
\u201cDo you know anyone in Kenya?\u201d Doug asked.
\u201cNo.\u201d
\u201cEver been to Kenya?\u201d
\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0Bob simply had his heart set on Kenya.

So Doug made a crazy proposition.\u00a0He challenged Bob to pray for Kenya every day for six months.\u00a0If Bob would do that and nothing extraordinary happened, Doug would pay him $500.\u00a0But if something remarkable did happen, Bob would pay Doug $500.\u00a0

And if Bob did not pray every day, the whole deal was off.\u00a0You have to admit, this is what one might call a non-traditional arrangement. But Doug Coe was a creative guy.

Bob began to pray, and for a long while nothing happened.\u00a0

Then one night he attended a dinner in Washington.\u00a0The people around the table explained what they did for a living.\u00a0One woman said she helped run an orphanage in Kenya \u2013 the largest of its kind.

In Orterg\u2019s memorable retelling, Bob could suddenly picture $500 sprouting wings and flying away.\u00a0But he couldn\u2019t keep quiet. He had not said much up to this point, and now he pounded her relentlessly with questions.

\u201cYou\u2019re obviously very interested in my country,\u201d the woman said to Bob, overwhelmed by his sudden surge of curiosity.\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ve been to Kenya before?\u201d
\u201cNo.\u201d
\u201cYou know someone in Kenya?\u201d
\u201cNo.\u201d
\u201cThen how do you happen to be so curious?\u201d
\u201cWell, someone is kind of paying me $500 to pray\u2026\u201d

She asked if he would like to come visit Kenya and tour the orphanage.\u00a0Bob was so eager to go, he would have left that very night if he could.

When Bob arrived in Kenya, he was appalled by the poverty and the lack of basic health care.\u00a0Upon returning to Washington, he couldn\u2019t get Kenya out of his mind.\u00a0He contacted large pharmaceutical companies, describing to them the vast needs he had seen.\u00a0He reminded them that every year they would throw away significant stocks of unsold medical supplies. \u201cWhy not send them to this place in Kenya?\u201d he asked.

And some of them did.\u00a0The orphanage received more than a million dollars\u2019 worth of surplus medicines and supplies.

The woman called Bob up and said, \u201cBob, this is amazing!\u00a0We\u2019ve had the most phenomenal gifts because of the letters you wrote.\u00a0We would like to fly you back over and have a big party.\u00a0Will you come?\u201d So Bob flew back to Kenya.\u00a0

Since this was the largest orphanage in his country, the president of Kenya attended the celebration. He offered to take Bob on a tour of Nairobi, the capital. In the course of the tour they drove past a penitentiary.\u00a0Bob asked about those behind bars.
\u201cThey\u2019re political prisoners,\u201d he was told.
\u201cThat\u2019s a bad idea,\u201d Bob said brightly.\u00a0\u201cYou should let them out.\u201d

Bob finished the tour and flew back home.\u00a0Sometime later, he received a phone call from the State Department of the United States government.
\u201cIs this Bob?\u201d
\u201cYes.\u201d
\u201cWere you recently in Kenya?\u201d
\u201cYes.\u201d
\u201cDid you make any statements to the president about political prisoners?\u201d
\u201cYes.\u201d
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d
\u201cI told him he should let them out.\u201d

The State Department official explained that he and his colleagues had been working for years to get the release of these prisoners, to no avail.\u00a0Normal diplomatic channels and political maneuverings had led to dead ends.\u00a0But now the prisoners had been released, and the State Department was told it had been largely because of\u2026Bob<\/em>.\u00a0So the government was calling to say thanks.

Several months later, the president of Kenya reached out to Bob by phone.\u00a0He was going to rearrange his government and select a new cabinet.\u00a0Would Bob be willing to fly over and pray for him for three days while he worked on this crucial task?\u00a0

So Bob \u2013 an insurance salesman with no political connections, seemingly just a \u201csmall potatoes\u201d guy in the kingdom of God \u2013 boarded a plane once more and flew to Kenya, where he prayed and asked God to provide wisdom for the leader of the nation.

Small steps plus prayer can lead to some very big things.

You may not make $500 because you choose to talk to God.

But you just might end up helping to change the world.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here During a public ministry that lasted almost 60 years, Douglas Coe was one of the most influential spiritual leaders in Washington D.C. Known as the \u201cstealth Billy Graham,\u201d he impacted others through gracious, under-the-radar partnerships with Republicans, Democrats, and everybody in between, not to mention religious groups and denominations of every… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[499,127,179],"class_list":["post-4704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-evangelism","tag-faith","tag-prayer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4706,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4704\/revisions\/4706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}