Boarding a Soviet era bus, we sat down next to Polly Poole, a man we met a few days earlier. The trip from Tallinn, Estonia to Leipa, Latvia was an eight-hour bus ride. Polly was a businessman with a passion to make Christ known to the whole world. As the bus started rolling, we said to him, "Tell us the deeper things God has shown to you".
Polly began with his personal testimony of the power of Christ to transform a life. Then, he imparted wisdom into our hearts. It was a master class arranged by God. He explained the importance of equipping leaders who will equip other leaders so the spread of the Gospel can be accelerated. He shared,
“Jesus said the ‘harvest
is plentiful but the
workers are few.”
Then he challenged us to dedicate our lives to fulfilling the Great Commission. He began to mentor us, and six years later, he served as the founding board chairman of the International Leadership Institute. When Polly went to heaven, his daughter, Pam, called and said, “We believe daddy would like for you to have his personal desk.” Today, we write from this very desk this tribute about James “Polly” Poole, who paved the way for us.
Tabitha loves the Bible and loves children, but when faced with the daunting reality of nearly three million orphans in her nation, she lacked the vision to make a difference. Little did she know, God had BIG plans to use Tabitha's love for the Word to make history in Kenya.