“…in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (Matthew 18:16b)
Ephesians 4 tells us that God has sent into the Body a five-fold ministry (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers) “…for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” When God speaks His Word through one of His ministries and the same thing through another one, then each one knows that, “This is God, because we are witnessing together.” Two, according to the Word of God, make witness. If those two ministries are of God, they must work together.
I remember the time we were in Champaign, Illinois, and I felt a little funny. A brother in the Lord asked me a question, “Brother Cecil, I have heard what you say and I believe what you say, but how come nobody else is saying what you are saying? How is it that we don’t hear the other preachers preach what you preach?” My problem was, I didn’t know anybody at that time. So I said to God, “God, please send me a matured person who is working in the Spirit and who could complement the thing I am saying.”
Fifteen years prior to that, a man walked into the church I was pastoring in Falmouth, Jamaica. He came to me and said, “I want to meet you, for God said I must meet you.” I replied, “Well, I am pleased to meet you.” He gave me a checkered coat and I thanked him for it. After our short interaction he walked out and was gone.
Fifteen years later, the same brother was on an airplane going to Detroit. I was on another airplane also going to Detroit at the same time. I had an appointment to preach at a certain church and this brother had an appointment to preach at the same church, but we didn’t know this about each other. When I got to Detroit, my telephone rang. My brother Frank, who was pastoring a church in Detroit, called and said, “I have a man here that tells me you are going to call me and when you do, I am to give you a telephone number in order to call this brother who you met years ago in Jamaica.”
Later on I found out what had happened: The brother was on an airplane coming to Detroit and he saw this man there. God told him to go and talk to the man. Do you know what he asked him? He asked, “Do you know Cecil duCille?” Imagine this: You are on an airplane, get up from your seat, go to a passenger who you have never seen before and ask him, “Do you know Cecil duCille?” The man replied, “Yes, I do. And, as a matter of fact, I am going to meet his brother, Frank, right after we land.” He said, “All right. When you meet him, please give him this phone number and tell him to have Cecil call me.”
I, therefore, called him and now, listen to our conversation:
I asked, “What are you doing in Detroit? Where are you going?”
He replied, “I am going to preach at such-and-such a church.”
I said, “That is exactly the place where I am going to preach, too. When are you going to preach there?”
He replied, “Tonight.”
I said, “Oh, I am preaching there tomorrow night. And where are you going afterwards?”
He replied, “I am going to a little church down in Champaign-Urbana called the ‘Living Word’.”
I said, “Oh, that is where I am going, too! When are you going there?”
He replied, “I’ll be there at such and such a night.”
I said, “All right, I will meet you there.”
Isn’t that amusing? He didn’t say anything more and I didn’t either. Brother Johnson in Champaign-Urbana who arranged meetings in the Living Word church made a mistake and set an appointment for both of us to be there at the same time. At least, he thought it was a mistake. But I knew it was no mistake, because this could not be so coincidental!
When I arrived in Champaign-Urbana, I saw the same brother who had come into my church fifteen years earlier. He came in late and walked right in. Brother Johnson was so embarrassed. He apologized, “Oh, Brother Cec, please forgive me. I have made an appointment for two people to preach here at the same time.” I said, “No, you haven’t made any mistake. Brother Campbell must preach tonight.” This is the story of how I met Brother Tom Campbell, a man who God called to be one of the prophets to the Body of Christ. I know God sent him to me in order to answer my prayer!
