Mark Gillmore: Hello, I'm Mark Gillmore, here once again with our GoMission podcast. And today I have the privilege to sit down here with one of the men in our church who has been a great testimony to me through the years, just in regard to his faithfulness of gospel witness. I know often here in our GoMission podcast, we're talking about things God is doing around the world. Uh, but just recently, God brought, uh, Brother Bill's story before me and I thought, this is exactly the encouragement we need here on our GoMission podcast: to be a witness, not just globally, but to be a witness right here at home and in the areas where God has us living almost even on a daily basis. So, Brother Bill, welcome. Hi. It's good—good to have you here with our, uh, our podcast today. And you have been now a member here at my home church for—

Bill Chaney: Over thirty years.

Mark Gillmore: That's right. Over thirty years. And we have done a lot together in ministry, youth ministry, and, and of course, gospel ministry, evangelism and outreach. Could you just share just as you, uh, as a man growing in the Lord, how did God begin to stir your heart about just being a witness for him? Um, just as life goes along, how, how did he stir you to be that kind of witness for him?

Bill Chaney: Well, when we first came to the church, uh, we met up with a couple. They picked us up right away and started discipling us. And we'd go out soulwinning and then with other guys, too. And that was just a thing that we just did it once a week, you know?

Mark Gillmore: So in that discipleship relationship, you went out witnessing with them on a weekly basis, and that rhythm really became part of your life. Yes. Praise the Lord. Now you are a police officer. Retired now. Retired now? Yes. And I can't imagine the different experiences that you had, but you took that gospel witness right into your into your workplace. Yes. That seems to have some opportunities, but also challenges. What were kind of some of the witnessing opportunities that you took just to give the gospel to people?

Bill Chaney: Well, being on the motorcycle, I could go down bike paths and find people sleeping in the woods or between mattresses piled high and just people's under tarps in the wintertime, you know, it just. So you spend time, check on them, make sure they're they're good. And if they need any help.

Mark Gillmore: Mhm. And I'm sure you encounter all sorts of situations. And as a believer, you're thinking the greatest thing these people need is the gospel. Yes. And your heart must go out to folks. Now, you had a situation in which, um, you encountered a lady just. And it turned out to be a very dramatic illustration, really, of the hand of God in the life of a faithful witness. How just recount that story for us.

Bill Chaney: Well, it was a traffic bureau for a long time. And so I pulled over a car for some violations, talked to the lady there, and she was out of sorts. She was really at wit's end. She just poured out her woes and all the problems. And I said, well, you got to take care of this stuff. You can't just drive around like that. And, um, so I went back and wrote her some tickets and she was still just beyond herself. So I gave her a tract and I shared some of the gospel with her. I shared how she can talk to a lady at our church if she, if she calls and it just as far as I could go. But, um, I just said, I have to leave you, but just just call, you know, so and then.

Mark Gillmore: So, just putting yourself in your shoes there, I mean, here's this lady just emotionally a complete basket case. And obviously her life is falling apart, and these violations—and she is so needy, and your heart goes out to her, and you offer her the gospel tract. And that's your heart; you're caring. And that's kind of the end of it for you. And what happened next?

Bill Chaney: Uh, months down the road, I got called into the internal affairs department. The police department talked to a sergeant. He showed me a copy of the tract that I gave—it was all worn out and shredded. But, uh, I said, yeah, I gave her that tract. And he says, well, I order you to never witness or hand out tracts again, you know, to anybody on the police department while you're in uniform. So I thought about it, and the Lord just impressed on me that I should just say, “I'll obey.” And I pointed to him: “You—that you, Sergeant—I'll obey you, because that's an order and I'm under authority.” So I did.

Mark Gillmore: Well, so I just that sense of. Okay, just kind of the, um, the crisis of that moment, like, how do I handle this all of a sudden this witnesses becoming a controversy. And the sergeant says, don't ever witness again. And you're thinking, what do I do now? And you're telling me very clearly, God told you, say, I will obey him.

Bill Chaney: I will obey that sergeant because I'm under authority. And he took away my gun and my badge and gave me a three-day holiday without pay. And I sat home thinking, what's going on here? What's going on? I can't understand it, but I'm trusting the Lord, you know. And so on the last day, I went back to work, got my gun and badge back, stood at roll call, and all the guys came over and they handed me money, which would have added up to about the amount of money I lost for not working. That was amazing.

Mark Gillmore: That's amazing. Absolutely amazing that those fellow officers really they were supporting you.

Bill Chaney: Yeah.

Mark Gillmore: And God completely paid what you were. What was taken away? Yes. That's amazing. I absolutely love it. God is so good.

Bill Chaney: So I went back to work and everything was normal. And. Just did what I was supposed to do. A regular officer again. And about six weeks later, at roll call again, the sergeant was reading the all the updates that we have to know. And he said, we're sorry to have to tell you that one of our sergeants passed away and he gave his name. And that was the exact sergeant that told me not to witness. He, he his wife was in the hospital, came home, he was helping her and he dropped over dead of a brain aneurysm. And then I knew I was clear and I could go back to witnessing. And nobody ever bothered me again about that.

Mark Gillmore: Six weeks later, the man who forbade you to witness drops dead of a brain aneurysm. And God releases you from that promise to never witness. And you never faced another obstacle to witnessing again.

Bill Chaney: That's correct.

Mark Gillmore: That's just amazing. For how many years were you on the police department?

Bill Chaney: Over twenty six.

Mark Gillmore: Over twenty six years. And that was the instance. And God removed that barrier. Yes.

Bill Chaney: I feel sorry for him.

Mark Gillmore: But yeah, the man didn't know that he was dealing with a divine mandate that God was going to see through and protect. And you were just a humble, obedient servant of the Lord. Mhm. And so there's another angle to that, as this officer had died. Um.

Bill Chaney: Oh. At the funeral, I got posted at the front of the building, making sure the traffic was going smooth and the people were in and out. And so I had to be at the front door at his funeral.

Mark Gillmore: Wow. Those are big, big affairs with all the department and, you know, city officials—the death of a sergeant. And yet there you are, posted as the one directing. I'm just thinking about this verse that you shared earlier: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers.” And you just see in your story that there is a Lord of the harvest. There's a sovereign God surrounding His servants who obey Him. And He just showed His hand in such a remarkable way. And I, as I hear that story, um, it just encourages—it really can encourage all of us—that as we step out and witness, don't allow the fear of man to stand in the way. Show respect properly; don't be difficult or, um, insist on, you know, your rights or your way, but just be available, speak from the heart, and God's going to protect you. He is. And He's going to honor. Even when it seems like a door is closed, He can open that door back up in the most dramatic ways. Um, so, Brother Bill, thank you so much for just being a faithful witness and for being that instrument that God could use to show us His hand in such a remarkable way. And our prayer here today is that this story would encourage each one of us not to allow our faith to be determined by our setting. Maybe someone is battling, “Should I be a witness in this scenario or not?” And God wants you to take a step of faith and speak for Him. Maybe you have been forbidden to witness and you've been discouraged about that, and God wants you to be encouraged. God can open this door back up. He can do anything and everything to see His witness go forward. Just trust Him to intervene and give you that freedom once again to speak for Him. So wherever you may be in that continuum, may God use each one of you and each one of us to be a witness for Him. So remember, in a world of uncertainty and turmoil, the only way to stay at peace is to stay on mission with Jesus in His GoMission.