The ministry and family of Val Black are deeply saddened at the passing of Pastor Nathan Little.  Pastor Nathan was our Pastor, mentor, traveling companion to Africa, and fishing friend.  In fact, it was his encouragement that birthed this ministry when it began in 1989.

Pastor Nathan was a “preacher’s preacher” and was always ready to share Jesus with anyone.   One of his favorite sayings was, “Make a friend and save a soul”.  Nathan lived by those words and one day when God opens His books it will be learned that many salvations can be credited to Nathan’s witnessing to others.

In 1989 and as the Berlin Wall was being pulled down by people who were fed up with communism, I heard the Lord speak and tell me to print Gospel tracts for Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.  For 50-60 years all three nations had been told by their leaders there was no God and that the government would provide for all their needs.

Shortly after hearing from the Lord, I attended church services and during testimony time Pastor Nathan asked if anyone had something to testify of the goodness of God. A few people spoke up and Nathan asked, “Is there anyone else?”.

I stood to my feet and blurted out, “I think the Lord told me to print tracts for Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary!”.  A little embarrassed, I didn’t know what to expect from the others because it was rare for me to say much of anything publicly in the early days of my Christian walk, let alone that I had heard from God.  But it is burned into my memory that after hearing what I said, I saw Pastor Nathan point his finger at me and say, “You print the tracts and we will buy the paper!”, then he turned, walked to the pulpit, and continued with services. 

That was all the encouragement I needed to proceed with what I believed to be God’s intervention in our lives in order to share the Gospel with tens of thousands of spiritually hungry people.  Doors began to open supernaturally.  I had been reading the book, “The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread” by Richard Booker and I felt in my heart the same author was supposed to write a tract for me to print and the tract would be based on the covenant relationship we have with God through His only Son, Jesus.   I searched and found, Richard Booker’s telephone number in Texas so I called him.  He answered the phone and again I blurted out what I believed God wanted me to do and added, “I think you’re supposed to write the tract”.  Richard Booker laughed and immediately I thought he was going to hang up on some idiot who thought he heard from God. However, when he finished laughing I realized his laughter was relief from a burden that God had placed on his heart.  Mr. Booker then said, “I KNEW I was supposed to write something for Eastern Europe but I didn’t know what!”.  We talked for another few minutes and then hung up. 

About a week later I received the tract from him.  It was titled, “The Greatest News in the World!”.  I printed 10,000 in English and a ministry in California offered to translate it into the Bulgarian language, which uses a Cyrillic alphabet.  10,000 of those were printed in my shop and sent back to the same ministry. The man I talked with on the phone went to Bulgaria with those tracts while the Berlin Wall was still being destroyed.  He later told me that he started passing out the tracts on the train and people were excited.  Those tracts were some of the first of the Gospel message to enter the nation of Bulgaria in 50 years.  The same thing followed with the other nations of Romania and Hungary.  Later, we added the nation of Albania.

About one million Gospel tracts from our small ministry permeated Eastern Europe as those nations allowed Christian materials to flow across their borders.  Thousands read of God’s love for them and He has proven it through His Son, Jesus.

I don’t take credit for anything, God always gets the credit, but I do credit and am eternally grateful to Pastor Nathan for that little bit of encouragement the time when I gave my first testimony in church and Pastor Nathan said, “You print them and we’ll pay for the paper!”.

Nathan is now with his lovely wife, Etta, and both are in the Arms of their beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

My wife, Julie, and I will see them both again one day and we will all give glory to God!