I stood in a field in Euless, Texas and the field was empty. To the west, trees. To the south and east, industrial warehouses. But in front of me only a blanket of grass.

I stood on a field in Tyler, Texas, and the field was empty. The stands at Rose Stadium that day in 1967 did not echo with the thundering voice of a young preacher. Instead, a teenage student at John Tyler High, with no heart for God and headed for trouble, went about his business. He did not turn his life around, his future daughters did not sing praises to the Lord. Nearly half a century later, her youngest would drive past the field in Euless, and she would be directionless.

I stood in a field in Chugi, Kenya, and the field was empty. The absence of fresh water had laid waste to the children of the village. Where they would be playing there was only silence. Sickness and disease ruled where life and laughter could have flowed like a stream.

I stood in a field and the field was full. Farther than the horizon can stretch the people were crammed together. Five, ten, 20 million in all. Flames burned through the field, like their endless wailing and weeping. The torment of being willfully disconnected from a loving, perfect God.

***

I stood in a field because my heart was full. The millions of lost, sorrowful souls had been found, children’s laughter was mixed with the splashing of fresh water and that teenage boy heard the gospel preached and accepted Christ right then and there. His daughter didn’t pass by that empty field in Euless, but turned into the driveway of 1801 W. Euless Blvd, scurried up to her office and set herself to writing many of the stories you’ve seen this week.

I stood in a field in Euless, Texas and my heart was full, because 73 years ago, when a nurse in Houston, Texas, raped by the son of a patient, went to get an abortion, the doctor said “no.”

For more on the amazing story of James Robison’s birth, see the #100forLife special “James Robison: Unwanted and Nearly Aborted But God Takes Him Beyond His Dreams” from Nancy Flory, whose father was saved after hearing James preach at Rose Stadium in 1967.