Love of teaching motivates missionary/pastor to write

Some people take life one tiny step at a time, testing constantly to make sure the path is still clear; others hear God’s “Follow me,” and dive right in.

Eric E. Wright is a diver.

Eric, who uses the initial E. to separate him from Canadian mystery writer Eric Wright, was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto. But the city-boy grew up loving nature and decided to become a forestry engineer.

But in 1955, he went forward at a Billy Graham crusade, attended a home Bible study and dove right in. At Urbana, he heard God’s call to Pakistan to help people instead of trees. After graduation from University of Toronto with a BA in forestry engineering, he enrolled in Columbia International University’s Master of Divinity program.

At Columbia, he met American Mary Helen, who had also been converted during university and also felt called to Pakistan. After graduation, marriage and a year’s internship, Eric and Mary Helen joined International Christian Fellowship, a British-based mission organization. In 1964, they went to West Pakistan.

Due to a personnel shortage, Wright was asked to become field leader after only a year. He took the challenge, but later became frustrated by their ineffectiveness in training national leaders. While home on furlough, he heard about TEE (Theological Education by Extension) and upon his return to Pakistan helped found what became Open Theological Seminary.

Wright, who had enjoyed the challenges of writing good term papers and prayer letters, discovered the joy of writing teaching materials. He wrote the lesson in Urdu, a Pakistani language, made copies on an old mimeograph machine, and took them to one of the four centres where students gathered. There, he went over the chapter from the week before and handed out the new one. Working this way, he eventually wrote six books.

In 1980, Wright, Mary Helen and their three children returned to Canada on sabbatical only to see their support “simply dry up.” While waiting for God’s direction, Eric completed a paper he’d been asked to write for his mission. Because of the mission director’s connections with the Evangelical Publishers in England, Eric’s paper became a book, Tell The World.

In 1982, Wright was asked to pastor a church in Toronto. For nine years he was a full-time pastor, but the writing bug had caught him. His classes turned into small booklets and he took a six-month sabbatical to write Church—No Spectator Sport (EP), which grew out of a study on spiritual gifts.

In 1991, hearing a new call to follow God’s leading, Wright resigned from his church to become a full-time writer. It was a very difficult year financially, but eventually God provided a log house on a small acreage in Campbellcroft, east of Toronto, where Wright’s love of nature was at last allowed to bloom, and the result was the delightful book, Through a Country Window, which he self-published.

Wright continued to teach missions part time at Toronto Baptist Seminary while he began a freelance writing business. He also served as interim pastor for a number of churches. Most important, he wrote two more books for the Evangelical Press: Strange Fire and Revolutionary Forgiveness.

Wright still preaches and does seminars from time to time and he edits the The Fellowship LINK, but his primary focus is on writing a practical theology of missions, gathering ideas for a devotional book and stretching himself by tackling a suspense novel. Ever the teacher, Wright strives to make complicated things simple. His greatest reward is to hear a reader say, “That clarifies something for me.”

Wright’s biggest frustration is the time and effort it takes to get his books (especially the self-published one) into bookstores in Canada. “Some bookstores are marvelous; some are a real turn-off. So far, the secular stores seem more interested.” To date, Eric has managed to get his book into 50 stores in Southern Ontario, including Chapters and Coles.

Looking back on the varied life he and his family have led, Eric has no regrets. “There’s an amazing providence and provision of God in our life. We’ve never lacked. The Lord has engineered our lives so I would have all theses varied circumstance for a purpose.” And that purpose is to share what he has learned with others.

He encourages others to dive in and follow whatever dream God places in your heart. After all, that philosophy has worked well for him!

Eric’s web site www.countrywindow.ca

Nancy J. Lindquist is a versatile writer, whose work includes four novels for teens. If you would like bookmarks highlighting Canadian authors (for yourself or enough for your church) contact her at njlindquist@rogers.com or phone: 877-842-8574.

Published in ChristianWeek August 5, 2003 Volume 17 Number 10