Succeeding in the World & Sowing into the Kingdom

“I promised God that if I was ever successful, He wouldn't have to come looking for me.”

Mar 19, 2025

Below is a snippet of a conversation with John Linke, a 75-year-old man with a great sense of humor. At a young age, John promised God that if he was ever successful, “He wouldn’t have to come looking for me.” After starting a business at 39 years old that enabled him to retire at 50, John kept his promise. He and his wife have spent nearly 20 years supporting missions work in Kenya, funding the building of a dormitory at a boarding school that has grown from three children 20 years ago to 738 children today. If you prefer listening, you can listen to or watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

When I was in my 20s and 30s, I kept losing jobs. Companies were bought out. It just was a mess and I kept starting over with 25-year-olds whose wives were expecting their first baby. So I said, Lord, I'm really tired of this. If you got a plan for me, could you kick it in? Because I'm way past ready.

So anyhow, a couple of days later, it came to me, I had this idea. And I told Chris, and then our pastor gave a message that a turtle can't move ‘till it sticks its neck out. And I said, man, that is what I needed to hear. So I stuck my neck out. I was 39. And just as I was turning 50, I sold the business, sold it for enough that I didn't have to work again. Like I said, I'm 75 years old, that's 25 years. So it's been good.

But Norman Vincent Peale said, if you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it. So I named the business CBA Distributing for Conceive, Believe and Achieve. My logo was an oak tree. And the reason for that is that the oak is a little acorn that stood its ground. It began from a little acorn that stood its ground.

Anyhow, I just had so much motivation and the idea is that the way that you get what you want out of life is to help others get what they want out of life. If each one of us pulls the next guy up, we all get eventually get to the top. And it's not about becoming rich or important. It’s about how you finish.

What was the business you started?

Well, the last company I worked for was called Serva Portion. And they made all the little ketchups and musters and jellies. I mean, mixed fruit jelly. Who's ever had a mixed fruit tree?

But anyhow, when I was working for them, I'd go and stop at convenience stores and I'd see they'd have these boards on the wall with two pill packs of Anacin, Bayer, Tylenol, and Alka-Seltzer. And then they might be out of Alka-Seltzer and Tylenol, but they'd have four boards. They'd have lots of Anacin and Bayer, but no Tylenol. So I said, there's gotta be a better way to do this.

So I came up with a small display about the size of this iPad where we could put four items on it. And then I went a little higher, we could put six items on it. But anyhow, I got people to represent me. First of all, I'd go and generate some business in a town. I'd get the distributor to put me in. And then I'd get a broker to represent me and he'd call the distributors and the chains. And it just kind of built.

But it was just the simple, over-the-counter drugs sample. And this was at a time when everybody, nobody had these things in their medicine cabinet. They were paying a buck for a Coke and a hot dog for lunch. And if they had a headache, they just bought this off a packet like this for 49 or 69 cents. Now I see them out there for almost two bucks.

But it was just an easy business. And the distributors loved me because I was enthusiastic. And when they told me no, I said, ‘You just don't know enough.’ I'm saying K-N-O-W. I got to come back and show you. I mean, I didn't say that at the time, but that was what my thinking was. So I'd go back another time and show them. And one guy said, Linke, we didn't want to buy from you, but you're just too enthusiastic. We didn't have the heart to tell you no.

What was the secret to your success?

Well, I promised God that if I was ever successful, He wouldn't have to come looking for me. And I wrote something down the other day that I heard on Robert Jeffress. And he said, ’Genuine faith always precedes abundant blessings.’ And when I was walking at night and praying, I did this a lot. I told the Lord if I was ever successful, He wouldn't have to come looking for me. So, Chris and I have been able to do a lot.

We've bought more computers for more schools, and things like that. We support missions in Kenya, we've just had some fantastic opportunities. And most of our money went to building a dormitory at a boarding school in Kenya. And they put up a plaque that said ‘Thanks to the generosity of.’ We didn't know they were doing something like that. But on one of her visits to Kenya, when they met Chris, she was like a celebrity because this was just a special thing that the kids really needed. The school started with three children 20 years ago who have lost their parents to AIDS and their relatives couldn't take care of them. And now we have 738 kids in this school. And it's just an amazing mission. It's just been phenomenal.

Anyhow, I think the reason I was blessed is so that I could be a part of some of these things. Because I'm not clutching onto whatever we've got. We're sharing it.

I'm hoping that someday I'll be in heaven and, we all got imaginations, but that some young person will come up to me and say, ‘Hey, aren't you Big John?’ And I'll say, ‘Yeah.’ And they'll say, ‘Well, I'm here because of you. I went to that school in Kenya.’ I’ll say, ‘Well, that's great. Very nice to meet you. Glad you're here.’

So I'm not investing so much in the day-to-day that the kids get food and teaching, although that's what they're getting. I'm investing in the long-term. I want to see them turn out to be good mothers, good fathers, good husbands, and good nurses, good teachers. And we can see that that part of Kenya is changing because these kids are performing well in school and it's changing the way they live.

What have you learned about God throughout your journey?

Well, I learned that God really loves me and protects me. About two and a half years ago, I fell and broke my back. I'd had a number of falls. Older people have falls apparently. So I fall, and in the moment I fell, I heard the crack. And I know it was the bone breaking in my back. And I just said, Lord, I know you're bringing people into the kingdom every day. That's me down front with my hand raised. Please bring me. I got everything taken care of for my kids. Chris was taken care, provided for. If you will, I'm ready to come. I'm really looking forward to it.

And when I tell this story to people, sometimes they say, well, you're not supposed to think that way. And I said, well, I've been going to church all my life singing about one day going to be with Jesus. I don't want people praying, not now, not now. So I'm ready. Let's get the show on the road. If God left me to sit here and watch TV for the next few years, then that's going to be hard.

You know, everybody will tell me that God has a purpose for this. So I say, God, would you please step up and show me the purpose? So what I decided is we live in a retirement community of about, there's probably 500 apartments here and 900 people and lots of people who are single. So because I'm not quiet and shy, I just enjoy meeting people. So I decided my purpose was to meet people and see how they're doing and to feel our way along to where we can talk about Jesus.

Most people here are 75 years older. I'm like a kid and there's a sea of blue rinse going out of this place on hair day. But I couldn't think of what else I could do, so I just throw myself into meeting people. Everybody's interesting. It’s just fun to talk to people and to listen. There’s a lot of heartbreak in a place like this. People who have lost husbands tragically, who have lost children tragically. And there's a lot of pain. But it is fun to just talk to people and to listen.

Wise words worth echoing:

- “God has a plan for your life, but it’s a lot easier to pull a rope than it is to push a rope.”

- “You just have to keep doing the right things right and things will take shape for you.”

- “The world isn’t going to show you the good way. Follow where God leads you.”

- “You’re able to make better decisions if you’re in the Word.”

- “God wrote a pretty good book…and if you read it, it can shape you.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Thank you for being here,

Katharine

P.S. Eternal Echoes is free today. But if you’d like to partner with me in passing on faith and wisdom to future generations, I’d be so grateful if you consider supporting my work. I thank you truly, kindly and sincerely.

Eternal Echoes