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"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'"
(Isaiah 6:8)
The next day of our trip, I got up at 5:30 a.m., had my quiet time, and ate breakfast with some of the pastors at the conference. Our host translated and shared with me some of what these men face. One pastor has 500 people in his church and another 250 in the mountains who he travels once a quarter to visit. He and his team walk the entire journey, and it takes them 28 hours to reach their destination. There are tigers along the path, but they pray, and God protects them. He and his team stop after 14 hours and spend the night at one of the local churches. If this pastor is caught baptizing new converts, he will go to prison for five years. These men live with this constant pressure, but they have so much joy! This same pastor told me he preached my For the One messages to his church. I was deeply blessed to hear that. I had been told that the pastors who come to the conference will take our sermons and preach them, but to hear this man tell me this firsthand was a major encouragement to me.
At the conference, we had pastors from six countries. We were joined by a missionary from Germany who taught the pastors as well. One of the pastors told us some of his story. He shared how he and his wife started their church in 2008. They would pray every morning at 4:00 a.m. at the city plaza. Today, they have 400 people in the church and are starting eight new churches with pastors trained in the school at their church. They too experience persecution. Despite frequent harassment, they keep going strong for Jesus. They are seeing many young people come to faith in Christ. They are accused of coercing people to convert to Christ, but that is not the case. They are faithfully sharing the Gospel, and God is using them powerfully. (I will write more about this pastor later this week.)
We finished up the three-day conference and the following day treated the pastors to a fun day in the gulf. We took a boat ride, fished, snorkeled, and just had a wonderful day. Seeing these pastors go down a slide into the gulf was great. Not a worry in the world; they were simply having a good time. In America, we enjoy days like this frequently, but for these men, I believe this was the first time any of them were able to spend a day like this on the water. Some churches in the USA, including GHBC and our DFEA ministry, were able to contribute financially so these men could have a fun day. Jesus hit the nail on the head in Acts 20:35 where Paul quotes our Lord saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Amen!
I have learned through the years, when you are on a mission trip, if possible, take some time off and enjoy the country you are visiting. On some trips, I know this cannot happen, but it usually can. You must schedule and commit to taking a day off to replenish and recharge so you can keep going strong. God knew we needed the rest, because the next part of our mission trip was going to be intense and action-packed.
I hope you are enjoying this recollection of my mission trip to Asia. God has His people everywhere, and He is working powerfully.
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