My next Asia trip was planned for the end of November 2006. It will be a small group, going for the purpose of establishing contacts with college students who come to our coffee shop for a break from their studies, have a little social time, and have English conversations with any English speaking people who might be there. In this setting they are free to ask questions about Christianity, which most of them do. We are free to answer their questions, but must be very careful not to add additional information that goes beyond what was being asked. Authorities know what we are doing there and test us from time to time by sending in a decoy. As long as we stay within their guidelines we are free to continue our presence there and answer any appropriate questions and carry on conversation. Any further conversation we would like to have must be done with them personally and appropriately at some other location. These conversations can continue by email. I have several that have gone on for years.
Another purpose of our trip is to have a time of prayer on location. It is true that we could stay here in the states and pray, but our prayers would lack the detail and context they would have by being there in person. Hearing about something is not the same as experiencing it. The experience provides a much greater depth and breadth to our prayers and justifies the expense and inconvenience of traveling there. When I now return to the locations where I have spent time prayer walking I experience a sense of His presence and a value of past activity that I had not had before. You really experience and understand something that others may see as foolish until they also become involved.
Soon it was time to pack my bags and head off to DFW for the long and exhausting trip over, but as with past trips I always return with many memories, some which linger clearly in my mind today some eight years after they happened. On this trip there were memories of a very close call as we crossed the intersection of a busy highway one night, memories of special times of prayer and fellowship with each other, and memories of special times with some very special people we met at our coffee house.
The road we were crossing one night was an eight lane highway with two additional bike lanes. At this intersection two high speed lanes came down off a bridge and join two service lanes. Going the other way are four normal city lanes of traffic. There is a narrow median separating the different directions of traffic flow. We were crossing with the light with traffic stopped at our left. As we approached the last lane before the median we heard the screeching of tires and then the crunching of metal and the breaking of glass to our left. After the first collision came a second and then a third, each one getting closer and closer to us. Just as we stepped into the median the last car was hit and driven into the space we had just stepped out of. A person following me was just ready to step ahead into that last lane when the car was driven by just in front of her. By God’s grace everyone made it across safely, but what a mess of smashed vehicles existed behind us. That night we all had some very vivid dreams as we relived the experience that could have ended in disaster for us.
The times of prayer and fellowship with members of the team were special. Since there were just four of us men we were given a room with four beds. This was really a neat experience. Our times of prayer as a team, as we walked from place to place was very special and is an experience you can’t appreciate until you have done it. Time alone with national leaders who spoke English was a time not to be missed. What a special time as God’s children came together and got to know each other.
Time at the coffee house was unusually rich this time as the depth of conversation reflected hearts of people who were searching for something to give meaning to their lives. In particular there were four business men and two women from the university who were seriously interested in learning about Christianity and wanted further dialog by email. The process of watching God work in their hearts is a joy to experience. Seeing them move from a position of contention to the desire to know more is a very rewarding experience. One asked me privately outside where he could obtain a copy of the Bible.
Near the end of this fall trip I received a call from one of our full time workers located in a large city to the east of us. He wanted to know if I would be interested and able to come for a four month teaching and mentoring assignment. The students would be seminary students and the content would be Bible and English. As he shared with me I felt in my heart that this was an opportunity that God had spent a lifetime preparing me for and one that I desperately want to enter into. This would come with some sacrifice, especially for my family, but I needed to prayerfully consider it.
This trip, in many ways, was like watching a flower open up into a beautiful blossom as life returned at springtime. Previous trips reminded me of fall and winter as I saw opportunities drying up and going away. The Bible tells us that there are season when things flourish and a time when they don’t. It seemed like I had come through the barren time of winter and now after much prayer I am beginning to see new life that comes with the advent of the spring season. The opportunity presented to me could open up another area for others to join me in working there. I am so glad for the experience of these past five trips for without them I would be unqualified from a cultural position to know how to live there and serve in this next opportunity, if I were to accept it.
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