I am living in a nine hundred year old indigenous village somewhere on the outskirts of Hong Kong, and I have a brief moment. I will continue to write more when we arrive in Nairobi and have more access to the net, but for now I want to share just a bit about what God is doing in China. He
deserves our awe, and His movement in China is truly awesome. Because I love
the people that I’ve met here, and because I want to protect our contacts and
our newest(!!!) brothers and sisters in Christ (and their families), I will not
mention names, certain locations, certain activities or certain testimonies
that are dear to my heart… but something must be said because there is a
REVIVAL in this place! But this revival is one of a kind. It looks differently
than what a revival in the US might look like. I have read stories about
missionaries living in these parts for ten years without ever meeting any of
the disguised saints who have been so faithful in propagating the gospel
through the oft-persecuted underground churches. Yet on one of my first days
here, as we were enjoying some lotus roots at a random street vendor in some
quiet nook of town, God introduced to us a house church leader who just so
happened to have been walking by and just so happened to have known a contact
with us and just so happened to have felt completely unthreatened by a group of
seven foreign strangers. From that moment on, I knew God wanted to include us
in His beautiful orchestration and to share with us a small glimpse of the
invisible world that lies beneath the public domain and government oppression.
The saying is something like, “with every closed door comes an open window,”
but to me, this month was nothing but wide-open doorframes and windows without
panes. It was like going to an immense mansion in a previously closed
neighborhood that had never before received visitors and being welcomed by an
infinitely gracious and all-powerful host who had so longed for guests that he
unlocked every door and unhinged every window upon your arrival. God is the
gracious Host in China, and His doors are open. Truly, through the prophet
Ezekiel, God reminds us of His faithfulness, “Behold, I Myself will search for
My sheep and seek them out (34:11).” “I will seek the lost, bring back the
scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick (v. 16). And we saw these verses literally come
alive this month. Even though many of the people didn’t even know the name of
Jesus, there was a profound hunger for the truth. The field was and is ripe for
the harvest. In Part 2, I will share a personal story or two about exactly how God used me this month.
TO BE CONTINUED
PS. My computer is now fixed, but I lost all blogs/pictures/videos from the Philippines. I did, however, manage to salvage three or four photos that were still in my camera. Here is one of them! This little girl was an absolute joy. I think she and her sister saw me less as a missionary and more as a smiling jungle gym. I pray that she learns to lean on God for love and provision and that He stirs her heart and protects her every step.
