Time in Asia came to a close, and while I’m beyond excited to be in South America, I’m going to miss the region of the world I fell in love with.
The people, the culture, the rice, the noodles, the dress, the markets (and its oh-so pleasant fragrances), the smiles…Asia will be forever ingrained in my heart.
From stepping foot in Vietnam to flying out of Myanmar, I’ve seen extreme poverty, idol worship run deep, women enslaved, men deceived and a longing in the eyes above the smiles people give. But I’ve also seen idols fall, beggars fed, women prayed for, orphans loved and eyes misty at the unveiling of Christ’s love.
I left Myanmar wanting more. More to happen. I wanted the friends I made to know Jesus right here in the now.
But, I rest and trust that God’s plan for me and my team this past month was to be seed planters. To introduce the love of Jesus through action and truth. To be the first to tell them about the amazing life they could have with Jesus.
God has allowed my team to take part in the planting and harvesting journey that takes place further down the road in someone’s spiritual walk.
In Cambodia, teams before us had been coming for years to this one particular village, to this one particular woman. As my team and I got to know her and eventually share the Gospel with her, the love she had been hearing about for so long finally made sense. Maybe her heart had been changing over the years, softening as seasons of life come and go. I don’t know. All I know is that we got to reap the harvest of so many others’ labor and see this woman joyfully and triumphantly declare that she wanted to follow Jesus.
Similarly in Thailand, we were the fifth team to serve at a public high school. The school was considered Buddhist because “to be Thai is to be Buddhist,” which is the normative thought for the majority of Southeast Asia. Becoming a Christian would be like changing one’s race. It just didn’t make sense.
Most all of our co-teachers where Buddhist, and we simply loved them through action. That’s the way the Holy Spirit has been leading us that month.
A few days before leaving, we organized a small “teacher appreciation” party for them. We themed the night around thankfulness and shared all the reasons we were thankful to God for them and the school. My teammate later shared a devo on why we give thanks and who we give thanks to. In it, she laid out the Gospel simply, beautifully and coated in love,grace and thankfulness. The presence of the Holy Spirit was beyond evident in her words.
After she shared, we asked the teachers to share why they were thankful for the school, but the conversation took a very different turn.
Instead, the teachers began talking about why they were thankful for us. And to our ears, came the greatest, most humbling response:
“When I first heard that Christian missionaries were coming to teach English with us, I wasn’t very happy. I thought you all would just be trying to convert us all the time. But instead you have helped us with our lessons and own English and spent time with our students, even the ones who are not as smart. No other team has shared this message and my heart is touched as I hear this. I’m very emotional. And I thank….God…for you.”
We sat there awestruck, jaws half-dropped.
The simple Gospel that shifted the atmosphere of an entire room. Shifted the hearts of people ready to hear the good news and love Christ had for them.
*Don’t read that story and assume teams should have shared with the teachers sooner. Maybe they should have, but maybe they shouldn’t have. Missions and evangelism has no box, and there’s no black and white way they are done. All I know is four teams had planted the seed of the tangible love of Christ. And for these Buddhist women, that was vital in order for the Gospel to be truly heard…because they had first seen it lived. And who knows, maybe the next team will be the one’s to harvest. That’s for sure my prayer.
Back to Myanmar, we were seed planters in the earliest stages. I so desperately wanted my friends to have a better understanding of Jesus’ love for them before I left, but I am learning that “success” in missions is not measured by the number of people giving their lives to Christ or the depth of our spiritual conversations.
Success is…I was obedient to what God called me to do. Success is…I loved well and sought to make my friends feel known and seen.
So in the midst of fighting disappointment that conversations or relationships didn’t play out like I envisioned, I trust the Lord’s perfect plans and know he wants them to be in relationship with Him a million times more than I want that for them.
Overall, Asia has been one whirlwind of a season. From seeing God penetrate hearts and living in community to pursuing biblical perseverance in my own walk, I’m ready to see what this last continent holds!
