Our time in Myanmar was one of my favorite months on the Race, it was the perfect balance of evangelism, fun, and rest. We spent most of our time working with Agape Orphanage in a small quiet town called Pyin Oo Lwin, also known as the City of Flowers. In the mornings my team would teach English and play with the kids in the orphanage, and in the afternoons our hosts would takes us on house visits to give us the opportunity to share our testimonies with local non-believers. One of my favorite stories from the entire Race comes from one of our many house visits.
Hannah, our host, took us to visit one of her friend’s family whom she had shared the gospel with multiple times in the past. The family was Hindu and could not accept Jesus as their only Lord and Savior. Our team drove up to the house and the first thing we noticed was the two dozen cows standing in front for the house. Getting inside without stepping in a cow’s “land mine” was not an easy task! We walked inside and meet the family of 15. There were three generations waiting to meet us, the loving grandmother, a mother and father, a curious uncle, and multiple children. In the corner of the main room was a large picture of Krishna, a Hindu god, that was surrounded by flowers and offerings. Around the house were more pictures of Krishna and other Hindu gods.
We started out the same way we started every house visit, we introduced ourselves and told the family why we were traveling around the world. A few of us told the family our life stories and explained how Jesus completely changed our lives to the point where we are compelled to share His love and hope with others. You could feel God’s presence in the room and we knew He was softening the hearts of the family. It felt like God was about to move right in front of us and the family would have a life changing revelation.
They were obviously very interested and moved by everyone’s testimony. There were money problems within the family and were unsure of any possible solution, they expressed how praying to their gods had not yet yielded any fruit. The family clearly needed the hope of Jesus in their lives but they were bogged down by years of worshiping all other gods. We lead them in the sinner’s prayer, the only problem was we were unsure if they understood the need of turning away from their idols and only following Jesus.
Before we left Solomon stepped out in boldness and told the family they needed to turn from all other gods and throw away the idols kept in the house. It’s a difficult topic to talk about with Hindu people because explaining how Yahweh is the only way is contrary to what they believe. To them there are many gods and it is completely valid to worship all of them, so Jesus could be added to the gods they worshiped. Asking them to give up on those beliefs was hard because we didn’t know if they had experienced a real revelation of Jesus. They told us they would consider throwing away their idols. Then we prayed for them one last time and left. I was excited with what we were able to do with the family but I was also disappointed they didn’t turn away from their idols.
A couple months later John-Morgan received an email from Hannah. She explained that she revisited the family and they had burned all of their idols! By the time we heard the news I had already forgotten about the family, we were busy doing work in Kazakhstan after going through China and Mongolia. But God had been working on that family the whole time.
A lot of the time I forget that planting seeds actually works. I know I always want quick results and to see people’s lives changed right in front of my eyes. When I don’t see the results in front of me I tend to feel a bit of disappointment and failure, I always forget that God is still working and won’t stop seeking the lost. He’ll continually use and tend to the seeds His followers have planted.
Going into the 10/40 window I assumed everyone would be begging for the hope and grace of Jesus, that just wasn’t the case. Honestly, throughout the Race we didn’t see as many “salvation” as I initially wanted and even now it can be hard to not be disappointed with the numbers. But we did plant seeds. We loved every single person we met, we prayed for everyone that would let us, and we shared our testimony with anyone who would listen.
God never asked us to save people, only He can do that, but a lot of us have put that burden on our shoulders. But He did ask us love God, love our neighbors, and to share the gospel. So don’t be burdened with trying to save the world, instead be burdened with loving others and trust that God will do what only He can do. My squad and I will most likely never see what will happen with the seeds we planted but we have hope because we know God is still moving and pursuing the lost.
