Our small team of five was prepared to share our evangelistic testimonies and give a simple presentation of the Gospel. The ministry pattern we had been following in this Asian country led us to expect to find a gathering of church member’s Buddhist neighbors, friends and relatives ready to hear what we had prepared to share. Their hope and prayer was that God would start a new church.
A Surprise Scramble
However, when we arrived at the house, it was filled with about forty young church planters and many along with their wives. We soon discovered that our team made up the guest speaker roster for that second day of their three day conference. We were not prepared for this at all!
We politely explained our situation being caught unprepared, introduced ourselves, gave a couple testimonies, and then asked for a thirty minute break to put together the presentation topics for the late morning and afternoon sessions.
We quickly took stock of our gifts as a team and the topics about which each us felt somewhat prepared to speak, to share from experience or to lead a discussion. We prayed and asked to Lord to move our hearts and match up our thinking with the needs of the group. We stepped out in faith, trusting that God put together our team, created this situation, and would make something good happen.
God Used the Unprepared Ones
That was many years ago and I no longer remember all the topics we ended up addressing that day, though I am sure we used our testimonies and spiritual growth stories as springboards for many practical discussions. We likely talked about marriage and singleness, parenting, Bible study methods, personal trials and persecutions, maintaining a vibrant personal walk with Christ, and a few other basics of Christian living. Such topics are always helpful and encouraging to discuss with one another.
A couple of us had to handle the more complicated theological questions about biblical history, the Return of Christ, and the all too often popular topic of Christianity in America. The most interesting concerns were those surrounding apologetics in a Buddhist culture and society. We learned much more than we taught on such matters, most certainly.
Those church planters and evangelists found it challenging in their religious context of idolatry to make a case for a God who needs no temple nor desires representational images. Interestingly, that year I had been teaching a series on the attributes of God and much of it was still fresh in my mind. So we discussed the spirituality and invisibility of God in relation to their situation. Together we reviewed the history of redemption from beginning to the end and looked at selected Scriptures, tracing out this doctrine of God and helping them find good answers.
Reflections at Dinner and Later
The main conference speaker graciously translated as necessary that day. He and I became friends as we worked together to minister effectively to these young men and women. During our dinner that evening, he expressed his appreciation for our team and our teaching.
He also added that he had covered much of the same material we did, but now that they heard it from someone else they will really believe it! We laughed. I told him that it works this same way in America (and probably in many other places)—guest speakers are often admired and listened to more than the regular teachers.
Our whole team slept well that night with a deep sense of satisfaction that God had used them to build up His Church. He showed us His faithfulness in supplying us with ideas, and giving us the words to speak. By His Spirit, He created a sense of love, community and mutual learning among everyone at the meetings that day. As a result, we all were blessed, encouraged and renewed in our service to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Leading a mission team is always an adventure and a learning experience. We never did figure out why that day happened the way it did, whether it was a communication issue, wrong assumptions or something else. It didn’t matter because God glorified Himself that day. The remaining days on that trip went according to plan, as our plan actually turned out to be God’s plan!
When we step out in faith, sometimes God makes us step out even further than anticipated. But had we known just how far at the beginning, we never would have stepped out at the start.
A Surprise Scramble
However, when we arrived at the house, it was filled with about forty young church planters and many along with their wives. We soon discovered that our team made up the guest speaker roster for that second day of their three day conference. We were not prepared for this at all!
We politely explained our situation being caught unprepared, introduced ourselves, gave a couple testimonies, and then asked for a thirty minute break to put together the presentation topics for the late morning and afternoon sessions.
We quickly took stock of our gifts as a team and the topics about which each us felt somewhat prepared to speak, to share from experience or to lead a discussion. We prayed and asked to Lord to move our hearts and match up our thinking with the needs of the group. We stepped out in faith, trusting that God put together our team, created this situation, and would make something good happen.
God Used the Unprepared Ones
That was many years ago and I no longer remember all the topics we ended up addressing that day, though I am sure we used our testimonies and spiritual growth stories as springboards for many practical discussions. We likely talked about marriage and singleness, parenting, Bible study methods, personal trials and persecutions, maintaining a vibrant personal walk with Christ, and a few other basics of Christian living. Such topics are always helpful and encouraging to discuss with one another.
A couple of us had to handle the more complicated theological questions about biblical history, the Return of Christ, and the all too often popular topic of Christianity in America. The most interesting concerns were those surrounding apologetics in a Buddhist culture and society. We learned much more than we taught on such matters, most certainly.
Those church planters and evangelists found it challenging in their religious context of idolatry to make a case for a God who needs no temple nor desires representational images. Interestingly, that year I had been teaching a series on the attributes of God and much of it was still fresh in my mind. So we discussed the spirituality and invisibility of God in relation to their situation. Together we reviewed the history of redemption from beginning to the end and looked at selected Scriptures, tracing out this doctrine of God and helping them find good answers.
Reflections at Dinner and Later
The main conference speaker graciously translated as necessary that day. He and I became friends as we worked together to minister effectively to these young men and women. During our dinner that evening, he expressed his appreciation for our team and our teaching.
He also added that he had covered much of the same material we did, but now that they heard it from someone else they will really believe it! We laughed. I told him that it works this same way in America (and probably in many other places)—guest speakers are often admired and listened to more than the regular teachers.
Our whole team slept well that night with a deep sense of satisfaction that God had used them to build up His Church. He showed us His faithfulness in supplying us with ideas, and giving us the words to speak. By His Spirit, He created a sense of love, community and mutual learning among everyone at the meetings that day. As a result, we all were blessed, encouraged and renewed in our service to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Leading a mission team is always an adventure and a learning experience. We never did figure out why that day happened the way it did, whether it was a communication issue, wrong assumptions or something else. It didn’t matter because God glorified Himself that day. The remaining days on that trip went according to plan, as our plan actually turned out to be God’s plan!
When we step out in faith, sometimes God makes us step out even further than anticipated. But had we known just how far at the beginning, we never would have stepped out at the start.
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