Raiding Temples

Instead of raiding temples for their artifacts or valuables, our teams would raid them of their worshippers.

Temples in certain parts of Asia are a great place to find those people who are interested in spiritual discussion.  At the same time, this is where we have met some of the most materialistic people we have ever met.  We were surprised to learn that great prosperity seemed to be a standard motivation behind idolatry.

Greetings on the Pathway

Our teams have found that the most fascinating temples are the ones hidden far from the main city in Asia.  With a team of a few foreigners and a few national partners, finding them can be as easy as asking a few questions of friendly locals.

In the morning there are many people arriving to make offerings of food or money, to pray, some to take in the beautiful surroundings.  One young couple we met thought it was a good place to go on their first date.

Our team would all be praying as we walked the path and talked with people.  Religion would be the obvious topic at a religious site.  And this can go in so many directions when learning from people about their lives and their aspirations, and how it connects to being at a temple.

After making a few visits to different temples and talking with the pilgrims we soon discovered that many of them did not believe in the religion they were practicing.  Some would tell us they performed the worship because it was what their family did, but then quickly jump to the more common explanation that it might work in brining them more luck for a better future.

This desire for job promotion, being famous, deathbed healing, or coming into a financial windfall was extremely strong.  When asked if they really believed that worshipping the images helped bring greater prosperity into their lives, or health for their loved ones, they would usually pause and state honestly that they just didn’t know about such things.

A number of people would tell us about their hope to learn more about a true god they sensed must be out there.

Eating Lunch Together

Not everyone on the path was so friendly and open.  Some would dismiss us or just glare, others would curse and threaten with a half-hearted chase.  And then there were a few who were under the palpable influence of evil spirits.

In spite of these, from our experience about half of those we encountered were eager to talk, and continue the spiritual nature of the conversation.  So we would often go to lunch together with a small group of temple worshippers and our team, about 10-12 of us all together, after they finished their religious activities.

During a relaxing meal together we could get to know one another a little better.  And since we had already started the spiritual conversation, we could get right into more meaningful conversation.

We would continue to talk about personal relationships, success and happiness, about life and death, sickness and healing, spirits and the power to bless and curse, and such things.  Whatever seemed to be the most pressing concern is the topic we would use to introduce the Word of God and its wisdom from the only true God.

We would continue to share stories from our own lives, and each of us about our personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Gospel was new to all of them, having never heard about the Bible or its message of salvation, and a full and eternal life in Christ.

Some would shut down at Gospel answers, but still listen.  There would almost always be two or three people with great interest and many questions.  These individuals would want to introduce us to more people with similar spiritual interests and move further in our conversation.  And so, dinner plans for that evening were now underway.

Sharing before Believing

It was these next set of meals, questions and conversations that were the most lively, enjoyable and resulted in the most progress.  Everyone at these dinners was eager to learn and grow in spiritual ways.

We would have our new friends retell the story of Jesus Christ to their friends and relatives the best they could.  With our promise to help fill in the gaps they had confidence to share the Good News.  It was always fun to hear which part of the Gospel they chose to emphasize—most often it was the Resurrection of Jesus.

The free flowing conversational style allowed us to revisit all the topics from the earlier lunch, and even those discussed way back on the path to the temple.  Certainly, no one at that dinner, or anyone we met earlier that day, would ever see worship at the temple the same.

They would now have to consider the message they heard from the Bible about sin, salvation and hope in Jesus Christ the Lord.  Their enthusiasm for material blessings was challenged, and redirected to something much more valuable than previously thought about.

Our real hope and the plan behind all of this was to start a church with this final group of people, if the Lord chose to save among them.  Typically one of two would profess faith in Christ, a handful of others who were still considering Christ would commit to meet regularly to study the Bible.  All agreed to ask others to join the group that one of our national partners would lead.

That was all in a day’s work.  This scenario was being played out by two of three of our teams every day for a week at different temple locations.

That is why raiding temples is one of our favorite pastimes.