The story I am going to tell began in April of 2005. Actually it began earlier when I was invited to be a member of a team headed to Asia to do some teaching. We worked in groups of two or three and taught through an interpreter. It was a marvelous experience and created a desire in my heart that has grown with intensity since that appointed time; appointed because, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10 ESV).
As I sit and ponder over this, my mind takes me back to a time when I was in the seventh grade. It was a world history class and at the time we were viewing movies of different world cultures. I don’t remember how many different cultures we studied, but the one I will never forget was the one about the people and the customs of southern China. It was at that time, I believe, God planted a small seed of desire to go to China and grow in my love for them.
The years passed by and I forgot the experience, but I am sure God didn’t and without me knowing it He was busy at work molding my life for the work He had previously planned for me. I had settled down into a comfortable home at the foot of some beautiful mountains in Tucson, Arizona; mountains where I would spend considerable time hiking. It was a beautiful life in a beautiful climate and I deeply loved it.
Then one morning I got up for my devotional time and sensed something was not right. I found myself to be restless and thoughts began to come into my mind about moving to, of all places, Texas. Who in their right mind would want to go and live in Texas, I thought - and I still do, but, without knowing why, I yielded and we made the move. I went and built our home next to our grandchildren and went to their church, but I was having little success in finding acceptance into service there and grew restless again. I discussed this with my son in law and he suggested I try a particular church in the area. I did and knew this was where the Lord wanted me to be; because it was there he was going to bring to life that seed he planted way back in the seventh grade.
As I taught, on that first assignment, with the help of my interpreter, I gradually experienced our coming together as one in our teaching. I listened to the Lord as I taught from my notes and spoke into her hearing. She listened to me and formed her response into her language and culture, and the class listened to primarily her as they learned about what I had prepared. As we taught my desire to know and understand her as a member of that culture grew. But as I learned about that culture and its people, she became more inquisitive about mine. It was there the spark broke into a small flame of desire to search for and take one of these young people to my country to meet my family and learn, first hand, about my culture.
As I sit and ponder over this, my mind takes me back to a time when I was in the seventh grade. It was a world history class and at the time we were viewing movies of different world cultures. I don’t remember how many different cultures we studied, but the one I will never forget was the one about the people and the customs of southern China. It was at that time, I believe, God planted a small seed of desire to go to China and grow in my love for them.
The years passed by and I forgot the experience, but I am sure God didn’t and without me knowing it He was busy at work molding my life for the work He had previously planned for me. I had settled down into a comfortable home at the foot of some beautiful mountains in Tucson, Arizona; mountains where I would spend considerable time hiking. It was a beautiful life in a beautiful climate and I deeply loved it.
Then one morning I got up for my devotional time and sensed something was not right. I found myself to be restless and thoughts began to come into my mind about moving to, of all places, Texas. Who in their right mind would want to go and live in Texas, I thought - and I still do, but, without knowing why, I yielded and we made the move. I went and built our home next to our grandchildren and went to their church, but I was having little success in finding acceptance into service there and grew restless again. I discussed this with my son in law and he suggested I try a particular church in the area. I did and knew this was where the Lord wanted me to be; because it was there he was going to bring to life that seed he planted way back in the seventh grade.
As I taught, on that first assignment, with the help of my interpreter, I gradually experienced our coming together as one in our teaching. I listened to the Lord as I taught from my notes and spoke into her hearing. She listened to me and formed her response into her language and culture, and the class listened to primarily her as they learned about what I had prepared. As we taught my desire to know and understand her as a member of that culture grew. But as I learned about that culture and its people, she became more inquisitive about mine. It was there the spark broke into a small flame of desire to search for and take one of these young people to my country to meet my family and learn, first hand, about my culture.
