As I mentioned before I had an incredible opportunity
to spend two years as a missionary in the islands of the Pacific. My time in the tropics was part of the
program Stop Out for Christ sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. College students took a year off school or after
they graduated (“stopped out”) to serve as missionaries. Since I had already been serving with Crusade
for 4 years at this point, I went as mentor and trainer for the students who
were “stopping out.” Although most of
the students went home after a year, many of the trainers stayed on and were
joined by a new group of students the second year.
The years seemed to be divided into three sections. During the first few months we were stationed
on Guam and reached out to the communities, young people and military personnel
there. Adjusting to life in Guam is a
relatively easy task because it is a US territory and English is the official
language.
During the second phase of the project, about half the
students went to islands in Micronesia to work alongside churches and school
there. The first year I stayed in Guam
but the second year I spent three months teaching at the Bethania Christian
High School in Babelthuap, Palau. This
was one of the most beautiful places in the world and also, it seemed to me,
one of the most isolated. The school
could only be reached by boat which took between an hour to five hours to get
there depending on the speed of the boat.
Mail came once a week, whenever the postman felt like delivering
it. We were there during the Spring of
1981 and we did not find out that President Reagan had been shot until a week
after it happened.
For the third phase of the project, we went to the
Philippines where we were joined by more students from the United States who
just came for the summer. This was the
most challenging part of the year because we went from town to town showing the
Jesus Film each night in open air venues. Although English is an official language in
the Philippines, many people in the spoke only Tagalog (the first official language)
or their regional dialects. We also had
opportunities to reach out to students in schools and colleges. These summers in the PI were demanding yet so
rewarding because people were extremely open to the good news of Jesus. I remember at the University of the
Philippines Los Banos, we talked with a girl in the dorms who gave her life to
Jesus. We told her we would come back
the next day at a certain time to tell her more about following Jesus. The next day when we arrived at her dorm
room, we found that she had invited about a dozen of her friends to join
us. An instant Bible study group was
formed. One of the Campus Crusade
student leaders at UPLB took over and kept the group going after we left.
At the end of each we had a wonderful opportunity for
an unforgettable week long experience.
The first year, we went to the World Evangelization Crusade in
Seoul, South Korea. This was gathering
of two million believers from Korea and the rest of the world to pray and learn
how to spread the message of Jesus Christ.
The highlight of the conference was spending the night in prayer with
hundreds of thousands of Christians. At that time, there was a curfew in Seoul
between midnight and four am, therefore, if you decided to stay for the prayer
meeting, you were there for the whole night.
Since the late- night meetings were not translated, I did not understand
a word that was said. (I was in Korea a
week and the only word I learned to say was Kamsahamnida—thank you.) But I did
understand the Korean Christians commitment to God and their desire to see
their country reached for Christ. What
an inspiration!
The end to second summer was equally amazing. We went to China! Remember, this was 1981. Only five years before, China had been in the
midst of the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.
After the Communist revolution in 1949, China had cut itself off from
the rest of the world. Thirty years later, the doors to China were opening. Our group of 300 Americans was the biggest
tour group that had visited China since the thaw in relations between the US
and China. Because the Chinese
government was eager to impress America at the time, they treated us like
royalty. A state banquet was given in
our honor at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Although I was only there for a week, God
gave me an overwhelming love for the Chinese people.
On my return to the States, I wrote to my prayer
partners and financial supporters about the trip:
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in
the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew
24:14, NIV) It is so exciting to be living in the day when this prophecy of
Christ is coming true. For over 30 years
the government of China tried to wipe out all religion to establish the perfect
Marxist state. But God had other plans for one quarter of the world’s population.
During my trip to China, I saw that the people there are searching for the
meaning of life. In the aftermath of the
Cultural Revolution, they are eager to fill up the void in their hearts.
The biggest realization I had in China was that the Chinese
are not just Communists, they are people—people who God loves and people for
whom He sent His Son to die. The warm
friendly Chinese people also stole a bit of my heart!
The main goals of our tour were to get a vision of
what God could do in China so we could pray more effectively and to show the
love of God to the Chinese people through our love for them. Many of the officials remarked that our group
was different from other tour groups they have had. One tour official said, “These people not
only talk about loving China, they show they love China!”
The highlight of our tour was when all 300 of us were
allowed to meet together on the Great Wall to sing hymns and pray aloud for
China. (This was a first!)
When I returned to the States, I put
in my request to return to China as a part of the pioneering work that Campus
Crusade was planning to do there. I was
convinced that God had called me to reach out to the Chinese people. I felt that my two years of mission
experience had prepared me for this new adventure. I really felt like this was a done deal. During my time of rest and recuperation,
while I had opportunities to visit my prayer partners and financial supporters
as well as other family and friends, I began telling everyone that I was
heading to China.
Then one day, I got a phone call
from the personnel department of Campus Crusade’s overseas division. Turns out they were not as convinced as I had
been that I was ready for this pioneering assignment in China. The personnel department spokesperson said
that I was going to be assigned to work at our headquarters in San Bernardino,
California for a year to work on some personal and ministry issues that I would
need to resolve before I could go to China.
They weren’t saying never, just not now.
God always answers our prayers. This is why we bother to pray at all: “I call
on you, my God, for You will answer me; turn Your ear to me and hear my prayer.”
(Psalm 17:6, NIV) As I discussed in lessons four and five, sometimes God
answers yes and sometimes He answers No.
But there is a third option, wait.
This means God is going to answer, in His way and in His time. No is the most difficult test of
faith. But a wait answer is also trying
because of the uncertainty involved. I
was told to wait for a year, but as I will explain in the next chapter, it was
more than five year before I had the opportunity to meet and share the good
news with Chinese people.
No and wait responses require
trust and obedience on our part. When my
superiors in the organization I worked for said wait, I had to trust that they
were listening to God and were following His wise counsel. I also had to trust that God had my best
interest at heart and when I took the next step of obedience and moved to
Southern California, I would discover that, “The very steps we take come from
God; otherwise how would we know where we’re going?” (Proverbs 20:24, MSG)
Not long after I received that call,
I wrote this poem that captured my thoughts about the waiting process.
On Waiting
My Father has just told me,
Leecy, please wait.
But, I want to go now
Because the hour is late.
There are people who don’t know you,
Lord,
There is so much to do.
But my Father said the one I really
care about
Is you.
You need to take My yoke upon you
And walk with me a while,
To know how much I love you
And share with me a smile.
Then we’ll go together to face the
world out there.
Learning the Lesson:
Waiting seems to be un-American. Our theme song could be a line from an old Queen
song, “I want it all and I want it now…”
However, waiting is a very biblical concept. David waited about 13 years from the time
Samuel anointed him king until he actually sat on the throne. Joseph waited more than 20 years for his
dreams to come true. From the time Moses
made his first attempt to help his fellow Israelites to the time God called him
through the burning bush, Moses spent 40 years in the middle of nowhere tending
his father-in-law’s sheep! Those are
just a few of the many examples of people who had to wait.
Take
some time today to meditate on these promises that God gives to those who wait
on Him:
Indeed, none of those who wait for
You will be ashamed… (Psalm 25:3a, NASB)
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will
run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40:31, NASB)
The Lord is good to those who wait
for Him, To the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the
salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:25-26, NASB)
Determine to make this your response when God said
wait:
But as for me, I watch in hope for
the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7, NIV)
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