India 2014

Someone commented it's not easy to give up our creature comforts to do missions. I nod my head in agreement. That was when a little voice asked me, "If you think this is hard, what if I call you to give up all? To leave family, friends, job, home and country and settle in a strange land? Would you, could you?" I had to be honest to answer "God, I am sorry, I can't, at least not yet." Even though daily I can pray so glibly what apostle Paul said, " I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20)

We think the 'sacrifice' of our air-cons, soft beds, clean sheets and hot water baths are so so great already. Yet it's only temporary after all. We put up with it willingly because we know we are going home after 10 days and life will carry on as usual after that; so what's the big deal? It's really just 'touch-n-go', though we make it a point to return when we can. But with just that 1 question aimed straight at my heart, God showed me up for the hypocrite I am. People think I am so self-sacrificial and all, suffering inconveniences and hardship but really this is nothing compared to what Jesus did. He went all the way to the cross to die for the world. For that matter, compared to even just one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, what I do on every missions trip  is peanuts. 2000 years ago, 12 ordinary men dared to go everywhere and declare a risen Savior, losing their very lives in the process. The results of their faith are still shaking the entire world, for people are still arguing about Jesus Christ to this day. Me... I just get driven around a lot, preach a couple of sermons and pray. I am grateful I don't have to walk miles on foot like the disciples did in those days. I don't have to endure storms at sea, beatings, get stones thrown at me, burnt at the stake or hung upside-down on a cross. What I 'endure' on every missions trip is hardly worthy to be termed 'sacrifice'.

What is it about India that moves my heart to go back time and again? I don't know the language, except for a smattering of words. Apart from the food and the coffee, I can't say there is  anything I particularly like about India. The traffic can be horrendous, the cleanliness less than satisfactory - and that's coming from one who has already rather low standards on this issue, as anyone who knows me will know I can easily 'close 1 eye' to the dust and dirt in my own house. Every missions trip is a physical challenge. I don't sleep well during missions, because I take a long time to adjust to new surroundings. That plus long travels on narrow bumpy, winding and dark roads can be hard on the body. On every trip I see more of the poor, marginalized and destitute. I see despair, helplessness, tiredness, disease - broken bodies, spirits and souls. I know there is little we can do to alleviate the poverty or the pain or provide for all their needs. Yet something draws me to go, and go again.

Perhaps it's the sight of dirty little children with big bright eyes and white smiles who always gather around, ever curious about our obviously different skin and physical appearance. Perhaps it's looking into the sad eyes of old, scrawny ladies and men. Maybe it's watching that beggar with deformed claw hands hobbling on crippled legs knocking on windows of cars temporarily halted at traffic lights. Or it could be hearing the local pastor talk about adopting an orphan and another kid whose paralyzed mother lies immobile at a bus stop, dependent on the generosity of passers-by. Still we have this kind of people in Malaysia too, I am sure, anywhere in the world for that matter we will see 'this kind' if we care to look beyond the veneer of modern skyscrapers, luxury homes, shopping malls and fancy restaurants. Just wander around the villages, back alleys, abandoned buildings, under the bridges or bus/train stops. Like Jesus said, the poor we will always have with us....

We may not be able to do much and we may not stay long enough to see the results of our limited labor, but we trust that as we do what we can do, proclaiming the good news of the gospel, praying and ministering to the lost, sick and oppressed, God does what we can't. It's always been that way. When we are humbled enough to recognize the sheer enormity and impossibility of the task before us, then we appreciate the truth that it takes God to save and transform lives.

And He does. I was at a church which had started out years ago with a handful of believers in a cow-shed. It's now a decent brick building packed and running not one, but 4 services every Sunday. Simple folks who sit on the floor, enthusiastically clapping, singing, lifting their hands and their hearts to acknowledge a God who loves them, whose eyes shine with hope for a better tomorrow and beyond even though today may look so bad. Even the kids know how to praise, worship and pray. There is no need to expound complicated doctrines about the existence or sovereignty of God to convince them. No need to explain the unexplainable mysteries of personal encounters with and experiences of a very real God. The world calls it naivety, emotionalism, foolishness even, but those who know simply call it faith.  Words are just semantics; after all a rose by any other name is still a rose.

Perhaps that's why I keep going back...because every time I go, I see once again mega-doses of faith, hope and love in action.


"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe....For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men... God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." 1 Corinthians 1: 21, 25,27-29

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