After several mission trips to India and China, the lessons learnt are
invaluable to us. The places visited are the poor areas of each
country. Apart from their simple lifestyle (they have not much to begin
with) the Christians exude a sense of purpose and urgency in what they
do. Whether they are cell leaders or church leaders they take their
work seriously. From the recent mission to China, I observed 3
outstanding qualities the Christians demonstrated.
The first issue has to do with sacrifice. When I taught on sacrifice, I
noticed their attentiveness to what I have to say. To us, the issue of
sacrifice is ‘big’ time because we have come to the idea that to serve
God we must make sacrifices with our 3 T’s – treasure, talents and
time. Yet to the Christians in China, this is a non issue. To them
their lives are already given to Jesus and the question of sacrifice
does not arise at all. So, my message is more for them to discover
areas in their lives that have not yet been surrendered to the Lord.
It’s an issue of ignorance, and not one of unwillingness to yield. Of
ignorance, their response was one of regret and sorrow. “I live yet not
I but Christ lives in me…”
The second issue has to do with humility and obeying leaders. I was
teaching on leadership and was taken aback that they never question
their leaders’ decisions. After several meetings, I asked one of the
second top leader-in-command why this was so. He merely said that the
top leader is God’s man and their duty is to follow him. There is only
one reason they would not follow the leader, and that is if he had a
moral issue. It is not how he handles finances, or a wrong decision
made, or even a wrong emphasis of doctrines. They just recognize that
he is God’s man. It seems that the teaching of Watchman Nee on
spiritual authority had influenced them greatly. Hence, in these
places, the work of the Lord moves very quickly. Brother Edward has a
lot more to speak on this issue. It is something Western Christianity
is not used to. In the West, we are taught to question everything. This
is not bad but we have carried it too far. “Obey your spiritual leaders
and do what they say…..” Heb 13:17.
The third issue has to do with the seriousness the Christians view of
everything they do. They are purposeful and eager to do what is
required of them. The thought of security, support, and comfort do not
feature high on their agenda. I met a couple who got married and after
their first night together, had to go their separate ways the next day
because of ministry! The Lord’s work is foremost in their lives. Of
course, they got back again but not before ministry was accomplished.
Christians gather as early as 5.30 a.m. each day for prayer and prepare
themselves for class at 8 a.m.! What a commitment they demonstrate
despite living in very basic conditions. We can hardly compare them
with Western Christians. After the teaching sessions, all of them
wanted to carry out what they have learned.
The demonstration of dedicated service to the Lord by these Christians
has certainly challenged me to return to China, and because of that, I
am willing to take up Mandarin seriously.
Lessons from missions