David's Reflections

When God Moves Me

We ate good food. We shared many stories. We encouraged each other with visions of our God working in Southeast Asia. How can we participate in God’s work and follow His leadership in this region of the world?

I am here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, visiting with our Free Methodist (FM) missionaries. My primary goal is to see for myself some FM ministries located here in Thailand so I can prepare a mission trip for the following year and bring some students from our FM seminary in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. So, while I am learning new things about the work, I am enjoying delicious Thai food and renewing friendships with my FM colleagues here in this city of Chiang Mai.

Mr C, who is doing missionary work in Country L, is here in Thailand, as a non-resident cross cultural worker. Are you confused now? This simply means that I cannot divulge the identity of our FM missionary or the nature of his work because he is working in another country that is restricted to Christian work of any kind. So, now, let me share with you some of the encouraging stories we shared with each other.

Five Christian workers are crossing the border to see Mr C. They are interested in knowing more about FM work in Asia. When they go back to their country, even with all the government restrictions and sometimes religious persecution, they share God’s message of salvation and tell their friends about the FM ministries happening around Southeast Asia. Are you encouraged now? So, I ask my missionary friend: With this limited time you have with these Christian workers, what do you share with them? Without batting an eye, he said, “I share God’s holiness.” Isn’t this an uplifting thought? Amidst persecution and through these secret meetings of Christian workers, there is a revival of biblical Christianity, akin to that of the early Church from the Book of Acts, with a focus on the Wesleyan theme of holiness. Hallelujah! 

This month of March, Mr. C will meet with these five Christian workers. They will spend two to three days of sharing time, a series of training sessions on the topic of God’s Holiness. I told him we will pray for this March meeting. I will ask all my prayer partners in the USA, Philippines, and Taiwan to say a prayer or two for this time of leadership training. God is moving in Southeast Asia. Let us pray that these five Christian workers will prayerfully consider Free Methodist work in their country. More importantly, let us pray that we, both our Asian brethren and us from other countries, would seriously follow God wherever He is moving. I ask you now to participate in God’s ministry here in Southeast Asia, whether with the FM work or some other Christian ministries. Will you intercede with me?

Investing In God's Kingdom

“What can we say the kingdom of God is like? How shall we put it in a parable? It is like a tiny grain of mustard-seed which, when it is sown, is smaller than any seed that is ever sown. But after it is sown in the earth, it grows up and becomes bigger than any other plant. It shoots out great branches so that birds can come and nest in its shelter.” (JB Phillips NT)

Everyone knows that investing one’s money in a bank is a good thing. You make deposits because you know that in the future you will withdraw your money back with interests. This is very similar to the Free Methodist (FM) work in Asia. We make deposits by building relationships with existing Christian ministries in the region. In places where there are no church witness, we reach out to people in need and connect with community leaders in hope that we will gain their trust and have access to the local people’s love and friendship. In some of these places, there are resistance to the gospel and political opposition to Christian missionary work. However, these do not stop us from finding creative ways. We still go and make investments in these areas. Sometimes we send English teachers to work in universities. Sometimes we use child sponsorship to connect with families in cities and villages. In a few cases, we work from a neighboring country and cross the border from time to time and provide training to local Christian leaders in the hope that they will train their own people and nurture them to Christian maturity and leading them to a life of fruitful discipleship.

This May, I will be going back to Nepal. Just like last November 2017, I will be there to provide assistance to our partners in the area. Just like me, there are other FM pastors who are coming in March, August, and October of this year, with the same goal of helping our Nepali church leaders prepare for pastoral ordination in the Free Methodist Church. We come and teach courses that encourage these pastors to get deeper into the word of God. We hope that they will make a decision to join the FM work in Asia. Some from the city of Kathmandu have already made a strong commitment to become FM members. Others around the country are still in the early stages of understanding our FM heritage and exploring future possibilities of partnership. Whether or not these leaders have made a final decision, we keep on investing, building relationship with local pastors and visiting with them and encouraging them as Jesus would. Making deposits in the Lord’s work is a good thing, even if there are no visible results yet.