Friday, August 2, 2019

Send me Lord!



      “So I said: ‘Woe is me for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said; ‘Behold, this has touched your lips: Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.’ Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send, And who shall go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me!’” (Isaiah 6: 5-8)

      In 1998, a good friend of mine, Richard Johnson, asked me if I would take a missions course with him being offered by First Baptist Church, Woodstock in Woodstock, GA, about 3 hours from where we lived in Evans, GA. It would require us to go there on three different weekends over the course of a year and do the remainder of the work at home. Additionally, it would require me to lead a short term mission trip to a country in the 10-40 window. (Mainly the Middle East, India, China, and Southeast Asia.) I spoke to my pastor about me leading a team to one of these countries and he agreed not only to that, but to help pay for the course, and to accompany us on the trip.

     After much prayer and listening to God’s leading we chose a Pastor Balasingh and his church in Paramakudi, India as the destination for our trip. (Details of that decision are found in blog post entitled: “Please Come!”) We then had to decide when we could go and scout out the church and make sure we understood what Pastor Balasingh wanted our team to accomplish and what kind of accommodations, transportation, and food was available to support the team. Since I was a high school teacher, the best time for me to go was the Christmas break to travel and my pastor agreed to go with me. The dates we found best was the 23rd through the 28th of December. Two weeks before we were to go, pastor had to cancel, and I realized I would have to go alone. I was a little concerned of what my wife would think about me going alone, but she said, "you have to go."

      I traveled to Amsterdam, changed planes and flew on to Mumbai, India arriving there at midnight, local time. There was supposed to be someone from a local hotel to meet me as I had to overnight in Mumbai and the fly on to Madurai the next day. This is when God gave me a short course in trusting Him, and Him alone. There was no one to meet me as I exited the airport and stood in the hot humid night of Mumbai ( Formerly Bombay). I stood outside for about 30 minutes until someone approached me and asked if I needed a hotel for the night. I said no, I had someone picking me up. He returned about 15 minutes later and asked me again. I again told him no. He then asked me what hotel I was staying in and I told him. “Oh,” He said, “Their van is just over there in the parking lot. Do you want me to take you there?” I immediately prayed for wisdom. “Lord, do I walk out into a parking lot at one AM with a total stranger in Mumbai, India?”

     Amazingly, the answer came back yes, and I walked with him until, sure enough, there was a van with the hotel name on it and the driver asleep behind the wheel. I woke him up and he immediately started speaking something I didn’t understand and he took off toward the airport terminal. He returned shortly with a young man holding a sign with my name on it! I don’t know where the young man had been all this time but it was not out in front of the building where I had exited! (The man who lead me to the vehicle had disappeared and I have to conclude he was an angel!)

     We then took off on a thirty minute drive to the hotel through the dark and dirty streets of Mumbai. As I took in the sights, sounds, and smells of that place it occurred to me that no one in the world knew where I was, except the One who really mattered, my Lord and my God! I was totally in His hands and I knew that was the best place to be.

     The hotel was definitely Indian, with the toilet being a hole in the floor and two places for your feet as you squatted. The bath was a facet, a bucket, and a cup to dip the water with. The next morning the hotel took me to the domestic terminal for my flight to Madurai. 

    Another challenge awaited me. There were no airline counters, only booths set up for each flight one hour before departure. I waited for a couple of hours and finally they set up a booth that said: Madurai. I stood in line to check my bag for 30 minutes and then when it was my turn I was informed (In sign language because no one spoke English), that I had to run my bag through a scanning machine, get a sticker on the bag and then get back and check my bag. I did that, and then went into a small room with about 10 lines, each with about 20 people to a line and then, after working my way to the front of that line, had my ticket verified, and then I was allowed to go downstairs to a much larger room. 

    That room had doors on both ends of it and every time a bus would pull up to the door someone would yell out the destination of the flight and people would board the bus to take them to their plane. It became immediately clear that I could not understand what they were yelling most of the time and had no idea how I could know for sure when they called out for Madurai. I sat down as close to the middle of the room as I could to monitor the announcements at each door. Shortly after I sat down, an Indian gentleman sat next to me and asked me, in English, where I was going. (I guess I didn’t look Indian to him!) I told him Madurai and he said that he was going there also! Relieved, I asked him to let me know when our bus was announced! (Another angel?)

    The flight from Mumbai to Madurai was about 3 hours and when we arrived it was getting dark already. We walked down the ramp onto the runway and then were told to walk, not into the airport building, but to a separate shed where they were to bring the suitcases. I could see in the crowd outside the shed Pastor Balasingh and some members of his church waiting for me. I was very relieved!

    Our drive to Paramakudi, a town of 100,000, south of Madurai, was two hours on a two lane road through countryside and villages at breakneck speed on the left side of the road. (Although, to be honest, normally we were in the middle of the road and only moved left just before hitting the vehicle traveling in the opposite direction!) There was always grain placed on the road by farmers so that vehicles could drive over it and help separate the grains for them. Still etched in my mind are the images of men, women, and children carrying loads of sticks, grain, or other things that were two and three times bigger than they were. There were water buffalo pulling carts, motorcycles with whole families on board and busses packed to the max with people on the roof too!

    It was Christmas Eve the next day as I tried to recover from jet lag and relax a little bit in Pastor Balasingh and his wife Helens’ house. The house had a large room for the church on the bottom floor, their house on the second floor, and two guest rooms (where I stayed) and an open area on the third. I was then informed that I would preach Christmas morning in the church and in one of the 40 house churches in a nearby village at night. I had not been forewarned of this so I got to work preparing short messages for each venue.

    My sermon Christmas Day was probably only 15 minutes, but Pastor Balasingh was gracious and preached another full hour after translating my short message. At night I got on the back of his motorcycle and we drove down winding dirt roads for about 30 minutes to the village house church and there I spoke, Balasingh translated, and then preached some more. I have always the image in my mind on that trip there of an old women in rags, on the side of the road making dung patties with her hands so she could dry them and use them to cook with.

    I was able to spend the remaining time there learning exactly what Pastor Balasingh wanted us to do; teach classes to the pastors of his house churches, and conduct some outdoors evangelistic meetings. We found a decent hotel in Madurai that could provide safe food and accommodations and worked out a basic schedule for the team when it came. We would actually teach in a church in Madurai and would hold meetings at night in Paramakudi, and two other towns nearby.

     I departed on the 27th flying to Mumbai, and then did a 10 hour layover at the airport there before flying to Amsterdam and then home to Atlanta. (When I was sitting on the plane flying from Mumbai to Amsterdam, I was suddenly overcome with a love for the people of India and thankful to God for allowing me to be a part of what He was doing and going to do there.) I was in a little trouble with my family for leaving them alone over Christmas but when they heard my story and understood what God was doing and was preparing to do in India, they forgave me.

     The groundwork was laid for what would eventually be a successful 10 man team visit that June, and the beginning of a partnership that lasts to this day between Pastors Balasinghs’ church and West Acres Baptist Church in Evans, GA.

    Has God ever given you a hard thing to do? To walk across the street and tell someone about Jesus? To forgive someone who has hurt you or to give a financial gift to someone who is in need that you don’t really know? Has He asked you to step out of your comfort zone to do something you have never done before? Don’t be afraid to obey! He will enable you to accomplish what He has sent you to do. He is the One who does all the work!

PRAY 

1.   Lord I belong to You. You are my King, my Master, my Commander, and my God. You are the One who has created me and who sustains me everyday of my life.
2.   Fill me with Your Spirit now, and show me the path I should take today. Give me a sensitive heart that beats in synchronization with Yours.
3.   Help me this day to obey Your commandments, Your precepts, and Your loving guidance so that I might be used by You to advance Your kingdom!



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