Loss

Thursday April 2, 2009

One privilege I will enjoy on this trip is the honor of meeting nationals who serve on the staff of International Bible Society in Taiwan and the Philippines.  Today I observed as Ron interacted with several of the team members in Taiwan.  As you might expect, Ron exhibits the same grace and peace to the team that we’ve come to know and appreciate.  I was thoroughly impressed by the commitment and quality of these servants of Christ.  It is always a privilege meeting brothers and sisters from around the world. 

At the Taiwan office Ron shared with me about the sacrifice these precious people have made in order to follow Jesus.  After committing their lives to Christ, many are ostracized by or even rejected by their biological families.  Consequently the Family of God is the only family many of them have left.  For them, walking away from Buddhism comes at a high cost.  

These young men and woman work together during the day and get together most evenings to study the Bible, pray and enjoy fellowship together.  To varying degrees their faith in Christ has turned them toward their eternal family, the Church. 

I’m was reminded of the words spoken by Jesus: Matthew 19:29 (NCV) “And all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms to follow me will get much more than they left, and they will have life forever.”

Many Christians in the western world weem to be seeking a life without suffering or discomfort.  Unfortunately they have bought into the lie of a false gospel promising wealth and health as the entitlement of Christ’s followers.  Don’t misunderstand me; God has good things for us but some of those good things include pain and sacrifice.  Someone once said, “You won’t know that Jesus is all you want until Jesus is all you have.”

Louwe drove us to our hotel.  He is a delightful young man who works for the government and then gives his IT talent and time serving the Lord at IBS.  He is not wealthy but he is rich in grace and Kindness. 

Porpan is a beautiful lady who served with incredible grace.  Not only could you sense the love of God from her but over and over again Porpan seemed to invent ways to serve both Ron and me.  Did I mention the wonderful meal they provided for us?  While I worked and studied, we were treated to rice with seafood and a delicious soup with a rich citric infused taste.  And then they brought us fruit, varieties I tasted for the first time, juicy, crisp and delicious. 

I salute  the IBS team in Bangkok Thailand.