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A Call From China by Daniel YuI would like to relate a recent conversation I had with a business associate. I was telling this person about this trip and I showed some pictures of the town in the northwestern part of China. As we were looking at the pictures, I began to relate some of the physical conditions of this area. He asked a very interesting question. Why do you want to go on this trip now? Why don’t you wait until you are retired and when your children are older? This caused me to reflect about why I am going on this trip.
Why am I going? I have shared with several people that this year my work schedule is flexible. This gave me an opportunity to be available to the Lord. During the past year or so, I have been thinking more about what I would like to do with my time when I retire since I have reached mid-life. I was opened to the Lord’s prompting and He began to put missions in my heart. Since, I have many more years to go before retirement, I figured it is not too soon to get make preparations and training for missions related work.
I really wanted to share with the congregation that Anne (my wife) was supportive from the beginning. But that would have embarrassed her and I would probably get a "look" from her. Without her support, I would not have been able to even think about short-term missions at this time. I would probably have to wait until the girls are much older. Kristin and Allison did not question my decision. I think the years serving on the board prepared them, so they were not surprised that this is something that I would do.
For a person who has been resistant to learning and speaking Chinese, why China you might ask? Again, I would give you the same answer. I opened the possibility to the Lord and He led me to China. The Lord has placed a burden in my heart for China for some time now. When I asked whether speaking Chinese (Mandarin) was a pre-requisite and the answer was “no,” I knew the Lord was leading me closer to this trip.
The final answer came from the Lord when I prayed for a timely renewal of my passport because I knew I need a valid passport in order to obtain a visa from the Chinese consulate. Did the Lord give me a clear and resounding “YES?” You bet He did. I had made my decision to go back in late May, but that might be contingent on my passport situation. I thought I had until July to renew my passport. When I looked a few days later after my decision, it turned out that it would expire in a couple of days (June 8th). I knew I had to rush to get passport pictures and passport renewal form. As it happened, the news on the radio reported that there might take ten weeks or more for passports given the high demand during the summer traveling season. Thanks to God everything was done by the expiration date of my passport. Even the guy in the post office said it would probably take ten weeks. Undaunted by this potential hiccup, I submitted my passport renewal application and prayed to let the Lord to take care of this situation. Slightly short of a clear and audible voice from the Lord to me to go, I received a thick envelope from the United States Department of State within 2 ˝ weeks. It was a miracle. It was my new passport.
Going back to the conversation with my business associate, my answer is I am making myself available because He has given me this time and because I am compelled to be obedient to spread the gospel to all ends of the earth. There are two set of verses that speak about this:
8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Isaiah 6:8 NIV
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
The other team members are mainly comprised of full-time working professionals and retired individuals. This organization also works closely with NGO's. This is all about planting seeds and allowing the Holy Spirit to work. Since, China is closed to open evangelism, we can not proselytize. But, we can teach conversational English and be available to answer questions about our personal beliefs. As an example of this: Lucy Yen (CSC) who has gone on several past trips and she has kept in correspondence with some of her former students. I think maintaining the channels of communication is a great start and perhaps would opens a door for the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of those people there.
I asked for your prayers in the following areas: Final preparation of lesson plans for each teaching group and each teacher; final logistical preparation for the traveling teams: U.S., Canada and China; physical protection – traveling and health; spiritual protection against spiritual attacks; unity and harmony of purpose for the entire team; preparation of hearts and minds of the local people who we will be interacting with and blessing from the Lord through this experience.
I am looking forward to sharing my experience with you upon my return.