Abandoned but Not Forsaken – Testimony 3

A third sister shared her story. She was raised in a single-parent family. Before she knew Christ, she was introverted, stubborn, selfish, apathetic to others, and would never think of helping others. She came here as an “overseas bride”, as it was an arranged marriage in which her relatives in Panama would pay for the fees for her to come, but in return she would pay them back over time after she married a man introduced by them.

After the wedding they moved to a small town to operate a convenience store. She thought her husband would remit the monthly payments to her relative. Little did she knew that he did not send in a single repayment. It wasn’t until much later when her relative travelled 7 hours by bus to reprimand her for swindling him. Then she found out that the man whom she had trusted with her life had cheated her. They had a heated argument, after which relationships deteriorated to such an extent that she felt the only way out was for her to run away with her small son.

Her neighbor heard about her problems and reached out to her. Frightened, feeling insecure, she stepped into a church with her 3-year-old for the first time. But to her surprise the people in church was a huge contrast to her own family, as different as day and night. Her own husband, the man who was closest to her, betrayed her. Her relatives thought that she had conspired with her husband to defraud them of thousands of dollars. Those whom she had relied on failed miserably when it come to money. She had been abandoned and now had nothing. In contrast, the church people were very sympathetic and tried to help in whatever way they can. God used the church sisters to embrace her when she was down.

That was several years ago. Now she lives with her 8-year-old son and runs a convenience store herself with hired help. Though not rich, they are self-sufficient. They are not poor such that they put God’s name to shame. With the love she received from the sisters, she has learned to watch out for those in similar situations and reach out to them, giving them the same care and help so that they too can know the love of Christ. What about your church? How many are doing that? Or is your clique so tightly knit that no one but your buddies can get in? What’s your mission? Is it to save souls or to enjoy each other? Think that through, because you will have to answer to the Lord when you see Him.

Power of a Warm Church – Testimony 2

A sister asked whether she could talk to us, as she wanted our advice whether her decision was right with respect to a family matter. We sat down with her and her sister after dinner and this is her story.

Before she met Christ she was an introvert, and couldn’t care less about others. She was the youngest of 6 siblings, came to Panama when she was 15 or 16, and got married at 19 based on relatives’ introduction. Then she discovered that her husband was a gambler. She was troubled, unhappy, felt insecure, and thought that she did not really know her husband.

When robbers kept an eye on which store to target, they would often find that her husband had left to gamble, and she alone was in the shop. So they often come with knives or guns, and she was very afraid, knowing that her husband did not care about her or how she felt. A year later she gave birth to her oldest son. But this did not bring her happiness. She felt anxious, helpless, trapped, and lonely. The future looked dark and hopeless, and she even pondered about suicide, because life was too hard. But she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her son, so even though she felt oppressed to the point that she couldn’t breathe, she endured each day.

But then friends invited her to go to church. She didn’t understand what they were saying, but felt that the church folks were all very nice and warm. Later, she realized that God can change lives. People can cast all their worries and anxieties on Him, and He gives them peace of mind in the midst of turmoil. And that’s what she did. She gave God her fearful heart, and He replaced that with a peaceful heart. She began to see her own faults, and learned to rely on God. Though her husband still gambled and circumstances were still difficult, she recognized that God has His own timing. She thanked God for giving her three children, and started to switch her focus from herself to caring for other people. Every Sunday she would close up shop to attend worship, and accompany other dedicated sisters to distribute Chinese Christian Mission magazines to Chinese stores and restaurants. They did not know how to share the gospel, so that’s why they came, leaving their businesses behind for 5 days so that they can be equipped to witness for Christ.

Her turning point came when a friend reached out to her and asked her to come to church, then others welcome her and the homey atmosphere attracted her to stay. God did the rest. How warm is your church? When someone visits, do they feel welcome? Do they feel they’ve found the home they have been longing for? I hope we learn something from her story.

Divine Healing – Testimony 1

Since I’m teaching Personal Evangelism, I asked the class to share their testimonies, besides an oral exam at the end of the week. Several I would like to share with you.

The first one is about a sister who became a Christian in 2004. Before she knew Christ, she had very bad temper and often have arguments with her husband. On the surface people would say she is bossy, but in fact her husband controlled the business and had an affair, while she just assisted and looked after the children. She would often get sick and have headaches, which doctors couldn’t cure, even though she tried all kinds of medicine. Plus there were conflicts with her mother-in-law.

A Christian brother shared the gospel with her, and invited her to church. Since her husband refused to go, she went by herself. The pastor prayed for her, and she felt peace, so she started going regularly. Despite her church attendance, she still consulted a medium to try to solve her physical and marital ailments, but to no avail. Finally the pastor helped to remove all her idols. Notwithstanding her husband still continuing his affair, she felt better and brought her kids to church. During youth camp, her two sons committed their lives to Christ and asked to go to church. She was comforted in her heart, but discovered that she had cervical cancer. At that time her finances were very poor, as there was no money even to send the kids to school.

In desperation she cried out to God, “If you are really God, please heal me.” That night she had 3 dreams, one after the other. In the first dream she went to a new house, and the people there asked her to burn incense. She said no. In the second dream, she fell down a deep hole. A man wanted to hug her to pull her out, but she said, “You are a man, no.” In the third dream she saw a medium, but she cried out “Hallelujah”. Then she heard a voice, “You are healed”, and she woke up. She went to the doctor, who confirmed that all her rheumatism, headaches, and cervical cancer were gone. She was divinely healed.

Even though her husband still has the other woman and does not care for the family, she is happy and looked after her children and the restaurant herself. Later her son left because the work was too hard. (She has to get up at 4 AM to get ready for breakfast clients, and closes after 10 PM for late diners.) She prayed to God, and God sent a worker to help. The worker left after 6 months, so she prayed again, and God sent another helper.

She has learned to depend on God for everything. In a culture where Chinese businesses stay open all year-round, she would close up shop on Sundays and holidays to attend worship and do visitation. When she learned that the Bible school is offering a course on evangelism, she and 3 other sisters from her church enrolled to attend. How many people would drive nearly 500 km each way to attend training in personal evangelism? Not many! She and others have learned the joy of depending on and serving God. Sure we go to church on Sundays and do visits occasionally, but under what circumstances? We have a lot to learn from our sister who persevered under much tougher times.

Bible School Photos

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Pictures show:

* Class at front entrance of Bible School
* My class of 7 (2 credit + 5 audit) students. All the non-credit students are sisters. From my observation at several churches, sisters form the backbone of the Chinese churches workforce here. Brothers, where are you?
* Library, with WiFi
* Chapel
* Hymn before meals (sung to the tune of “Break, Thou the Bread of Life”)
* Dining room, chef on left – how many deacons do you know who will commit to come several hours a day, 6 days a week, to cook for the Bible school? It’s not a lime-light, center-stage role, but it’s true servanthood. I learned a lot on this trip.
* Class in pairs role-playing Evangelism Explosion gospel presentation. The course consisted of the following：
1 Character Qualities of a Soul-winner
2 Evangelistic Methods
3 Gospel Content
4 Promoting Evangelism in the Local Church
5 Questions & Answers
I taught them to use several tools, including Romans Road, Gospel Bridge, and a simplified version of EE. Feedback was extremely positive and we were invited to David, Panama whenever we are available.

Changed Life – Testimony 5

The fifth sister is originally from Hong Kong. Before she became a Christian, she was an unbalanced person, full of hatred, anger, disrespectful, and selfish. She disliked children and seniors, and considered her husband and son her worst enemies, as they were loved by his side of the family, but she was disliked. Several times she refused to open her door to her mother-in-law, even though she waited and knocked for over an hour. Because she often throw temper tantrums without reason, her marriage did not survive and ended up in divorce.

In 1994 she was hospitalized because of cancer. When Christian volunteers visited her to share the gospel, she would make fun of them. She had 6 shrines of idols in her home. One time it was Chinese New Year’s Eve and she did not have any money for the year-end, in anger she dismantled and threw away all her idols, saying that they were totally useless and unable to bless her, even though she had spent so much money on them. From now on she will worship Jesus, as He does not cost money! But she did not follow through with her promise, as she did not really understand it at that time.

A church moved into the store-front next to the cafe that she and her friends frequented. Once she saw a sign that says “Lord’s Supper”. She thought that was a special dinner, so suggested to her friends, “Let’s not have dinner at the cafe tonight, but go next door to have the Lord’s Supper instead”! Her friends did not want to go, so she went by herself. At church, the people tried to be friendly and strike up a conversation, but she rudely told them to keep away if they want to see her return. She kept on attending every week for 6 months, but decided to emigrate to Costa Rica. The pastor wished to give her a Bible as a farewell gift. Initially she refused, but finally accepted, saying that “I won’t open it until I become a Christian”.

After moving to Costa Rica, she would often argue with her son. She developed another tumor, so she asked her neighbor how to become a Christian, as she wanted “insurance” in case she did not make it through the surgery. After her operation, her pastor asked her to join fellowship and Bible study. Her cell members told her later that she had a fierce look in her eyes, and that the children were afraid of her.

But God is in the business of changing lives, and hers was not an exception. She began to realize her faults. Gradually, as the Holy Spirit worked in her life, her hard countenance was softened and her gaze became gentle. She even helped in leading children during the life camp, telling them stories and leading them to pick flowers. She also enjoyed working with seniors. The church sisters were so surprised that they asked, “Is this really her? She’s a completely different person!” No longer does she love travelling by herself, but preferred picnics and outings with the church. She regretted not knowing the Lord earlier, as that might have saved her marriage. But she realized that what God permits, she will accept, and prayed that others learn from her willful mistake and trust everything into God’s loving hand.

Life at the Bible School

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Pictures show:
* Front view of Bible School
* Our bedroom
* Our desk

The week flew by very fast at the Bible school, partly because each day was fully packed, partly because we had a group of keen students. There were 7 altogether, 2 full-time from Panama City, 4 part-time sisters from David, who drove 6-7 hours to attend, and 1 from Costa Rica who rode 16 hours by bus to come here. The last one actually left San Jose to renew her visa, but joined the course one day late when she found out that it was offered.

The school is located just outside of town near the top of a hill, so it’s a bit cooler than in the city and quite peaceful. Each room in the dormitory can sleep up to 9 people, with 2 double-decker and a pull-out under the lower bunk, plus a queen-size bed for up to 3 in a crunch! Probably due to lack of funds there are no window screens, which is a bit of a problem as the school is near a wooded-area and there are lots of huge moths (about half the size of your palm) and other insects like dung beetles that fly into the rooms. I think for the same reason there are no shower heads, just a water spout in the wall!

A typical day starts by getting up at 6 AM for a cold shower, as hot water was disconnected some time ago when there was a gas leak. This is followed by devotional time and checking emails etc. Breakfast is at 8 AM, cooked by the students who take turn to prepare breakfast for everyone. Classes start at 9:15 AM, then morning worship around 10:30 AM, and second class from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Lunch is prepared by a deacon from Panama Capital Church (巴京堂) who comes Mon to Sat to cook meals for all the staff and students. That’s some dedicated service! Classes resume from 2 to 5 PM, or from 3 to 6 PM at the teacher’s discretion to allow students a siesta after lunch! Dinner is prepared either early afternoon by the deacon before he leaves to pick up his daughter from day care, or by the students after class. All students rotate to wash the dishes, so there is good communal life.

Officially the school day ends at 6 PM, but the students are eager to learn and asked to have additional sessions on how to lead bible study, how to deal with Jehovah’s Witnesses, how to be a song leader (taught by Ellen) etc. We also counseled two sisters who have gambling husbands. The part-time students are lay leaders and generally have little education, but they are very keen. It reminded me of believers in China who walked several hours to attend worship or training, and are hungry for more if the spiritual feeding is only a couple of hours. So we tried to give as much as we can. Some evenings did not end till 9 PM or later so it’s a full day throughout the week. We were tired but joyful, glad that we can be of help to His flock. In contrast, believers in N. America have so many workshop offerings that they aren’t valued. It confirmed my early thinking that while there are needs (demands) everywhere, the supply in the mission field is so low that I would rather give the little we have to offer to those who will treasure it. We have a standing invitation to go to David City for a few months. Let’s see where the Lord leads.

Role Expectations

I find that roles and expectations are different here compared to Canada. Take the role of the pastor. In a large multi–staff church in Canada, there is a senior pastor, English pastor, children’s pastor, pastor for worship, Christian education, evangelism, caring etc. Even for a solo pastor in a small church, there are gifted and experienced lay people helping out with the core functions. The pastor does not have to do everything. If he does, he may be labeled a dictator who wants to control everything. In some churches the board and elders/deacons are the authority, instructing the pastors what they should/should not do.

Here, Chinese churches are not large enough to have multiple staff. As well, generally speaking the lay people do not have the same calibre of biblical knowledge and church experience as their counterparts in Canada. So while there are executive boards of superintendents, nearly all spiritual teaching and training fall on the shoulders of the pastor, who are often looked upon as a father figure respected by the congregation because he is educated. This type of relationship is rare in Canada.

Secondly, because he is a solo pastor, he has to play all positions—offense, defense, goalie etc. A single person seldom has all the gifts, so naturally he has strengths and weaknesses in different areas. But, because many of the members are won to the Lord through his efforts, the criticisms are often not in the things he does, as they have not attended many churches to compare, but in the things he doesn’t do. Often this is not the fault of the pastors, as there is just not enough time and energy to do everything demanded. For example, some members may want their children to learn Chinese, and therefore demand that the pastor start Chinese classes. They may not realize that the pastor is already fully booked by pastoral ministries, and simply can’t add another activity to his schedule, because he has to take on all roles.

The role of the pastor’s wife is even more interesting. In Canada, often the pastor’s wife has to play a quiet, submissive role strongly supportive of her husband. If she is vocal, there would be much noise from the congregation. In Panama, the situation is very different. Typically she does not have a separate career of her own, but they co–pastor the church. Partly this is due to the fact that she is often the only member with similar spiritual maturity and experience, and becomes his “board” by default. Partly this is also the result of the “buy one get one free” practice of mission agencies and local churches. So the pastor’s wife plays a strong leading role beside her husband here.

This affects not only the ministry but also family dynamics. In Canada, when the pastor’s view differ from the board, each returns to their respective home and work things through slowly over time. Here, your “board” follows you home, and there is no such thing as “separation of church and home”! That’s why mission agencies spend considerable time evaluating husband–wife relationships before accepting them as missionary candidates. Be aware of expectations before you jump into the role. That’s always a wise policy.

Rich Young Man

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Photos show:
* View from balcony looking west
* View from balcony looking east
* Trump Tower

We were invited to dinner by a sister whose husband is not yet a believer. He is an entrepreneur and they lived in a luxury condo at the waterfront, the richest part of the city. Prices are between $2,000 to $2,500 per sq. m. there, around $220 to $280 per sq. ft. Each wing of the building has only one unit per floor. With 2 elevators going to each floor it means 2 elevators go to your unit. His 2,000 sq. ft. unit would cost about $0.5 million, a large amount for Panama because a 2,800 sq. ft. detached house could be had for $380,000 in a nice neighborhood. The most expensive building is the sail-shaped Trump Tower, which costs $4,000 per sq. m.

Many pastors and short-term mission teams have witnessed to him before. Being a successful businessman who would never offend a client, he would always listen politely and nod in acknowledgement, but had yet to agree and make a commitment. He showed us enthusiastically the antiques he had collected from Panama and the US, including clocks, figurines, gramophones, vases, and watches. Then we sat down for a sumptuous meal prepared by our sister, after which we settled down to share the good news.

He was sure that he can go to heaven, because by his standard he is a good man who treats his employees fairly, and would not use under-handed methods to hurt his competitors. When we transitioned to the gospel, he had no problem with the fact that heaven is a free gift and that it is neither earned or deserved. He also readily admitted
that he had lied, stolen, kept 2 sets of books for his business, and under-reported to internal revenue etc. and is therefore a sinner, but gave himself 85 percentile as he believed that he is better than most. Initially he disagreed that man cannot save himself, because all his life he had tried to be self-reliant, and does not need anyone to save him. However, when we used his own factory’s quality control standard as an illustration, he had to admit that even if 90% of the ingredients used in his food processing plant are good and only 10% is stale, the whole batch is spoiled and has to be rejected.

Because he considers himself to be an upright and forthright man, he had no difficulty in seeing that God is good and does not wish us to be punished, but because He is also just He must punish us for our sins. He thought that because Jesus was so good He is worthy to be our Savior, but did not view Him as God. We used His resurrection to demonstrate that He is unique among all religious leaders, because no one else but Jesus rose from the dead to prove that He is truly God. He saw the point with his mind, but needed time for it to sink into his heart.

Faith turned out to be the watershed. He recognized the futility of an intellectual assent or temporal faith, but because he had always strived to overcome life’s challenges by self-effort, just trusting in Christ alone is foreign to him. We were asking him to set aside something he had clung onto throughout life, and switching his focus to someone he didn’t know before, and he resisted accordingly. Sensing that he is not yet ready, we did not use any pressure as that’s what we promised beforehand. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would speak to his heart, and that he would come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior soon. He did not say the sinner’s prayer that evening, but his self-assurance was shown up to be only self-delusion which failed the test under close scrutiny. We hope the strangle-hold of self-righteousness had been broken, and that he will acknowledge Jesus is Lord soon. Based on his character, we believe he will be zealous once he had submitted to Christ.

Bahai

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Our guide took us to the Baha’i House of Worship on top of a hill in the heart of the city. Baha’i is an offshoot from Islam started in Iran in the mid-19th century. Its claim to fame is that it received a strong endorsement from the United Nations. Since there are so many countries within the UN, many with their own state religion, a religion that supposedly unify all religions would naturally receive warm embrace from the UN. Its core beliefs are:

• The oneness of God
• The oneness of religion
• The oneness of mankind

By the oneness of God they mean God is one. There is only one God who is over all. In other words, Baha’i is a monotheist religion. On the surface this seems to be what the Bible teaches, e.g. Duet 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one”, but the devil is in the details. What they further assert is that this one God manifests himself throughout history to different people in different forms; first to the Jews as Yahweh, then to the Hindus as Krishna, then to the Indians and Chinese as Buddha, then to the Christians as Jesus, then to the Muslim as Allah, and so on. What’s more, each time he appears, he names his successor, and words from the sacred writings of each “religion” are twisted to point to the next world religion in human history. This “taking things out of context” is standard practice of all cults, which they use to justify whatever they want. So in the “fine print” their “oneness of God” directly contradicts the Bible, and must therefore be rejected.

Since God is one, their doctrine of the oneness of religion naturally follows, as it is simply different forms adopted by different people who worships the same God in their own way. It does not matter that each religion’s own claims are diametrically opposed to each other’s, for example, Buddhism is atheistic, Christianity is monotheistic, while Hinduism is polytheistic. But to them that’s not an obstacle, as Bahai knows better, and can reconcile irreconcilable differences. Although they claim to accommodate Christianity, a Christian would find talking to them very frustrating, as logic, grammar, and evidences are ignored to push their point. So, the oneness of religion must also be rejected since it is not truth; it is contrary to reason.

The oneness of mankind means that all man and women of all races are equal before God. Of the three core beliefs, this is the only one that is consistent with Scripture. Gal 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” God loves all mankind, and does not treat any race or ethnicity with partiality. They are all made in the image of God, and He loves them all to such an extent that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem them. This is the only premise we accept, but the Bahai faith as a whole is a “different gospel” who worships a “different Jesus” and must be rejected since it is a betrayal of the truth we received.

Week 5 Visits

Since we have a guide, we visited several families. The first one runs a convenience store behind bars in a poorer part of town. For safety reasons, all transactions are conducted through the small open window. Typically the storekeepers live in the apartment behind the store 前舖後居.

Customers, primarily local people, would come and buy stuff one thing at a time, several times a day, for 2 reasons. The first is that they have little money. Say they have $1.50. They may buy a chicken drumstick, then a small plastic bag of cooking oil, then one carrot, each time seeing how much money is left before deciding what to buy next. If they have money left, they would buy more. If not, they’ll wait till next day. The second reason is that they may not have a refrigerator, so just like Hong Kong eons ago, they go to market twice or three times a day to buy food, using the store’s fridge to keep food fresh.

The second family runs a restaurant in a poorer district. They have been in Panama 23 years. All their children are born here, and are called 打死狗 or “beat the dead dog”，a nickname for a Panama–born Chinese, equivalent to 竹星 or “bamboo stick”，or 香蕉 or “banana” in North America. She had gone through tough times, but her faith is strong and her children are walking with the Lord.

The third runs a small art gallery selling paintings by local artists. They are the ones who came in 1989 and lost everything during the US invasion.

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Pictures show:
* Exterior view of caged convenience store
* Interior view of store
* Restaurant of a church member
* Church member’s art gallery

As I’ve said before, every family has a difficult story to tell 家家有本難念的經。Listening teaches us to be a little more compassionate, a little less judgmental, and a little more patient with people as we simply have no idea what they have gone through. If you can’t listen, you can’t minister. It is as simple as that. Ask God to help us pastor better by being good listeners.