All In
This is a guest post by Randy Wade, a Christ Methodist Church member and participant on a recent mission trip to Southeast Asia.
The week would not go as I had anticipated. I expected to come home feeling like I had accomplished something, but instead came home challenged.
The preparation for the Asian mission trip had begun many months before and required me to study and prepare, so I could train local missionaries to share the gospel in a brief but effective manner. I was a little apprehensive to try something new, but I was aware I had done all the prep work that I could.
I met my “team” on the first day. I was assigned a local pastor and a translator. The local pastor had set up several meetings with groups of various sizes, whom he felt might be receptive to hearing a short gospel presentation. My pastor had been directed to follow my lead and build relationships with everyone we met so he could follow up after I was gone. He was also my driver, so while commuting, he was focused on navigating roads and traffic. He understood a little English but did not speak it very well, so he mainly communicated through my translator.
My translator immediately put me at ease. He had a quick smile and infectious laugh that would cause him to rock back and forth with joy. When not visiting others, we spent most of the time talking in the back seat of the car. As such, I learned a lot more about my translator than my pastor.
My translator was 43 years old. He and his wife had been married 15 years and had one son. Their culture limits the number of children they have, or I am sure they would have had more.
We quickly developed rapport and a flow of speech that proved very effective in teaching people the good news of Jesus. We celebrated loudly in the car after visiting one house after another where new believers repented of their sins and committed their lives to following Christ. We both marveled at the power of the gospel to change lives immediately and in a mighty way.
As the week progressed, I was pleased that everything was going somewhat as I had hoped. The gospel was being shared, and new believers were being added daily. However, I slowly began to realize I was in the presence of someone extraordinary. I had a front row seat to see what it means to be “all in”.
Even though my translator and I shared the love of God, Jesus, family, and others, the similarities began to fade. My translator is a poor man by North American standards, living in a rural village. He pastors a church with 20 members and tirelessly ministers to others in his community.
I asked him how he supported his family. He told me that his wife works as a beautician and he works when they need money. I asked, “So you don’t have a regular paycheck?” No, he said he only works when he needs money. This allows him to spend as much time as possible ministering to others. Of course, my mind thought he should be working and saving for the additional comforts he could provide his family, the security he could build for later years, and the nest egg he would need for unexpected situations. But, no, he does not think or concern himself about those things.
He explained that when working, he uses a large trowel to throw freshly mixed concrete onto a cinder block wall. He will scoop and throw wet cement until the entire wall is covered with a thin layer that will harden and look like stucco. For tall walls, he will build scaffolding from long branches and climb to the level of the wall he is covering. He told me he could cover a 40-foot wall with wet concrete. I tried to picture the strength needed to haul wet concrete up rickety scaffolding made of branches and then steady yourself for the application process. He described the work as “very hard” and therefore not many people want to do it. As such, there is always a ready job for him when he needs it.
Eventually, he told me that his goal is to buy a piece of land for his church. The land will cost about $4,000, and he will take out a loan to buy it. This is about three times more than he will make in a year. He will build a house for his family first and then build the church. I asked how big the piece of land is, thinking it might be 1/2 or 1/4 acre. He said it will be 30 by 40 feet.
“No, I’m not asking how big your house will be, I am asking how big is the piece of land?” I asked.
He repeated 30x40. I told him I still didn’t understand.
So, he repeated 30x40 feet and pulled up house plans on his phone that represented a 30x40 feet home…a 1,200 square foot house. He told me it had 3 bedrooms in case his parents need to come and live with him if they reach the point where they can no longer care for themselves. I told him his parents were very lucky that he was thinking of them and circled back to the size of the land.
“How much room will you have on the front, back, and sides of your house once you build it?” I asked.
“None,” he said.
Then I finally understood. His house would take up every square foot of the land he was buying. You would enter from the street, and there was no extra space around the house. That led to my next question. If your house covers the entire piece of land, where will you build the church? He replied simply, “On top!”
I then realized this man’s mindset is so different from mine that I am incapable of shifting my “Western” mindset to see life and possessions from his viewpoint. He is not distracted by accumulating things but is totally focused on others. He told me that in his culture, he will take complete care of his parents’ needs as they age. There is no question that when they need something, he will be the one who steps up. I have no doubt the same is true for anyone in his close circle.
He also demonstrated that his day is full of checking on and building others up. His phone rang all day long. It would be his wife, his friends, villagers, etc. He would answer the phone every time it rang, even if we were in the middle of a visit. Every phone call was full of laughter and joy. He would always FaceTime the caller and talk to them enthusiastically. His best friend called several times a day to tell him he was praying for us as we shared the gospel.
By the end of the week, I had been given a true glimpse of what it meant when Jesus said, “Feed my sheep”. I spent one week with a man who was “all in”. I saw that “all in” means using every waking moment and thought to glorify God and tell others about him. “All in” is not a part-time job. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that Christians are persecuted in this man’s country. He is living the life I have described, even though it may bring financial difficulties, social consequences for his family, and missed opportunities for his wife and son.
I expected to end this “mission” week feeling our team deserved some type of completion certificate. That is not how the week ended. I am left challenged to change my attitude. My picture of living for Jesus falls short. I am grateful to this humble, faithful servant who has given me a glimpse of someone using his talents to the fullest. He may be poor by the world’s standards, but he is rich by God’s. There is no doubt he will one day hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”