One night on pearl island... Cleveland to Minneapolis. Minneapolis to Tokyo. Tokyo to Singapore. Singapore to Jakarta. Jakarta to The Island of a Thousand Mosques. I am finally here. Its a tough trip to the other side of the world. Sleep patterns are literally turned upside down. Noon in Cleveland is midnight here. The heat hits as I walk from the plane to the airport where our host picks me up. A 45 minute drive to the big city on the island includes a brief orientation to the challenges we will face. Since the nation is a closed country, talking about spiritual work requires us to speak in code. I am taught the code and cautioned not to use certain spiritual buzzwords in public. Using these words could cause serious repercussions for our hosts. We pass mosque after mosque on the way to our destination. I learn that it often takes 25 hearings of the good news before the people can respond. For the first 2 nights I am staying in the home of our hosts. Its nice - 3 BRs, 2 baths, kitchen, great room, sitting room, greeting room for guests. Western style with eastern influences. I take off my sandals before stepping inside - a ritual I will perform over and over in every home we will visit. I feel the newness of it all, but still safe and protected. After some rest and a nice meal, my host asks if I want to visit in the home of some new friends he has made. Of course, thats why I came! So, we head outside. We pass by our hosts loaded mango tree in the front yard. We leave their pet German Shepherd behind. We go through the gate and the wall that protects the house and yard. We walk down the narrow street outside the house. We turn right down a busier street. Little pony-drawn carts are prominent. Many small motorbikes whiz by. We see a few cars. Small businesses line the street. We surprisingly walk by a rather large rice paddy in the middle of this large city. We turn left. Now we are in an area of the city where the common people live. Its getting dark. We smell the smoke from fires used to cook meals. Homes are not freshly painted. Rather, they are dingy, dirty. On the way, my host tells the story of connecting with this family. It seems that the wife sells bananas near his house. He built a friendship with her. She told him that her husband had been experiencing weakness in his legs and arms. He asked if he could pray for him. She said yes. So he made a visit to the husband in his home and prayed for him to grow strong and be healed. The next time he saw the wife he asked about her husbands health. She said that he was better. My host is hoping that this is demonstrating the power of the Gospel to this family We are now on a follow-up visit. My host is wondering if someone in this family could be the person of peace that hes been praying for. We take off our sandals when we enter the house. Greetings are given and received. We take our place sitting on the floor cross-legged. We ask about the husbands health. Sadly, he has regressed a bit. His arms and legs are weak again. We begin a gospel conversation. We ask about how they go about receiving forgiveness of sin. They tell a story about sacrifices that have taken place at their local mosque. Just a few days before our visit, 15 cows were sacrificed along with 50 goats. The belief is that for every cow sacrificed seven peoples sins are forgiven. For every goat sacrificed one persons sins are forgiven. We then see an open door. We talk about the sacrifice of Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world so that there is no need for any other sacrifice. Its likely the first time the Gospel has been proclaimed in that way to these people. Almost immediately, several young men join us in the sitting area. Evidently, they caught wind of our visit and then are concerned about the content of the conversation. We find out that one of the young man who began conversing animatedly is the son of this couple. He teaches children about Islam at the local mosque. We are served a suspicious looking glass of liquid on a small plate. I keep watching my host to see what he will do with it. He waits. He doesnt drink. So, I dare not drink, either. I wonder if its safe to drink. I wonder if we are being rude by not drinking it. The conversation which had been so clearly focused on the Gospel and the sacrifice that Jesus made now, because of the presence of this Islam-teaching son, became clouded, murky, confusing, and multi-layered with social and religious verbiage. Things stay friendly and even light-hearted at times. But big- time distraction has entered the room. I think, The enemy wants to keep this couple in the dark. The son has shown up at a most inopportune time. Its as if the enemy wants to make sure that the so-called truth of Islam is not corrupted by these American visitors. Finally, my host drinks from the glass in front of him. I give it a try. It turns out to be hot tea. Extremely sweet. Maybe there is a little tea in the sugar water. I find out later that its most polite to wait to drink or eat until youve been asked two or three times to do so. We wrap up the conversation. We thank the couple and their son for their hospitality. We mention that we will continue to pray for the husbands health. My host knows that he can come back at another time and share the good news again. On the way back to our hosts home, we debrief. I mention that I am starting to see even after this one conversation how extremely difficult it is in this culture to keep the conversation focused on the Gospel. I admire my host for the work that he and his wife are doing. It will take much, much prayer to penetrate the darkness, the legalism, the indoctrination in the lives of the people on this island. Only God can give sight to the blind, can raise those who are spiritually dead, and can set the captives free. Therefore, we must pray. And then we must pray some more. Will you join me in praying for the people of pearl island? Will you pray for this couple? Will you pray for their son? What if this teacher of Islam was radically transformed and became a teacher of the One who is the way, the truth, and the life?
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:25:30 +0000
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