Testimonies from 2020

Let’s Go Be the Church–March 2020

One Saturday afternoon in late summer of 2019, I was walking along the road near my home headed for a short stint at the Korean spa.  I love to relax at the spa and can’t say I was all that focused on my environment around me.  Yet when I saw two young men walking in front of me, for some reason I thought I’d say, “Hi.”

Now time out for a moment.  I grew up in rural America and in my home area, saying “Hi,” or at least nodding or waving even to a stranger is almost expected.  Yet culturally in Seoul, saying, “Hi” to strangers is a little strange, as there are so many people and it is simply not possible to say “Hi” or acknowledge everyone.  Add in the fact that cult groups, salespeople, etc. are often the ones soliciting strangers and suddenly saying “Hi” becomes awkward in most areas.

Yet there are instances where we have to be counter-cultural and sometimes in doing so we spark curiosity in others.  So I followed through on my thought and risked to talk to these two.

Initially they seemed a little stoic to me, though since they were clearly not Korean I had something in common with them:  we were foreigners.  When I asked where they were from, they shared they were from a small country in central Africa.  We made a bit of small talk, which they seemed to appreciate and they warmed up a bit to me before our paths diverged.  They went down under the road to go play basketball and I continued another 15 minutes or so in my walk to the spa.

This was not the first time I’d talked to strangers like this, nor would it be the last.  Often, nothing more appears to become of it and on that particular summer day, this brief encounter on the road slipped my mind before I really even processed what had happened.

But obviously that isn’t the end of the story or I’d never waste my time writing a blog post–nor would I want to waste your time reading it!

After a good time at the spa, I began my walk home.  I can’t say I was praying or seeking God’s guidance in any way at the time, but suddenly I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit tell me to “walk along the river.”

Sometimes when God speaks it is through a thought that is not easy to discern the source.  It may or may not be God.  It could just be “me” or as some like to say, “last night’s pizza.”  Generally it’s good to remain humble when presenting to others what we believe we heard from the Spirit, rather than forcing a “thus saith the Lord” on them.  But for me, there are  times when it is much more clear–like I’m more than 90% sure the source is God.  It’s hard to say why, but it’s like the source is from deep within me–from the Holy Spirit speaking to my entire being.  The command to “walk along the river” was one of those 90+% times and I obeyed without hesitating.

You can probably about guess what happened next considering where this post started.  But as I walked along the river, I wasn’t thinking about meeting anyone.  I just enjoyed the walk without much thought as to why.  But suddenly I saw the two African guys from before alongside the river bank drinking and playing loud music.  Apparently their basketball game was over and they’d moved on.  I waved to them from above and they waved back like we were old friends, motioning me to “come on down.”

I went down and talked to them and we had a good discussion about living life as foreigners in Korea.  They were students at a university in Seoul.  I didn’t stay too long and mostly just listened to them share their experiences and some frustrations with living cross-culturally.  But before leaving, I offered to connect with one of them whom I’ll call “D”on Kakao talk, the Korean chat app.  We exchanged info and I left.

A few times in the following weeks, D and I tried to meet up again but it never really worked out.  At one point during our text chats when we were discussing things we might do if we did potentially hang out, I shared with him how my life had been changed through my relationship with Jesus back in 2006.  With that change, some of my interests and lifestyle had also changed.  He respected that and was still willing to meet with me but it never happened.  I was a little disappointed, but I forgot about our interaction and I moved on.  Several months past.  2020 came.

Then COVID-19 hit Korea in late February of 2020.  I was out praying along the river again (a common spot for me) one day when I sensed the Lord say that He would use the COVID-19 situation to bring many people to know Him.  About 10 minutes later, I looked down to see that D had texted me.  Interesting timing!

We chatted by text that day, including about the virus.  At that time, still much was unknown and it was easy to be fearful.  I shared that while I was cautious of the situation, I was not afraid of death if it came to that as I knew Jesus and only good lay ahead for me after death.  I also told him I was praying that the virus “stay out of Africa.”  One thing led to another and eventually he asked to go to church with me.  Wow!

Unfortunately, my Sunday church went online that week due to COVID-19.  I was disappointed and let D know.  How long would I have to wait before I could invite him to church in person?  In hindsight, quite a while!

But it’s important to remember that CHURCH is more than just the “structured organization that gathers on Sunday.” God calls us to BE the CHURCH. As Argentinian Evangelist Ed Silvoso teaches, “An “Ekklesia” (greek word for church) in its most embrionic expression is the gathering of at least two or three believers presided by the Holy Spirit around the manifest prescence of Jesus with authority to bind and to release for God’s will to be done on Earth (see Matthew 18:18-20).  I want to share verse 20 here specifically: For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them”(NKJV).  D may not have been a believer yet, but he was interested and we certainly had been connected through the Holy Spirit.  So I offered to meet Him and just talk together and he accepted my invitation.

There were some challenges again before our meeting.  We had some miscommunication again and we had to reschedule our meeting.   I prayed with another missionary, questioning what was going on.  Our sense was Satan didn’t want this meeting to happen so we prayed against His schemes and for God to make a way.  Thankfully, God did indeed make a way.

That Saturday night in early March, I took the subway to go meet D at a coffee shop in between our two neighborhoods in Seoul.  Before leaving, the Lord prompted me to bring along one of my evangecubes which I used as visual too to share the gospel.  I arrived a bit early and as I waited I cried out to the Lord that He would bring D to salvation that night.

D arrived and we met for just the second time in person.  I hardly remembered what he even looked like!  We got our drinks and took a seat.  After making some small talk about COVID-19, he suddenly asked me how he could become a Christian.  I was surprised honestly and the question almost caught me off guard (I wish it was always this easy)!  I shared with him I was a missionary and that really got his attention.

I got to know a bit of His background and learned he grew up Muslim but wasn’t satisfied with Islam.  This was especially interesting to me, as I’d been praying for Muslims to encounter the love of Jesus for some time.  D recalled how we had met the previous summer and how we had tried to meet up again at that time but hadn’t been able to.  Then he shared how another Christian friend of his had influenced him between our two meetings, and how he wanted to go to church with this man but it never happened.  He talked about the “battle” he felt in the spiritual realm and shared how he felt that battle in trying to meet with me as well.  I confirmed it was indeed a real spiritual battle.

Around then I sensed the Lord ask me to give D my Evangecube and “discover” the gospel by “unfolding” it (to see this, click on the evangecube video link above).  I explained the gospel to him as he did that.  Soon after, I was leading D, this man I randomly had talked to on the road in the summer of 2019, in a prayer to receive Jesus as His Lord and Saviour!  We have been in contact several times since then and plan to meet again soon when he returns to Korea!

As I reflect on this story here a few months later, there are a few things that stand out.  First, I am amazed by God’s timing and how He can use such small steps of kindness and obedience to do great things.  Once again, it took patience (see my September 2019 post for more on this).

Second, I am reminded never to give up.  In this case, I got to sow some spiritual seeds, but seemed blocked from watering. Later others watered.  Later still,  I finally got to water a bit more and see some growth!  Such a joy!

Lastly, I believe the message God really wants to share through all of this in this time is:  “Go Be the Church.”  We must move beyond the 4 walls of the building on Sunday to embody Christ, bring His Kingdom message and culture, and form His Ekklesia wherever we go.  There is a battle when we attempt to do this and it is not easy.  But we are not alone and we are on the winning team.  We must keep on loving, waiting, timely moving in the Holy Spirit’s power and not give up.

It can be good to invite people to join our scheduled regular gatherings.  But we must not limit church to only that.  Especially in this time, I feel God’s heart for His Church is for us to expand our thinking and push past old religious mindsets where we identify ourselves by our denomination or Sunday place of worship.  We need to learn how to let the Holy Spirit use us to “form gatherings” wherever we go….gatherings that focus people on Jesus.  Let’s each do our part as we walk forward with the Holy Spirit.  Brothers and Sister, it’s time to rise up and BE THE CHURCH!