Graveyard for Missionaries

27 June 2010

 Dear Phyllis,

I wrote you last week from Laos telling of my meeting with the two men there. Very frankly it is hard not to be a little skeptical when I hear such astronomic numbers, but I can’t argue with the number of Bibles they are pleading for. I thought I knew both countries fairly well, but what they are talking about is way beyond anything I have observed. If only 50% is correct, that would still be huge church growth in Laos and Cambodia.

The only thing I know in Japan like that is Kichijoji. As you know, Japan is a graveyard for missionaries. It is one of the most resistant countries to the Gospel in the world. It is not that we don’t have a church in Japan, or that Japanese don’t make good Christians. I have greatly enjoyed working in Japan for 50 years, and have deep admiration for Japanese Christians. But it is like Japan is an nonflammable country.

Years ago I was helping a friend burn a field. We checked the direction of the wind and then lit a match at the lead end. Soon there was a wall of fire walking its way across that field. I marveled that one little match could start such a wide blaze. I wondered, “How did this happen?” Simple. Each stalk of grass ignited the stalk next to it. But in Japan we have thousands of little blazes going on all over the place, but they just don’t ignite anything around it.

Kichijoji is different. It is the only place I know in Japan where the Gospel has gone just like it is supposed to. From a small beginning 43 years ago in a house in west Tokyo, it has spread to the entire nation, and reached thousands of some of the finest Christians I have ever met. I know of no other denomination, or group, that has come within a fraction of what Kichijoji has produced. To explain this strange phenomenon is a great enigma.

 

Kichijoji was started by Gotthold Beck. He is a German missionary who came out with the Liebenzeller Mission in 1955. On his way to Japan he stopped briefly in Hong Kong. While there, he learned of the ministry of Watchman Nee and his group, Little Flock. He decided at that time when he got to Japan he would try to pattern his work after the example of Watchman Nee. For 12 years he tried to follow that example while working with Liebenzeller, but it was a running war the entire time. In 1967 he left Liebenzeller, and started having meetings in his home in the west Tokyo suburb of Kichijoji. I was a close friend of Gotthold’s from the very inception when there were 15 to 20 in a meeting. I have watched with amazement at its astronomic expansion.

Basically Kichijoji is Plymouth Brethren. In the early years Gotthold fellowshipped with the PB missionaries in Japan. Their style is the same. They don’t have pastors or a hierarchy organization. They are opposed to lady preachers or women speaking in the church. The sisters wear a doily head covering in a service. They have communion every Sunday. They don’t call themselves a church – they say “assembly”. All PB “churches” (assemblies) are identical. There is one major difference; Kichijoji is an elephant in a pen of mice. There are many PB fellowships all over Japan, but oddly enough, most of them are basically the same as every other denomination with about 20 in each assembly. Kichijoji is mega!

 In 1977 I was working with Jim Blocksom in the evenings and going to the local TEAM (Japanese) church in the morning. Both were very goods churches. Through our ministry at the Joy Corral we had seen a number of marvelous Japanese saved. A sister came down from Tokyo to live with us and had tremendous influence on several of the folks in our immediate circle of fellowship. Through her influence a number started going to the Kichijoji meetings in Kobe.

A dear sister had been saved in Tokyo 14 years before then and returned to her home in Kobe. She went to several traditional Japanese churches but wasn’t satisfied. Sister Koyama called Gotthold asking him what to do. He suggested, “Why don’t you start a meeting in your own home”. She rented a small apartment next to her own. As a lady she couldn’t talk in the meeting, so she contacted a couple of brethren to come over to have meetings for her. I attended some of those meetings when it was only 10 or 12 people jammed in a clothe closet. Man howdy, that was a small room!

 There was no leader, there was no piano or musical instrument, there was no preacher, the women were silent; but there was one indescribable feature – Jesus was there. I mean to tell you those meeting were different!  For one year I never attended a meeting that you didn’t look around the room and see tears pouring down Japanese faces. Our hearts burned together with intensity like I had never experienced – before or since. The Bible was alive like it was dynamite. People would break down in prayer and couldn’t continue. Singing traditional hymns was like speaking directly to God. People got saved like they were escaping from a hotel fire. Testimonies were like 4^th of July fireworks. Oh my goodness, those were the days! That little gathering in Sister Koyama’s apartment soon grew to over 100. Needless to say we were in another building by then. I never saw such a scriptural gathering in any place I had ever been.

One night I was attending a kate shukai (home meeting) in Miki, the back side of Kobe. A dear sister was sharing her testimony. She had been saved as a high school girl, and went straight to Bible school. There she met a fine young man, and they were married. She had been serving the Lord faithfully for 20 years in a church, but was wore out. She told the pastor, “Sensei, I have got to have a break. I just can’t go on any more.” He replied, “Sister, you are the pillar of the church. If you back out the house will collapse.” About that time a friend invited her to attend a Kichijoji ladies meeting. It was something like she had never seen before. It wasn’t religion – it was life. The reality of Jesus living in the heart of every lady there was dominant. It was like coming out of a smoke filled room to breathe fresh mountain air. At last she persuaded her husband to go to a Kichijoji meeting in Kobe one Sunday. They felt like Judas betraying the Lord when they missed going to their regular church to attend this “cult meeting”. But one time and they were hocked. This dear sister wept as she told how wore out they were with formalism and exterior Kirisuto kyo (Christianity). She said, “I had no relationship with the Lord. I was a Christian in name only and a terrible wife to my husband. Religion was killing us”. Now her heart was aflame with love for Jesus and they had a wonderful marriage.

After the meeting I went up to talk to her. I said, “Sister, I know hundreds of Christian all over this country just like you. Kirisuto kyo is a terrible drag. It takes a tough person to hang in there. But the difference isn’t yarikata (way of doing things). The difference is Jesus.” I was concerned that she would think that it was just because the type of service was different that there was such blessing. But she esthetically exclaimed, “Yes, yes, yes! It’s Jesus!”

 Hundreds of Christians were pouring out of traditional Japanese churches all over Japan fleeing to Kichijoji meetings. It was one of the most despised groups in Japan. But basically it was just a matter of scrawny sheep, who were starving to death, who found lush, rich, pasture on the other side of the fence. Ironically, nearly all PB assemblies have basically the same yarikata (type of service) as Kichijoji but the results are different.

What is the difference? That is one difficult question. The only explanation I know is that Gotthold Beck is the most self-sacrificing, aggressively loving, genuine missionary I know. Somehow he infused that same spirit in the hearts of his believers and it seemed everyone was possessed with the same spirit of passionately serving the Lord and helping others that characterized Gotthold. (And I like their yarikata.) Gotthold isn’t a perfect man. He has made unbelievable mistakes. He is not above criticism. But he has established a group of Christians in Japan that – to the best of my knowledge – have not the equal any place in the country. While other groups are barely holding their own, or at best seeing 10% increase, Kichijoji is growing exponentially.

When I was in China three weeks ago I asked the people I was meeting with about their style of worship. The fastest growing groups in China are the house church people. This is basically the Kichijoji method. I believe much of that can be traced back to Watchman Nee. Perhaps this is what is happening in Cambodia and Laos today. Apparently somebody is doing something right. It seems that the house church method is the most effective yarikata going today. I’m not sure that it is an infallible system. The PB brethren in Japan have proved that they can be just like everyone else. And the day may come when Kichijoji is the same. All I know is that the intense sense of presence of Jesus in a meeting makes quite a bit of difference.

Praise God, we had a very good meeting in Scott’s home Friday night. It was the best meeting in a year. The Word came alive with tremendous power. I thought I would explode as I went on for two hours. I don’t think anyone was tired when we quit at 9:00. But I am concerned that type of meeting does not become Bill Cook meeting. It would be much better if I could sit down and be quiet and allow the Holy Spirit to take over. But things like that are very unusual.

 

Lord Jesus, please step forward that we hear from You and not from man.

                                                                                                                                      bill

Bibles for Laos

20 June 2010

Dear Phyllis,

I’m on the road again. Much to my surprise I am back in Vientiane, Laos today. I had only been home a few days when Mark asked me if I would go back to Laos on a trip for him. We planned for me to leave Chiang Mai Friday night but then the date got move up so I was on a bus headed east a week after I had just gotten off the bus coming back from Laos. But this is a great privilege. What I am doing now is a tremendous honor that the Lord has extended to me. If some one had told me thirty years ago what I am doing today, it would have seemed like an unimaginable dream.

In the Lord’s work, in this part of the world, there are four parts of God’s Chain of Life working together to see hundreds of thousands saved, and the Lord’s Kingdom extended. The first link of this chain are those who give money to finance what is happening here. Most of these funds come from the churches in America. The next link is Bible printing. Most of this is done by New Life League in Japan. The next chain link is logistics – those who actually carry the Bibles to where they are needed. This is the aspect that I am engaged in. The last members of God’s team are really the heart and soul of the work – those on the field who are actually preaching the Gospel and seeing souls won to Christ on a daily basis. These come one soul at a time. If there wasn’t a living church in these countries reproducing themselves at a phenomenal rate, everything else would be pointless. These are the foot soldiers for Jesus. And this is something that every member of the Body of Christ should be engaged in everyday wherever they are living.

In America this chain of life is not necessary. Believers in western countries have plenty of money. Bibles are available anywhere. Publishers via with each other as a business venture publishing and selling millions of Bibles annually. It is big business. There is no need of a logistic chain. Book stores and mail-order are available any place in America. But that is not the case here in SEA (Southeast Asia). In many places, believers have no access to the Word of God unless someone carries it to them. It is an enormous privilege to be God’s postman in physically transporting the written Word to these people in desperate need.

Mark had met a man in Cambodia a couple of years ago who was connected with another man spreading the Gospel in Laos. There was a serious need of Bibles in Laos and Bural had contacted Mark concerning the possibility of sending Bibles in there. Mark asked me if I would go to Vientiane to meet them and make arrangement for delivery.

After an all night bus trip from Chiang Mai to Udorn Thani I got to the Friendship Bridge connecting Thailand and Laos by mid morning, and crossed back into Laos. I checked in the guest house where I always stay and got a motor bike. The arrangement was for me to meet our man when he arrived at the airport. This seemed fairly easy. The international airport in Vientiane is quite small. I had never met Bural before but had seen a picture of him. I stood at the exit for arrival with a sign with his name written on it. Soon he came out. I recognized him by the picture of him and he spotted me standing there with the sign. That was the most critical part.

He introduced me to some other brethren who had come on the plane with him and his man in Laos. We made arrangements to meet at his hotel in an hour and then go somewhere for supper. There is a very fine Christian restaurant in Vientiane that is reasonably secure for talking business. Bural, John, and I went there to eat. What a historic night! I had heard reports of some of their ministry, but that was the first time I talked with them directly hearing of what the Lord is doing.

Roald Lidal had met Bural in Cambodia two years ago. I had heard of that meeting and the subsequent things that had happened, but it was hard for me to believe such reports. Bural confirmed that NLL had printed and sent in 200,000 Cambodian Bibles in the last two years, and he said they are all gone. That is astounding! The figures he told me of what is happening in Cambodia are astronomic. In our discussion I asked him if he knew some of the key men that I know in that country. He confirmed that he was working closely with all of them.

 He had cone up to Laos to talk with a Lao brother who has a large ministry here. The point of my trip was to make arrangements for sending in a good number of Lao Bibles. And I was stunned at the figures we were talking about that night. I had no idea that such things were happening in Laos. They told \me that they were seeing 10 to 15 new churches starting in Laos each month! That would be over 120 to 170 churches started in a year. That would be a huge number in China and unthinkable in Japan or America. I asked, “How many would there be in one church – 10 or 15?” He replied, “Oh no, there are something more like 50 or 60 in each church.” I find that difficult to believe but I do know they are serious about the number of Bibles they want us to deliver as soon as possible. If this is true that means there is church growth in Laos like I have never heard of. He said at the moment, in most places, they only have one Bible for every 10 believers to share. Of course it is impossible for one man to do all this. But that is still a remarkable accomplishment for any one house church group.

These statistics are astounding but the thing that is so miraculous is where this is happening. Roll the clock back 35 years ago, and in our wildest imagination there is no way we could have conceived what is happening there today. In 1975, both Cambodia and Laos looked as bleak as possible. The long extended Vietnam War had come to a close in the worse possible way. The horrible nightmare was over, and reality was worse than our fears. But that was only the beginning of sorrows. What happened in Cambodia was almost unprecedented national genocide. The C&MA denomination alone suffered 80% martyrdom. The Vietnamese came into Laos with thousands of Russian advisors and started a policy of ethnic cleansing by spraying yellow rain toxic chemicals on the villages in the north that had resisted the Vietnamese invasion. Hundreds of thousands of minority people fled Laos across the Mekong River to Thailand. Thousands were drowned trying to get out. The situation could not have looked darker.

In Laos a significant percentage of the population are minority hill tribe people. Among these various minority people the bottom group is the Khamu. The word Khamu means slave. They are treated as less than animals. But the Khamus are the most responsive people in the country. When the Gospel first came into Laos, it was the Khamu who were the first believers. Today the Khamus are the finest believers and are the most open hearted in sharing the Gospel cross culture. The other minority people tend to stay restricted within their own particular culture and seldom reach outside. But the Khamus are different.

The brother who was the basic purpose for my visit, John, is an amazing man. He is a Khamu pastor. His father was a Khamu pastor and he was raised in the church. When the communists took over Laos in the late 1970s, because of his intelligence and unusual grades in school, he was selected to be sent to Moscow to be trained as a pilot. I was shocked when he told me that. I asked, “Why did you go to Moscow?” He simply replied, “Because I was sent.” He had no choice in the matter. Amazingly, he was a helicopter pilot for four years and has 1,500 hours flying time. But then there was an investigation and he was found out to be a Christian. Apparently he didn’t have much of a testimony. When the authorities discovered that he was a Christian, he was faced with the choice of denying Christ or suffer the worse. At that time he chose to raise the flag for Jesus and take a strong stand. He went from being a helicopter pilot to serving a year in prison. But that was the beginning of his life. Today he is a major man of God and seeing huge numbers of Khamu and Lao come to Christ.

 

I asked Bural how they got together. He told me that he was interested in doing dendo (missions) in Laos but knew no one. He was in Vientiane a few years ago and had a dream. In his dream he saw a building with a cross on it. The next morning he set out to find that building. It was fairly close to where he was staying. But when he saw the building he was surprise to see that it was virtually demolished. It was just a shell. As he prayed, he decided to walk around the building and see if he could find some connection. He hadn’t gone far when a 12 year old boy came out of the house next door. It turned out they were Christians. While he was talking to the boy he saw a man walking across the street who smiled at him. That was how the Lord brought Bural and John together. Bural taught John his methods of church planting and amazing things began to happen. John asked Bural if he knew how he could get Lao Bibles. Through Roald Lidal, Bural knew of Mark and wrote him. It was in response to that request that Mark sent me here to set up delivery of the Bibles desperately needed.

 Isn’t Jesus amazing? The Lord saw the need here in Laos. He had raised up the funds through Christians in the states. He has NLL printing Bibles in Japan. Mark has some in Thailand with other outstanding men who will carry them in. And I came over to make arrangement for delivery. That is the Chain of Life. It is all because the Lord of the harvest, with His Body working together, is doing an unbelievable work in these countries that were utterly impossible 35 years ago.

What a privilege to be here. Praise God!!!

                                                                          bill

Christian Relationships

13 June 2010

Dear Phyllis,

Several years ago I was talking to some students in a Bible school and said, “The greatest problem on the mission field is horizontal problems. I have had extremely little problem with unbelievers, but the greatest heartaches I have ever had has been with fellow missionaries.” They were greatly surprised. I have had next to zero persecution from Buddhists, but – man howdy – I have had hard times from other Christians!

When we went to pick up our third son, TJ, from Sasebo, three of our closest friends called the missionary there saying, “Please don’t let the Cooks have that child. They are not qualified to be parents.” I thought we had done a pretty good job with the two boys we had. After Rosemary left me and Jay came back to Japan to live with me, the Christian school where he had always gone refused to accept him as a student. I got a letter from the school board requesting that I not allow him to come to the school grounds to play with the other children. You talk about being square jawed; I was a little bit disappointed. Later I had spent six months building a beautiful center for some friends and because of pure misunderstanding the missionary told me in the bluntest terms, “Get out!” I have never been treated like that at the hands of unbelievers. It was Christian counselors that dismantled my family and terminated my marriage. The greatest heartaches are from those who are the closest to you.

In Zech. 13:6 we read, “One shall say to Him, ‘What are these wounds in Thine hands?’ Then He shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends’.”. This is clearly prophetic of Christ. It was when He was in the in house of His friends – His own people – that He was wounded. Pilate did his best to release Jesus. It wasn’t until the Jewish high priest threatened him; “If you release this Man you are no friend of Caesar”, that Pilate capitulated to their pressure. It was the Jewish priest and mob that demanded that Jesus be crucified. He was wounded while in the house of His friends. And so are we.

Five years ago we had a wonderful couple here who clearly were called to serve the Lord in Laos. They went back home to their home church and family to report what the Lord had said to them while here in SEA. They were stunned when they ran into a firestorm of opposition. I wrote them a letter sharing how the greatest problems come from the ones closest to us. They later told me that that letter came at a critical time. They have done an outstanding job in Laos since then.

One reason why it is our friends and family that we receive the greatest wounds is because unbelievers can’t hurt us. Persecution may be difficult, and sometimes painful, but that is not like the wounds we receive from those closest to us.

I suppose the reason that this is such a horrendous problem in Christian work is because of demonic attack. The devil can’t resist a frontal assault, but if he can turn brother against brother, then they will destroy each other. The stories of this happening are innumerable. This is what happened to me last week in China. We had the prospect for a very good tour, but communication with the Chinese sister, who was my guide and interpreter, became impossible, and the serious abuse she was heaping on me made it impossible to go on any further.

 Construction is a particularly challenging game. In most jobs I have been on there have been serious problems with misunderstanding. Sometimes it is because other people don’t understand the way of doing things, or just plain conflict in temperaments. When I was building our home in Ikoma, the mission director called me one morning in agony. He hadn’t been able to sleep the night before. He pleaded, “Must you have such excessive amount of insulation?” I planed to put in 10cm (4”) in the wall. He had never heard of such extreme insulation. I have lost several very good friends over problems in building houses and churches.

My very dear friend, Scott, has been planning to build a new house and has counted on me to build it for him for several months. Scott is a wonderful brother and a first class Christian worker, but, like the rest of us, he does have some unusual ways. From a few past small jobs we have done before I was well aware of what I was up against, and I was a little nervous.

He had asked the architect to design a strong earthquake proof house. The architect had certainly designed a very sturdy one, but when I saw the blue prints I saw several things with which I disagreed. I talked with Scott warning him of the potential of serious conflict in doing this house. I asked, “Do you want me to build it the way that I think best or do it according to the drawing?” Now there is a tough spot. What is he supposed to do – take the word of his professional Thai architect, or his American wood construction friend? I can’t blame him for his decision. He requested, “Please do it the way that it is drawn.”

The problem is that very often we run into problems with men who are good with pencils in drawing lines on paper but have little or no experience, in the field building the things they draw. Occasionally it is just flat impossible. I have had to deal with this many times. One time I was told to build a wall sitting on air. Another time we were supposed to build a men’s rest room under a stairway with the urinal on a wall 3 feet high. It looked to me that the architect who drew Scott’s plans didn’t know what he was talking about.

I told Scott that I would try to build it the way it was drawn, but when I laid it out at the genba (job site) I was overwhelmed at the astronomic task of digging the foundation.

Thai construction is almost exclusively building concrete post about every 3 meters (10’). This requires substantial bases under each post. I have no problem with that, but this job required the base to be dug 170cm (nearly 6’) deep and then huge pads under each post. The architect did back off to say that 150cm would be okay. There are 15 holes. The average hole had nearly 2 cubic meters. By my calculation that would require digging up 30 cubic meters of dirt. That is close to 33 cubic yards. Where are you going to put that dirt when you dig? If you put it beside the hole you were digging, you would be throwing dirt ten feet in the air to get it out of the hole. If you moved it outside the parameter of the building, so you could lay out the position of the corners properly, that would make a huge mountain of dirt the entire length of the building. I can’t imagine the job this would be to just dig the foundation.

I was heart-sick when I told Scott that I couldn’t build his house. From his perspective this can only look like betrayal by a friend. But this is the least painful way to back out for the sake of maintaining good relations with him. It is discouraging to have two major horizontal failures in two weeks.

Tragically many of these wounds never heal. I have lost friends over disagreements and fifteen and twenty years later the wounds still haven’t healed. This is not what Jesus intends for His Body. But this is the reality we are faced with. What the answer is to solve these problems, I don’t know. We talk about forgiveness and reconciliation, but in practice this seldom works. Many wounds are never restored. Some things in life are permanent. Suicide is permanent. Once that point is passed there is no turning back. Murder is permanent. We can’t bring the dead back. Unfaithfulness in marriage is a blot that both partners must live with for the rest of their lives. Divorce is a pit that usually is never restored. Of course there can be repentance and forgiveness, but that seldom erases the damage that was done.  

The greatest experience I ever had in a squall was a huge blow that I had with Neil Verwey. We had a terrible logger-header where both of us felt in our heart that we were right. I told Neil I would rather deal with the devil than with such a hard legalistic man. A month later I went to his home to talk to him again. The more we talked the more we polarized. Finally Neil said, “Let’s pray.”

“No! I refuse to pray until this thing is settled!”

Neil is one of the biggest missionary statesmen in Japan. He got out of his chair and crawled across the floor on his hands and knees lying prostrate at my feet. I came out of that chair like it was an ejection seat in a fighter, and hit the floor with a thud. We started tp pray. What happened for the next twenty minutes was indescribable. We prayed back and forth. I prayed the holiest prayer of my life. I couldn’t think of anymore to say. Neil cried like he was dying. He pleaded, “Lord my heart is breaking. I long to hear Bill say. ‘I forgive you’.”  How can you trump that? We got up off the floor. The rug was soaked with our tears. We threw our arms around each other, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember what the problem was. Oh my goodness that was wonderful!

Maybe Proverbs comes close to the core when it says, “Only by pride cometh contentions” (Prov. 13:10).

 Lord Jesus, please take control of this poor man and keep me from being an agent for the devil.

                                                                            bill

Follow Up in China 2

7 June 2010

Dear Phyllis,

I’m in Vientiane on my way back from one taihen (terrible) trip. The trip was an unparalleled disaster but the mission was a wonderful success.

We had every prospect for a marvelous trip traveling extensively around China but things began to go sideways from the minute we set foot on Chinese soil. This trip had been scheduled for nearly two months. The Chinese brethren paid for our tickets to fly from Kunming to Daiyuen and I assumed that the agenda was pretty much intact. Three months ago we were able to send in 3,000 Bibles and my entire purpose was to visit the places where these Bibles went. We had stayed with the brother in Kunming last year and I more or less assumed he would meet us at the airport. Apparently Rosy thought so also as she became quite angry when no one showed up. She tried to reach the brother by phone but no contact. After an hour of frustration Rosy turned to me and said, “We will have to stay in a hotel and fly to Daiyuen tomorrow.”

“What!??!” The whole purpose of our coming was to talk to the brother in Kunming who received these Bibles. And if we couldn’t see him the trip was pointless.

China has an excellent system of Youth Hostels. In my previous tour I had stayed mostly in these cheap hostels in mixed dorm rooms. It may sound strange to say you are staying in a room with women but a dorm has the advantage that it is impossible to get in moral trouble with a room full of other people. Because the previous time we had stayed with brother, I assumed we probably would stay there this time also, and had not bought the address of a Youth Hostel in Kunming. If we were going to stay in a hotel, I told Rosy I had to find an Internet and look up the address for a Youth Hostel.

“Go.”

“I can’t go by myself. I need you to read the Chinese Internet.”

Rosy is a fine Christian sister, but she has inherited a very strong choleric personality. I knew this from previous encounters and planned to make allowance for it, but this time everything was off the scale. For three days she was as charming, patient, and helpful as a junk yard police dog. It was like traveling with a fighting cock.

I had bought a new cell phone (my first) to take on this trip. We went back in the airport to look for an Internet connection and Rosy bought a Chinese Sim card for my phone. My phone seemed to work better than hers and somehow she finally was able to get brother on the other end of the line. They had moved since the last time we were there and he was able to give Rosy directions how to get to his apartment. The first major miracle.

We got a taxi and got to the area but needed someone to come show us the right place from there. Another call to brother, but he was at church and couldn’t meet us. He would send his wife’s mother who lives with them. We waited an hour and no one showed up. By this time I was complete burned up. I said, “If this is what he thinks of us and the importance of getting Bibles; forget it! That is the last time I will work with him.” Then Rosy dropped a bomb on me. “I know where they are. They were never sent here. The Bibles are in Daiyuen.” Shock! That was the first time I heard that, but Rosy got angry with me because I didn’t know it. She read the riot act to me and told me in the strongest term what a bad man I was. The people in Daiyuen weren’t in a position to receive 3,000 Bible and I had caused a big problem. Gong! The thing that I thought was one of the major accomplishments of my life turned out to be a huge mistake and put others in danger. You talk about depression; now there is a good reason for it.

We started walking around and finally found the mother-in-law. She took us to the apartment and then said we must go out to eat and have a shower. I didn’t know what connection there was with eating and taking a shower, but soon we went in a very elaborate place that looked like a hotel. Rosy told me to go in the men’s side and she and mother went in the ladies. No one spoke a word of English but I got the point that they wanted me to take all my clothes off. “Here??!!” I undressed and put my clothes in a locker. They gave me a set of loose pants and shirt like a pajama and told me to go to the 2^nd floor. I have been in very elaborate onsens (spas) in Japan and got the signal that this place was something like that. I found the 2^nd floor and was much relieved to see Rosy and mother looking for me. We were in a fancy buffet with everyone in pajamas.

After the meal we went downstairs to a huge onsen with as many different pools as you would find in Japan. An hour later I got out, and got dressed. Rosy has sent a note saying that they were waiting for me on the 3^rd floor. Wandering around I finally found the 3^rd floor and was shocked to see a huge room full of plush lazy-boy chairs and a hundred people sitting in them watching individual TV screens. Rosy told me to sit down and relax. That’s a good idea but pretty difficult when your mind is numb and you have no idea what is going on. I felt odd as I was the only one not in pajamas and went back down stairs to redress in some. Apparently this is where we were going to spend the night.

That evening brother and his wife came over to see us and the sun broke out of a black thunder cloud. I still don’t know what happened, but apparently brother didn’t know we were coming. He wasn’t at church as we were told but was in the mountains some distance away doing dendo (evangelism) among the Hmong. I finally got everything straightened about the Bibles and had a terrific time with brother. He is top class! He did get some of the Bibles and appreciated them very much. But he pleaded with me to get him 1,000 Hmong Bibles as soon as possible. We really were on the same page and I have great admiration for him. He is exactly the kind of man we want to help.

Rosy and I did sleep in a couple of plush chairs in this fancy spa and brother came to pick us up and take us to the airport at 6:00 the next morning. 

 

I never learned why, but Rosy asked me to play shiran kao (we are strangers – I don’t know who you are), and don’t talk. From the airport on I played shiran kao and kept 10 meters (30 feet) distance between us most of the time. That was hard to be so artificially sullen and I was pretty square jawed when we got to Daiyuen.

The main leader came to the airport to meet us and took us to a Chinese restaurant to eat with about half a dozen other believers. I enjoyed meeting them. One sister there has a Christian book store where we went to talk. For the next three hours the Holy Spirit met with us. Rosy cheered up and did a fine job interpreting. The fellowship was outstanding. Man howdy, that is what I came for! That meeting more than justified any confusion I had to wade through to get there. That brother is a major man of God with a fine network. He said they didn’t have a place to store 3,000 Bibles and sent them out to various places almost immediately. He was tremendously grateful for what we were able to get to him. I was much gratified to learn that the Bibles had gone to exactly the kind of places we hoped they would. We talked in detail about their needs and made plans for further shipments.

The house church movement in China is like the Body of Christ. It is invisible.  It is intangible. There is no structure. There are innumerable groups scattered all over China with no organizational hierarchy. They are totally independent of each other, and yet there is some sort of a loose cross-feed. It is impossible for authorities to crush. They are doing an excellent job in following the Holy Spirit in seeing thousands (millions) saved and well establish in Christ. I was highly impressed with the believers I met.

Rosy went one way, and a lovely couple took me out for supper that night, and put me up in a fairly expensive hotel. Oh my goodness, those people are wonderful. I greatly enjoyed their testimonies and fellowship.

The next morning the brother took us to the train station. Rosy and I went on our way for another five hours to her home to meet her mother and her home pastor there. But the devil took over. For the entire trip she had been one very unhappy angry sister. An hour out of Daiyuen she unloaded on me again railing at what a terrible person I am. I could take that, but there simply was no way to explain anything to her. She simply did not have listening ears. I might as well been talking Swahili. She railed against me because I said if things didn’t work out in Kunming I might as well go on home. I asked, “Would it help if you knew why I said that?”

“NO!”  

“Would you like to know what is in my heart and the pressure I am dealing with?”

“NO!”

What finally cooked it was when she hit me with one point where there was some justification that I was wrong. I desperately wanted to apologize and tell her she was right, I was wrong, and I am very sorry. I pleaded, “Rosy, may I say a word?”

“NO!”

“Rosy, there is something in my heart I really want to tell you.”

“NO!”

“Rosy, this is important and I really would like to say something.”

“NO! Don’t speak to me!”

 I had put up with this very unpleasant fighting cock for three days. We were 30 minutes from her home. I knew if I got there and had to deal with that extremely hostile spirit on her turf where I had no out, it would be a trap. It was pointless to go on. In silence I grabbed my bag and got off the train.

 

When I got off that train I felt like I had just jumped off a cliff. I was somewhere deep in China where I knew no one and no one spoke English. I went out of the eki (station) and went to Information. No English. I wrote on a paper the Chinese character for Daiyuen and the girl pointed towards a ticket counter. Five hours later I was back in Daiyuen. Fortunately I had placed a card for the hotel where I had stayed the night before in my waist pouch and gave that to a taxi driver. I was greatly relieved when he pulled up in front of the hotel and the Christian book store was next door.

At 5:00 I walked in the book store to greet a startled sister. I told her it was terrible tragedy but it was impossible for me to go on any further. That night she called another fine interpreter and another pastor to come talk to me in the book store. W e  h a d  c h u r c h! Oh my goodness, we had a good time! The brother told me how three other brothers from their fellowship are presently serving three years prison sentences and another man was arrested the day before. As an outsider I know things about China that those who live inside don’t know. He was breathless when I told him about the ministry of New Life League. When I told him how we were able to get those 3,000 Bibles to him, he was greatly humbled. He pleaded, “It is too dangerous for you. Please don’t do that for us.” I replied that it wasn’t that dangerous for foreigners. That was our ministry and why we were there. Again he confirmed what the leader had told me the day before about their needs and plans for further shipments. These are God’s A Team and the people we want to help. It is a great privilege to be able to support them. The three sessions I had in talking to the three pastors more than justified any expense and confusion that it cost to get there.

They put me up in the same hotel again and bought my ticket to fly back to Kunming. While I was in Kunming the second time I was able to meet Mel who had arranged the shipment of Bibles from Hong Kong. When I told him that they didn’t go to Kunming he was equally shocked. He said that the Chinese had sent them the address where they wanted the Bibles to go but the American boys couldn’t read the Chinese and thought it was Kunming.

The Lord had His way. They all got there safely and are in the hands of new believers who have just come into Jesus’ family. The mission was a great success but the trip was a horrible failure. I felt that the Lord had other places where He wanted us to go. We had at least four other stops including a conference that the brother in Kunming asked me to attend on the 21^st. I told him I would be there, but the devil was successful in destroying the bridge that I had with Rosy and made it impossible for us to work together. That part I feel was a loss for the Lord.

From Kunming I rode 36 hours by bus back to Laos, and just got in Vientiane this morning. I haven’t been in bed for two days but should get good nights sleep tonight. Tomorrow I will head back to Chiang Mai and back to building houses.

 I’ll try to send this out later this afternoon and write again next week from Chiang Mai.

Jesus is still victor:

                                       bill

Follow up to China

1 Jun 2010

Dear Phyllis,

I’m on my way. Today I am in Vientiane, Laos on my way to China. This will be a new experience for me. Actually this would be a very unusual trip for anyone. This is a rare privilege. Three months ago it was a great privilege to be able to get 3,000 Bibles to a house church group in China. This is a follow up survey tour to see where these Bibles went and how they are being used. The key to all this is a dear Chinese sister, Rosy.

I am sure I told you the story of Rosy before but it is so unusual that it bears repeating. Last summer I was on a long journey to travel overland from Chiang Mai to Pakistan. The first leg of that trip was to go to Vientiane where I knew there was a direct bus going from Laos to Kunming, China. I bought my bus ticket at the guest house where I always stay. The next day I went to the bus terminal and got on the bus for Kunming. Ten minutes before the bus was to leave the man taking the tickets looked at my ticket and said, “This is not a ticket.” I asked, “Where do I buy a ticket?” But he didn’t speak English. We were going around in circles with him saying, “This is not a ticket.”, and my question, “Where do I buy a ticket?” A girl was on that bus that spoke English and came to my rescue. I don’t know what she did but somehow it was no problem.

Twenty two hours later we had just entered China and were having a two hour lunch break at the border town of Mengla. I was walking up and down the street when I saw the girl that helped me the day before. I told her, “I will buy you lunch if you know a good place to eat.” She took me to a restaurant and ordered the meal. When we were served she turned to me and asked, “Are you a Christian?” I replied, “Why do you ask?” She said, “I am a Christian and we always pray before we eat.” That started it. When she found out who I was she said, “You must meet my brother in Kunming who is a pastor.” I bought her a ticket to Kunming so she could took me there. Through that contact the Lord has sent 3,000 Bibles to a needy area. Now Rosy is taking me up to China to meet her family and to tour the area where these Bibles went.

In the Bible logistic ministry we seldom meet the people where the Bibles go. It causes a big problem for the local believes if foreigners talk to them. A year ago Rosy had written her mother telling her that I wanted to visit. Her mother replied that they would be glad to have me come but it would be unwise if I attended a meeting. One time a foreigner attended the church and in 15 minutes the police were there. They got the foreigner out the back door in time, but that does cause problems for the Chinese believers. I will be meeting most of these leaders in hotel rooms or public places. I may get a chance to stay in a few homes and attend a few meetings but that will depend on the area and the level of persecution in that area.

Actually this trip is very open ended. I hope I am back in Chiang Mai in two weeks but there is no guarantee that I will be back by then. I have committed this to the Lord and it is up to Him where He wants to take me and how long I will be up north.

The job at John’s house is at a very good plateau. He is running short of funds and is not in a position to finish the house at this time. But if he can get the roof on and get it dry, then his Burmese man can work slowly putting up block walls. We got the concrete slabs put on the roof two weeks ago and it is almost done, But the last thing is to get 7 cm (2 ½ inches) of concrete poured on top of that. That should water proof it.

 After I get back, Scott wants a house built and would like to get started right away. I don’t know what to think about that.  I have promised Scott that I will build his house but I really don’t want to get involved working full time as a house builder in Thailand. The main thing is that we build the house of God; and that one is made of living stones – Jesus being the chief corner stone.

 Recently I have been reading KP Yohanan’s book, Revolution in Missions. It is really good. KP Yohanan was born in India and was 23 when he first went to America. Being raised in India and working is poor rural areas of India, he was stunned when he first went to America to see the astonishing wealth and prosperity of the American church. But he was also bewildered by the little emphasis on missions. He told how many American pastors, Christian leaders, and the average believer lives on a scale of affluence that was unimaginable for the typical native pastor/evangelist in India. If just a small portion of that wealth was redirected into missions, a huge army for Christ could be placed on the field and reach a harvest of souls that is impossible with our present mentality of foreign missions.

I personally know a missionary in Japan that was so unpopular that his church and neighbors petitioned his mission never to send him back there again. That is not a good testimony when the believers in a church request that the mission not send them back to that town again. But 20 years ago, I know his support level was $72,000. That would probably be over $100,000 today. His effectiveness for Christ was next to zero. If that $100,000 was directed to native pastors in India that would more than meet the needs of over 100 pastors.

But it wasn’t just the imbalance of wealth that was such a pain to KP Yohanan; it was also the lack of concern for reaching the lost that bothered him. He showed how the vast bulk of mission funds are not directed to reaching souls for Christ and establishing His church; the lions share of mission funding is spent on humanitarian project – which are not wrong in themselves – but they do not produce souls won to Christ. He is right. Living here in Thailand I see what he is talking about. The biggest portion of mission money does not go toward spreading the Gospel.

This has caused me to reexamine my own heart and activities. I originally came down here to carry Bibles into difficult areas where native believers had no access to the Word of God unless someone carried it to them. This was a great privilege, and this present trip is part of that ministry. But when I spend most of my energy building houses for foreigners living in Thailand, is this why the Lord has sent me here? There is another missionary organization that has indicated they might ask me to build a major project for them in the near future. Their top man is in the states right now raising funds to build this large project, but I wonder if this isn’t another example of that bloated mission giant that is calling for hundreds of thousands of dollars but will produce zero in bringing lost men to Christ. If they ask me to do that job I really don’t think I will do it.

I believe the Chinese church has the right emphasis with their Back to Jerusalem Movement.  I passionately believe the agenda of the Holy Spirit is for the tsunami of the Spirit to continue its western movement and seeing millions in Moslem country turn to Christ.

My own burden is for the Uyhgers in western China. There are over 20,000,000 of these Moslem people that need to hear the Gospel. As a westerner I know it is impossible for me to be an evangelist to these people but I do want to do anything that would be in the scope of my ability to assist the Gospel going to them. I don’t know if I will be able to get that far west to Xinjiang this time but if the Lord would give me contacts there I certainly would like to visit there again. The Chinese are the ones who must carry the Gospel to these people, but if I could help anyone get that job done, then I would rather spend what little is left of my life in that cause than building fancy houses for westerners to live in in Thailand.

                           /////////////////////////////////////////////

 I started this letter yesterday. This is as far as I got.  At the moment I am at about 20,000 feet somewhere just north of the Loa-China border. Looking down, it is quite mountainous but not real high mountains. I have been over that terrain by bus three times, but this is the first time I have flown from Laos. In about an hour we will be in Kunming. I am very anxious to speak with the brother who received the shipment of Bibles three months ago and set up the schedule where we will be going from there. Tomorrow we will fly to Rosy’s home church in Taiyuan. I wouldn’t have chosen to fly but the Chinese brethren are buying the tickets. Her mother sounds like a very fine believer. After that we will probably tour the providences associated with their house church group. These people are really the cutting edge of Christianity in Asia today.

 I don’t know when I will be able to send this letter out. Gomen nasai for being late. I wish everyone in America could be with me right now to see what the rest of the world lives like. Life here is much different. Personally I prefer living in the Orient as I find it much easier to serve the Lord, but Jesus is the same wherever we are. The main thing is that we follow Him and are living wide out daily engaged doing the things that are paramount to the Father.

Lord willing I will write you again from somewhere in China.

 Let’s hang tough for Jesus,

                                                 bill