May 24, 2020
Dear Phyllis,
This is my forth letter to you this week. I sent you one yesterday. I have two more ready to send. (I'll send them tomorrow>) And this is the forth. But my heart is exploding and this one can't wait.
In the 1950s Russia was occupying Romania. One Sunday when a Romanian church was having worship service two Russian soldiers walked in with rifles and demanded, “We will give you 15 minutes. Anyone who will not deny Jesus, we will kill you”. A number of people suddenly remembered that they left the stove on in the kitchen.. Several other suddenly recalled an important meeting they had and left. It didn't take long for the crowd to thin down. After 15 minutes there were still a few who defiantly refused to move. The Russian soldiers demanded, “Are you ready to die?”. “YES” Then the soldiers threw down their rifles and said, “We are Christians too. We just wanted to get rid of the hangers-on so we could have fellowship with the real brothers.”.
Oh praise God I had fellowship with the real brothers this morning. I met Pastor Phirat of the Beulah Church last week and was surprised to learn that they were open for Sunday morning service. I said, “I heard you were closed.” Every church in Thailand is closed for two or three months. Pastor told me, “We were closed the first Sunday but we have been open every Sunday ever since.” It had been two months since I last went to church. I got on my motor bike to go to church and took a face mask with me. I was startled when I walked inside and saw the hand full of believers sitting there without face masks. Oh what a joy! I knew I was in a room with the real Body of Christ. Oh my goodness, the song service was something else. I can't recall ever being in a better one. Then the pastor called on me to pray. I could hardly get a word out of my mouth. Finally I was able to say, “Father, it's real! It's real! It's real! Oh, thank You for calling out a number to obey and follow Jesus.” I don't know if anyone understood my prayer in English, but I hope our Father heard how grateful I was to be standing in the midst of the real Body this morning..
At the end of the service I said I wanted to give a testimony. I told the story of the Romanian Church and the Russian soldiers; and what a blessing it was to meet with real believers this morning. Then I told them that life is full of risks. I had no business riding my Honda this morning. I'm 84 and only have one eye. It is really dangerous for me to ride that bike. But hang it! I'm going to church. I told the folks there that I had had the privilege of spending 15 years taking Bibles to Christians in dangerous countries and could tell them stories that they would not believe. I mentioned a couple of stories of what it is like to follow Jesus in a country where you might get killed for your faith.
I told them about the time when we had the SARS epidemic here in SEA. I had come down from Japan to carry Bibles into Vietnam and Laos. We were having fairly large groups of young people from Bible schools in the states to help us with that mission, but for six months we had 100% cancellation because it was too dangerous. If they got an an airplane there was an outside chance that they might catch a cold. God doesn't want us to do such a dangerous thing and best we stay home.. I cannot express to you the emotional overload I got from that. In 2011 I was in Japan for the tsunami that knocked out the nuclear reactor at Fukushima. I was in Sendai, 60 km from Fukushuma. I was stunned at the huge exodus of missionaries that left Japan for fear of nuclear radiation fall-out. Some missions pulled all their missionaries out. I said, “Thank God, and thank you for leaving. Please don't ever come back again.” The Japanese couldn't leave. They went on with their lives as usual, and were bewildered to see the missionaries living next door to flee. So much for soldiers for Christ.
The pastor had a good message this morning from Isiah 40:29-31. He said, “One of the ways to mount up on wings of eagles was to expect good things from God”. In my testimony I praised the pastor for his message but added. “There is one more way to renew your strength and mount up on wings of eagles, Just say HANG IT. I DON'T CARE. Good thing or bad things, it doesn't make any difference. I am going to obey and follow Jesus regardless of what happens.”. That is the attitude we need. I don't care what the risk is. I don't care what happens – good things or bad – I will follow Jesus.
Actually the risk wasn't too high this morning. The chance of dying from Covis-19 in Chiang Mai is 1 in 1,000,000. I believe the chance is much higher that I might get bit by a cobra or struck by lightening, but even so I will take the risk and go on with life. What a joy to sit in church with 15 other people who were breathing fresh air and shaking hands. Oh it was refreshing.
Probably in a couple more months the rest of the church will come out from their homes and fellowship with us, but I doubt that the reality of the presence of the Lord will be as real as it was this morning.
Jesus is sifting the wheat. The day is coming, and it can't be far from here, when there is going to be a real price to pay for wearing a Jesus pin. I love John Newton's Am I a Soldier of the Cross a follower of the Lamb, and should I fear to own His cause or blush to speak His Name? (I won;t quote the rest of that but it is great.) Oh thank God if there is an opportunity to stick our necks out 10 cm (4”) and run a risk for Jesus. Lord help us to stand up when we face 666.
I believe the faces we see in heaven may not be the same crowd we see in church each Sunday. But it sure was a blessing to meet with the few this morning. May God bless you and give you the opportunity to have fellowship with the same.
bill
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