1992 : Pg. 311-313 Go Now: From the INNERMOST PARTS OF THE HEART to the UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE WORLD by Wendell Martin. The following was his experience!
With only a day’s notice, I left my wife and children to help rush a special load of Bible teaching aids and commentaries to Beijing. As time was short and the situation justifiable, our team of four was flown to the capital, the heart of China’s government and cultural history. The flight was without incident, and we passed through customs with ease. The hardest part was trying to make it look like I was carrying only a few pounds in my backpack and suitcase while in reality I was carrying nearly a hundred pounds. I have a great deal of respect for the forces of gravity!
Waiting for the cover of darkness, we were driven to a quiet section of the city. Leaving the car a few blocks from our destination, we shouldered our heavy loads and walked a few blocks to a narrow alley. Turning into the alley, we called out our warnings to each other in hushed voices while proceeding cautiously over the uneven path. The farther we went the darker it got. We fumbled along the dark, narrow alley that made several turns before opening up to a small courtyard that fronted a dilapidated house. The courtyard and house were conveniently surrounded on all sides by tall, windowless buildings.
As soon as we arrived, a small, elderly whom everyone called Grandma rushed out of a dimly-lit house, greeting us in nearly flawless English. She then guided us to a secluded room where we dumped our precious load among other piles of Bibles that had been delivered the preceding week.
As I observed Grandma over the next few hours, I realized I was in the presence a real soldier of the cross. Her story was typical of the hardships the Christians endure in China. In the past, she had been a medical doctor and had acquired wealth and high standing in the community. Then at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, her home was invaded by radicalized youth called the Red Guards and everything was destroyed: the bathtub, sinks, plumbing, stove, and so forth. All she had left was an outdoor faucet in the courtyard, and she was permitted to use the public toilet. The same day these things happened, she was demoted from her position at the hospital and reassigned to cleaning toilets. She did that until she retired. She continues to use the outdoor faucet and public toilet. In the middle of winter, that can be hard on an eighty-one-year-old widow.
In one of our conversations, I asked Grandma what the most valuable lesson was that she had learned in life. She replied with a little chuckle, “Loosing all my material things is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. The reason is because it opened space for all the good things the Lord wanted to give to me.” The deep joy emulating from her convinced me that what she had received from the Lord was indeed a reality to be treasured above all else.
The materials we delivered were for a group of seminary students graduating from the government theological seminary. Those students are taught a very liberal theology that denies the virgin birth of Jesus and His physical resurrection from death. However, because of the efforts of this old lady, nearly half of the graduating class had been secretly taught a “more perfect way” and also led into the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These students who were leaving the next day to their assigned churches were desperate to receive good solid teaching aids that weren’t distorted by the government. We had been able to provide them at the last minute.
Upon seeing the materials we had brought, several of the students wept uncontrollably. In my heart, I wept too, and I continue to weep for the millions of Chinese Christians who have been praying and praying that someone would help them to get a copy of God’s Word.
At on point in our conversation, Grandma told us a story about a pastor who had recently traveled a great distance to receive some Bibles. He wept when he was given two. Unlike the two students, his were tears of grief. He had hoped to receive at least ten Bibles that could be shared among the ten thousand people meeting in house churches under his supervision!
By the following night, the graduation was over, and the students began sneaking back into Grandma’s house one or two at a time until within twenty-four hours, the “treasure room” was empty.
The return to Hong Kong was highlighted by the opportunity of sharing with a group of students studying English. Before it was over, their teacher asked me to pray for her, which I did. She then proceeded to ask Jesus into her heart. After finishing the prayer, she was silent for several minutes. Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “After all these years, I finally found peace in my heart!”
What a way to end the trip! However, the best part of all was when I walked in the front door of our house and saw my wife and children!
NEXT UP: No idea. Yet!