Donkeys for Jesus
The situation became tense. I was standing before a local church in Yunnan Province of China ready to instruct on the baptism of the Holy Spirit when it happened. I had just shared on the topic of courage. The church was getting excited. Then some of our team of twelve shared and gave testimonies. The moment was primed for a Holy Spirit encounter when an elder from the mother church, a government sponsored Three Self church, ran forward. He was upset and was speaking loud in Mandarin. He took my translator and they rushed outside to discuss something. I was left standing awkwardly alone in front of the church without a translator. Fortunately, my many years of ministry experience gave me a sense of levity at the moment and I made a remark to my team about how missions can sometimes produce precarious moments.
Our team from US spent a year preparing for our ministry trip in March to serve Revival Chinese Ministries International (RCMI). It is an outstanding ministry. Under the leadership of Pastor Dennis Balcombe, RCMI in Hong Kong has been taking much needed Bibles and Christian material into China for decades to meet the large need of the millions that are getting converted to Christianity. One of the greatest resources is the Shepherd’s Staff. This leadership manual for pastors is equipping Christians all over the world.
One of the strategies is to get the bread over the border from Hong Kong into Shenzhen and then distribute it throughout China. Our contact at RCMI did a great job preparing us for our time in HK and briefed us on how to carry the bread over the border. One of our team mates was stopped, detained, and had the bread taken away. Overall, however, our days were successful and we got a van load over the border. Another strategy is to take the bread into China on a long trip.
Though our long trip to Yunnan Province was planned, the opportunity to minister in a local church was unexpected. It was a divine appointment. As I stood alone before the congregation, I wondered what was next. When our awesome guide and translator, returned from speaking with the elder, she told me that he did not want me to teach on baptism of the Holy Spirit or tongues since the Three Self church does not endorse this.
It was a tense moment because I had just felt prompted from the Holy Spirit to teach on the portions of Acts regarding it. So, I did the only thing I could. I spent a moment and asked the Lord what He wanted me to do. Then I had it. I asked the congregation to read Acts 1:8 about the power of the Holy Spirit but did not get into the subject of baptism and tongues. The team came forward and I invited people for prayer that wanted more courage, more power or healing. People streamed to the front. My powerhouse team was praying prophetic prayers. People got healed, delivered, and even filled with the Holy Spirit. Later that same night, we ministered at a youth service at the Mother church and many people got touched by God. On our way out of that church, the elder who had been upset during the day, thanked us for coming and seemed pleased.
Later, we learned that we were the first western team with a large group to be invited to do ministry in a Three Self church in that area of China. We were amazed! The whole experience with RCMI was awesome and gave us a heart for the people of China. I think that many teams should come to help RCMI carry the bread into China. It is a wonderful opportunity to minister, see China, and prayer for the people.
