K ING 'S BUSINESS M IS S IO N A R Y FEATURE
Almost Persuaded, But ••• (A glimpse of missionary ministry in Thailand by graduates of the Biola School of Missionary Medicine)
by M.elvert Byers
P a i n f u l l y one watches them come to the very border of God’s Kingdom — only to be lost! Why? Misunderstanding? Malicious talk? Wrong motives? Persecution? They stand at the very edge of sal vation, viewing plainly the riches of heaven; some even taste of its fruit — only to turn back. Others spend a lifetime floundering at the border— only to be lost. VERY GOOD — BUT MONEY AND MATERIAL GAIN FIRST Three young Thai had been talking with the missionary for quite awhile. This was their third visit. They ap peared humble, sincere and hungry for God’s Word. Buddhism offered no hope and they were eager to escape the blight of demon worship — in fact, one was ready to enter right away. The missionary cautioned them. “You will receive much persecution,
neighbors will throw rocks and they may even try to drive you out of the village.” “Oh, we are not afraid,” they as sured the missionary, “ we are willing to endure anything to escape the bondage of demon worship. We want to enter the Jesus religion and re ceive some of the happiness and pros perity God has for us.” After a few moments’ hesitation, he added, “ what does all this happiness you talk about include?” The missionary continued to ex plain that true happiness comes when one’s heart is right with God, when one’s sins are forgiven, then come peace and newness of life. The visitors appeared a little wor ried, as though the missionary had not understood their question. “But, teacher,” they continued, “ you don’t understand; we are a very poor people, we don’t have many fields and making a living is very hard. If we and hearts seem hard and
enter the Jesus religion, how much can we expect?” The missionary’s heart saddened but he continued, “ Jesus taught us that we should seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first, then all these things would be added unto us. True happiness does not consist in the abundance of things we possess.” Becoming a little weary and impa tient with this kind of talk, the visi tors decided to come right to the point. “ If we enter the Jesus religion we have heard that we can expect to re ceive a little help for our trouble; for instance, my friend needs about $150 in order to get started in his own business; most of us need more fields, clothing and anything else we can get. I am sure that if we had all these things we would surely enjoy the hap piness and prosperity you talk about.” Being familiar with this approach, the missionary spoke firmly and frankly concerning the “ true way of impenetrable
L ife is spelled in tedium,
16
OCTOBER, 1962
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