A Road Less Traveled: On Becoming a Missionary by Innovo Publishing LLC

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED:

ON BECOMING A MISSIONARY

By Richard Kuenzinger

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.” (Psalm 39:12, ESV)

This book is dedicated to my wife Amy, and my children, Jay, William, and Kelly. I was gone a lot, to other cities or countries, and you never complained, and you always prayed. Thank you!

I want to thank my young friend Meredith R. She was the ﬁrst student to invite me to her baptism. That was very special, thank you.

I want to thank the teachers and staﬀ of the Lower Schools of Evangelical Christian School for inviting me to share my adventures with their students. You all always encouraged me on my Journey.

Dedications

Introduction

Part 1: The First Trip

Chapter 1: What does it take to be a Missionary?

Chapter 2: Am I Supposed to be a Missionary?

Chapter 3: Where in the World is Aschersleben, Germany?

Chapter 4: Sent Out

Chapter 5: Be Flexible and Prayerful

Chapter 6: We Arrived and Got Busy

Chapter 7: Meet the Missionaries

Chapter 8: Sightseeing with a Mission

Chapter 9: City Hall and VBS

Chapter 10: My First Sermon

Chapter 11: Fast Food and Bible School

Chapter 12: Bible Teaching and a Birthday Party

Chapter 13: The Last Day of the First Trip

Post Script

Part 2: Into All the World

Chapter 1: What Happened Next?

Chapter 2: Pray for the Persecuted

Chapter 3: The Lord will Provide

Chapter 4: The Adventure of Traveling

Chapter 5: Church First

Chapter 6: Time to Work

Chapter 7: Pick-up and Delivery

Chapter 8: My Last Border Crossing

Chapter 9: Free Time and Preparation

Chapter 10: Pastor Samuel Lamb

Chapter 11: Going Home and Final Thoughts

Afterword

Lessons About the Author

Appendix 1: Pastor Samuel Lamb

Summary of Scripture

Introduction:

Before I tell the story of my ﬁrst mission trip, I need to tell you my story. Maybe in some way my story will help you ﬁnd your story and God’s plan for your life.

I was born in the late 1900’s, and my father was in the military, so we moved a lot. Sometimes we went to the Chapel on the base, and sometimes we went to other churches.

My parents divorced when I was 12, and my mom gave my brother and I the option to go to church or not. I made a big mistake, and I chose not to go.

It did not take long for me to begin making bad choices, and eventually I was doing bad things because I wanted to be cool. I am very thankful that God has

a plan for my life, and He protected me through those days. He has a plan for you too.

After high school I went into the military, and one day I met the girl who would become my wife. She gave me the Bible that you see in the picture, for our ﬁrst Christmas together.

We went to church every Sunday, and I looked forward to going. Everything seemed diﬀerent. I believe the Lord was working in my heart during that time, and then in April 1988, I decided to follow Jesus.

I did not understand what that meant, but I knew that I had sin in my life and I needed a Savior.

Ten years later, in 1998, I was reading books with Kindergarten students one day, and I felt the Lord telling me to do something more than just go to church. I did not understand what was happening. I talked to my wife and my friends, and then I began volunteering in different areas at church. I was trying to find some direction, and some clarification in God’s call.

Then, in 2002, the Missionary Journey began, and here is the story…

Aschersleben, Germany

Part 1: The First Trip

Chapter 1: What does it Take to Be a Missionary?

I had never been on a Mission Trip before this one. I traveled around the world on aircraft carriers in the Navy, but those trips were not for the purpose of telling people about Jesus. A Mission Trip has a special purpose, and it is all about Jesus.

The ﬁrst thing I learned about going on a mission trip was what it takes to be a missionary. A missionary can be any age if they know Jesus, they can go anywhere with Jesus, and they can do anything to tell people about Jesus. So, let’s learn more about these things…

I always thought that a missionary was a super smart Christian who lived in a country far away and told people about Jesus all day. I was a little right, and a lot wrong. A missionary for Jesus is anyone who believes that Jesus is the Lord and has decided to follow Him in faith. A missionary can be any age, but you need to be old enough to talk and explain what you believe.

Do missionaries have to memorize the Bible? No, but it does help if you have some verses memorized, because it will make it easier when you talk to other people.

Do you know that Jesus told His followers to go around your city, your state, go to people who are diﬀerent from you, and go around the world and teach people what He said? Jesus also said that He would go with His followers.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NIV)

In Acts 1:8, Jesus was telling His followers to go everywhere. You can tell people about Jesus in your neighborhood, in your school, in your clubs, and in your city. You can visit other cities in your state, or in your province, and tell people about Jesus.

You can even go to places where the people are not like you. Maybe they talk differently, or look differently, or wear different clothes than you wear. You can also visit different countries to tell people about Jesus.

Is it true, you really can go anywhere? Yes! You can be a missionary in your school, or in your workplace, or in your neighborhood, or any place you like to go. Not all missionaries go to far away places, some stay in their own country.

Do you know that missionaries work near schools and universities? They ﬁnd fun ways to talk to the students about Jesus. They have Bible studies, they go camping, they have picnics, and fun parties, all for the purpose of building a relationship with the students so that they can talk about Jesus.

You can be a missionary in your school by starting a Bible study before or after school. You just need to invite your friends to meet with you, and then you read the Bible together and pray together.

What do missionaries do to tell people about Jesus? That is a good question. You can play games with people, you can help them with their school work, you can invite them to your church and introduce them to your friends. You can give people a Bible when you see them at school, or the mall, or the park, or any place you meet people.

You can invite someone to your home for a meal or just to hangout. This is a great way to build a relationship with someone. People are comfortable when they hang out with a friend in a comfortable and friendly place.

If you want to be a missionary, you need to follow Jesus. You need to believe that He died for your sins, and He rose again to give us new life. You need to pray about what the Lord wants you to do, and then you need to be obedient to go where He tells you to go. Maybe you need to begin by telling your family about Jesus.

Chapter 2: Am I Supposed to be a Missionary?

In 1998, I was praying and asking the Lord to help me to know what He wanted me to do. Over the next four years I participated in diﬀerent mission activities in our city with my friends from church.

Then in January of 2002, a man in my church was looking for people to go on a Mission Trip to the eastern part of Germany. He had an information meeting one night after church, and I went to get information, because that is why it’s called an “information meeting.”

Mr. Mike told me the dates for the trip. It was going to be July 13-23, and can you believe that I had already planned to take a vacation on those dates? I felt like that was a good sign from the Lord that I should go. My wife was all for it because this would be a good way for me to see if I wanted to be involved in mission work in other countries.

I had to ﬁll out a lot of papers about my testimony, and my work experience. Since the trip was being sponsored by our church, we had to have medical documents and insurance forms, just in case something bad happened. That is all part of the procedure when you travel, and I was learning the process.

I think the most important part of it all was spending time in prayer. I began to pray every day for our team, for our travel, and I prayed that we would share the Gospel with a lot of people in Aschersleben, Germany.

I prayed every day that the Lord would help me on this trip. I did not know what I was going to do, but I wanted to do my best. I learned that you can pray about anything when you talk to God. I prayed for good weather, I prayed for the ﬂights, and my friends, and I prayed for my family that they would be okay while I was gone. Honestly, I prayed for anything that came into my mind, any time of the day, because I knew that God hears our prayers.

Our Mission Team had twelve people on it, and Mr. Mike was our leader. We prayed together every week before the ﬁrst day of the trip. I learned that a Mission Trip really begins before you get on a plane, or you get on a bus. The Mission Trip begins when you begin to pray and ask the Lord to help you to tell people about Him.

I knew that the Lord was telling me to do something more than just go to church, and I knew He was telling me to be involved in a ministry. I had been praying for missionaries for more than a year before I met Mr. Mike. Every day I prayed that the Lord would send people out into the mission ﬁeld. I did not know that I was going to be one of those people!

“He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest ﬁeld.” (Luke 10:2)

Aschersleben Government Building

Chapter 3: Where in the world is Aschersleben, Germany?

I knew about Germany from my history and geography classes in school. I knew that they made some cool cars like the Porsche, the Mercedes Benz and the Volkswagen Beetle. I had heard of the big cities like Berlin and Munich, but I did not know anything about Aschersleben. By the end of the trip, I had fallen in love with the city, the church, and the people. The name of the church in Aschersleben is “die Gemeinde fuer Menschen.” It’s German for the “Church of the Folks,” and it is at number 8 on Douglastrasse.

You can ﬁnd a lot of information online. It is important to know as much as you can about where you are going, and the people you will be meeting.

So, Aschersleben is in the eastern part of Germany, and not far from the Czech Republic. It is considered to be the “Gateway to the Harz Moutains.” It is the oldest town in the area of Saxony-Anhalt, and people were there in the year 753

A.D. (Wikipedia)

Aschersleben is not a very big city. The population is less than forty thousand people. It has a lot of old towers and churches, and I love history, so I was excited to see the area.

I learned that during World War II, Aschersleben had a factory to build parts for the German Junkers airplane. Then, towards the end of the war, the town suﬀered a lot from bombings.

I also learned that during the war, and during the days when Aschersleben was a part of the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990), the Christians continued to meet. They could not meet in the churches, but they met in homes because of the communist inﬂuence. (Communism does not believe in God or the Bible.)

I slowly learned more about the area as we prepared to go, but I learned a lot when we arrived. I learned that the people were so friendly, and they treated us like we were part of their family.

The Church met here during the days of Communism.

Chapter 4: Sent Out

“So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them oﬀ.” (Acts 13:3)

The Bible gives us an example in Acts 13, of a church preparing to send people, then praying for the people, and then sending them out. We were blessed to be a part of a church that had a passion for sending people out on mission trips.

So, on the Sunday before we left, our church had a commissioning service. That is a really big word, and it sounds important. To commission a person or a group means “an authorization or command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts.” (Webster’s Dictionary)

That is exactly what our church did. They sent us out to serve as missionaries to tell people about Jesus. The Pastor prayed for us, and all our friends, and our families gathered around us and prayed with us too. It was a special time. In the days of the New Testament and the Book of Acts, the missionaries had to walk or ride in boats to get where they wanted to go. We are very fortunate that we can drive or ﬂy to our destinations.

Our church prayed for us on a Sunday, and on the next Saturday we went to the airport to begin our journey. We were scheduled to ﬂy to Atlanta, Georgia, then to Paris, France and then to Hannover, Germany.

I had never been to France or Germany, so I was very excited to see new places and experience new things. Our schedule did not allow us a lot of time in Paris, because we had a short layover before our next ﬂight. However, I think God had a diﬀerent plan for us.

We ﬂew in a big plane with a lot of people.

Chapter 5: Be Flexible and Prayerful

It is important to pray that the Lord will help you through any situations that may happen during your trip. It is normal to have a problem when you travel. Sometimes you have to take a diﬀerent ﬂight, and sometimes you do not get to go the way you planned. If you have been praying , then you will be ready to look for opportunities to talk to people about Jesus.

We had a short layover in Paris, and the airport is huge. There were twelve people in our group, and it is not easy to get a big group through a big airport. We did not get to the next ﬂight in time, so we missed it.

Nobody complained, and Mr. Mike helped us change the plan and arrange a new ﬂight to Hannover. The next ﬂight was not leaving until 7 pm, and it was still early in the morning, so we decided to go into Paris and do some sightseeing.

There is a train station in the airport, and we were ablet to get on the train and ride into the city center. This was perfect because the station was near the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Eiﬀel Tower. We were all tired from the ﬂights, but we were excited to be in Paris.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame was having some repair work done, so we could not go inside, but it was awesome to see it. The Cathedral was originally built in 1163 A.D., and of course, it has had a lot of repairs since then.

Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, 2002

Then we walked to the Eiﬀel Tower. The Tower was a lot smaller than I expected. We did not go up to the top because we did not want to spend money on the tickets. We needed to be careful with our money for the trip, and we did not feel like it would be the right thing to do with the money. People from our church had given a lot of money to help us go on this trip, and we did not want to waste it.

The Eiﬀel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889. It is 330 meters tall, which is about the size of an 81-story building according to Wikipedia. It is deﬁnitely something to see if you visit Paris.

We only stayed in the city a couple of hours and then we rode the train back to the airport. While we were in the city, one of the ladies had her purse stolen. Fortunately, she did not have much money in it, and her passport was not in it. This was a good reminder for us that just because we were on a mission trip it did not mean that bad things would not happen.

As we went back to the airport, we were all tired and grumpy. We were fortunate that the airline company gave us all tickets for free food since we missed the ﬂight. Sometimes, even with free food, people will be grumpy if they are tired.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3)

The Eiﬀel Tower, Paris, 2002

Chapter 6: We Arrived and Got Busy

We arrived in Hannover late Sunday night. Our new friends Sabine and Stefan picked us up at the airport and drove us to Aschersleben. Our whole team was staying at the church, and the members of the church had turned the Sunday School rooms into bedrooms for us.

We were so tired when we got to the church that we all just went right to bed. We met Pastor Martin Monday the next morning.

The Pastor and his family were so nice to us, and they helped us with everything. Then people from the church began to arrive and check on us, and I think everyone brought something to eat. I fell in love with the bread. It was all so good and fresh every day from the local bakery.

After everyone had cleaned up, and we were a little rested, we took a walk around the area near the church, and then we had breakfast at the church. Every morning we had a Bible Study after breakfast.

We did not have a lot of time to rest. After our Bible Study we went for a walking tour of the town. We saw some old churches and the city center. Everything looks like it is from book. The town is clean and everyone is friendly.

We visited the St. Stephani Church, which was built around 1517 A.D. That is where we met Mr. Josef. He gave us a tour of the church, and he allowed us to go into the bell tower. It was awesome! You can see the entire town from the tower.

After our visit with Mr. Josef, it was time for lunch, and we all went to Pastor Martin’s house. We ate lunch, then we had a time of prayer and singing. It was a beautiful time of worship with Christians from Germany and America.

When we returned to the church in the afternoon, we met a young lady from the local newspaper. She was curious about why a group of Americans would come to her town. We talked to Miss Anja a long time. We told her about Jesus and why we were there supporting the local Believers. She was very kind to us, and she wrote a nice article about our team and the church.

View of Aschersleben from the Bell Tower, 2002

The ﬁrst day in Aschersleben was not over yet. After the interview, some of us walked around town and handed out invitations for what they were calling “American Week.” It was an opportunity for the community to learn about us, and our country, and we were able to learn about them.

Our next task was to travel to the town of Stassfurt. According to Wikipedia, Stassfurt is known for its salt production, and the population is less than thirty thousand people. In 806 A.D. it was a meeting place for Emperor Charlemagne and other leaders to discuss his army.

We were not going there to talk about the army. We were going there to pray. Pastor Martin had a great burden for the town, and he wanted us to walk around the town and pray.

This is called “prayer-walking.” Prayer-walking is very important in ministry, and it is especially important for missionaries. We walked through the streets, and we prayed for the families, the schools, the local government, and anything else we could think of. We also prayed that the Lord would raise up a group of Christians in the town.

As I was walking and praying, I felt sad for the town. There was a feeling of spiritual darkness, and it is hard to explain.

Something interesting happened while we were walking though. Do you remember that I mentioned how important it is to pray because it helps you to be ready for opportunities to talk about Jesus? Well, we were ready.

We noticed a man looking out his window when we walked by his house. We said, “Hello,” and Pastor Martin talked to him about what we were doing. The man told us about a good restaurant in town, and since we had not had dinner yet, we went there to eat.

The place was not very crowded, of course it was 9 o’clock at night too. The owner was happy to see our large team walk in. The man from the window was right, it was good.

While we were eating the owner of the restaurant asked Pastor Martin about our team, and he wanted to know why we were in Stassfurt. Pastor Martin

had an opportunity to talk to him about our prayer-walk and about the church, and we invited him to visit the church in Aschersleben.

After dinner, we went back to the church. It was after midnight again by the time we went to bed. I was quickly learning that a mission trip did not have normal hours like a job. When you are on a mission trip, you do as much as you can every day, no matter what time it is.

This was only the ﬁrst day, and I was very tired, but I also felt good about what we were doing.

“I urge, then, ﬁrst of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth ” (1 Tim. 2:1-4)

Chapter 7: Meet the Missionaries

Tuesday, our second day on the ﬁeld, and we were up and running. No, really, a couple of us got up early and went for a run around the park. The weather was perfect.

It is good to exercise when you are on a mission trip, whether it is running or walking or anything to get moving. When you are on a mission trip you may spend a lot of time sitting and eating. I learned that the Germans love to eat, and everything is delicious. Fortunately for us, we walked a lot too.

After our breakfast and our morning devotion, we went back to Stassfurt. Today though, it was for a diﬀerent reason.

We learned that a missionary family would be moving into the area in the next month. So, our team joined with some other missionaries, and we all helped

to move furniture and set up the house for the new family. It was exciting to actually prepare the place for the new missionaries.

This was also a good time for us to visit with other missionaries in Germany. They shared with us some of the diﬃculties they had in their ministry. We had a good time of fellowship and prayer.

Before we left Stassfurt, we took some time to prayer-walk through the neighborhood. We prayed for the new missionaries. We prayed that they would adjust quickly and learn the language, and we prayed that their children would have good friends. We also prayed that many people would hear about Jesus through them.

Then it was time to load into the van and drive to Magdeburg and meet more missionaries. Will and Erin have a coffee shop in Magdeburg called “Latte Da.” They use the coffee shop to share Jesus with the community. Did you know that you can have a coffee shop and be a missionary?

Magdeburg, Germany, with a population over two hundred thousand, is bigger than Aschersleben and Stassfurt. According to Wikipedia, Magdeburg was founded in 805 A.D. by Emperor Charlemagne. In 1497, Martin Luther attended school there, and then he returned in 1524 as a preacher.

The Latte Da Coﬀee S hop is near the main shopping area in a perfect place to share Jesus with people, and we really enjoyed our time with Will and Erin. We visited with them for a while, and then we prayed together, and then we headed back to Aschersleben.

We got back to town early enough, so we went to the park and handed out Gospel Tracts to everyone we could ﬁnd. Since it was summer, the weather was nice, and that meant a lot of people were hanging out in the park. I think most of the people were open to what we were doing. Of course, we invited everyone to visit the church.

We walked back to the church and had a big dinner with members of the church. After dinner, we had a church service. I and some other members from our team shared our testimonies. One of the men from our team preached a message from Matthew 28:19-20.

After the church service a lot of people stayed to talk, and it was fun to meet people from the church. They were very friendly to us, and I felt as if we were one big family. That is really what we are as Christians; we are all a part of the family of God.

Some of us decided to go out again after everyone left. We handed out more tracts. We found a lot of young people hanging out near the train station, and we tried to talk to them. Most of them do not have faith in anything. It was very sad to talk to them, but we tried to give them the hope that is found in Christ alone.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

Chapter 8: Sightseeing with a Mission

Wednesday began like the other days. Everyone got up early, had our morning routines and quiet time, and then we met together for breakfast and our morning devotion. Today was my day to lead the devotion, and I spoke from Philippians 1:1-11.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the ﬁrst day until now, being conﬁdent of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:3-6)

We gave thanks for the people who supported us and prayed for us. I believe that God has given us people around the world who are our partners in the mission, and I believe that our God will complete the good work that we all are involved in. Will you carry on the mission?

After we cleaned up from breakfast, it was time to get in the van and go sightseeing. We drove into the Harz Mountains. It is a beautiful area with small towns along the way.

We stopped in a town that had a castle. It was very spiritually dark. There were a lot of shops around the castle that sold statues of demons and other idols. We spent a lot of time there praying in the town, and we handed out a lot of tracts.

There was a small Christian bookstore in the town. It was like a spiritual lamp surrounded by darkness. We visited the shop, and we gave them a lot of tracts and information about the church in Aschersleben.

We ate lunch in the town, and we visited the Kuckuu coo-koo clock shop. I bought a small clock, and it actually survived the ﬂight home. When you think about what we did here: we did some sightseeing, ate lunch, shopped, and handed out tracts; you see that we were being tourists on a mission.

Then we went back to the church in Aschersleben. When we got out of the van, we noticed that Anja, the young lady from the newspaper, was waiting for us. She wanted to talk to Mr. Mike and Pastor Martin about Jesus and the Bible. She was very open to hearing the Good News. It was exciting to see how the Lord was working in her life, and it was encouraging to our team to watch the Lord work.

Then we went to Mr. Josef’s house for dinner. He is the man who gave us a tour of the old church. He was very kind to us, and he wanted to prepare something for us.

We were excited to visit him, and Stefan was with us to translate. Stefan did not know it, but he was also there to help us eat anything that we were not sure about eating. This is very important when you are on a mission trip. You need someone to eat what you do not like, so that the host will not be oﬀended.

Mr. Josef had prepared a special German dish called “Hochﬂeiss,” which is a raw meat, and he made “Schweisswurst,” which is a white sausage. They were not my favorites, so Stefan had to eat some of my portion whenever Mr. Josef went into the kitchen.

Sometimes the food is not what you normally eat, and you may not like it. We never tell anyone that we do not like something, instead we say, “It’s not my favorite.” It also helps if the translator is willing to eat some of your portion. So, always take small portions until you know if you like the food, then ask for more.

We did have a very good time visiting Mr. Josef. We talked to him for a few hours, and then we went back to the church.

Before we all went to bed, we met together to talk about how we would do the Vacation Bible School. VBS was going to begin the next day, and we were anxious to see many people would come after all the invitations and ﬂyers that we handed out.

Chapter 9: City Hall and VBS

Thursday came, and we were up and running again in the park, but it was raining, so we did not go far. We went back to the church, and everyone did their morning routines before we met for our devotion and prayer.

This was a special day because we were invited to tour the City Hall and government oﬃces. Some parts of the building are over 600 years old!

In the large meeting room, they have a stone carving depicting King Solomon from the story in First Kings 3:16-28, when he had to decide which mother was telling the truth:

“Now two (women) came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

“During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. The next

morning, I got up to nurse my son and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the ﬁrst one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the ﬁrst woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.” (1 Kings 3:16-28)

Solomon’s wisdom with two mothers

The mayor’s assistant was giving us the tour, and he told us that the carving had been taken down in 1936 to prevent Adolf Hitler’s army from getting it. The carving was hidden until 1996, and then put back in the meeting room. We saw so many reminders of why we need to be praying for our government and those in authority.

The mayor’s assistant told us that he was a leader in the local Catholic Church, and they believed in Christian Evangelism. He told us that they were teaching their church members how to be evangelical and share the Gospel with people. This was exciting news to hear.

After our tour, we walked to the marketplace and began to hand out ﬂyers and information about the church and VBS. Then it was time to meet Herr Abling.

Herr Abling is the man in charge of the city park. The park is beautiful, and it has a lot of trees, benches and play areas. He told us that many of the pieces in the park cost more than forty thousand dollars.

We talked to Herr Abling for a long time about what we wanted to do in the park, such as witnessing and handing out information, and we also wanted to have a worship service on Sunday. He was not a Christian, but he was happy to help us, and he allowed us to use anything we needed for free.

That was a good meeting, and from there Pastor Martin and I went to visit some people while the others went to prepare for VBS. Pastor Martin wanted to talk to a man who was taking care of his mom. His mom was very sick, and we wanted to pray for them and talk about Jesus. The mom was a Christian, but the son was not.

We stayed as long as we could with the family, and then we went back to the church. We were a little late, but the team had already started, and everything was good.

On this ﬁrst day, we had six children, and four parents who stayed to watch. We sang songs, played games, we had a clown, we made some crafts, and I told a story from the Book of Daniel. I was the story teller for each session of VBS.

I thought the whole thing went well. We believed that the Lord would bring people, and we did our best to tell this ﬁrst little group about Jesus.

After VBS, we ate dinner with some of the church members, and then we had some free time. Some people went to bed early, some people went bowling, and some of us walked through the park and other neighborhoods to hand out more Gospel tracts.

Anne went with us to translate. This was her ﬁrst time to do anything like this. It also helped me to see that I should be more active in my own city. People everywhere need to know the love of Jesus.

Teaching Daniel to our VBS with Stefan translating.

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.” (Titus 3:1-2)

The stained-glass windows in City Hall.

Chapter 10: My First Sermon

Friday, July 19, 2002, it was hard to believe that the trip was almost over, and we still had a lot of work to do.

At 8 am, we had our devotion and our prayer time. We discussed the schedule for the day. We had a lot of things to do, and we were going to be busy all day long.

We expected to ﬁnd a lot of people in the City Center. We all went into the City Center and set up a table with Bibles, tracts, and more information about the church. A few people from our team stayed with the table, so that they could talk to people.

Another group from our team walked around the area and handed out tracts. We were trying to contact as many people as we could. This was a great area because it was not far from the church, so it was easy to walk from the City Center to the church.

As we were walking around, we met Mr. Josef again. He took us into the oldest church in Aschersleben. Mr. Mike tried to talk to him again about Jesus, but he was not interested. He said his wife was the religious person.

At lunch time we all walked back to the church and ate. Then we started setting up for VBS. We did not need to do too much because we were still set-up from yesterday, but we did put together some snacks.

We had seven children this time, and we were excited to have each of them. We played games, sang songs, made some crafts, and I told the Bible story from Daniel 6. VBS was only two hours, so we were ﬁnished at 5:30 pm, and then prepared for the evening worship service.

A lot of people came that we had met while we were handing out ﬂyers and information. It was fun to see how the people responded to the information and came to see us. Before the service, we had a big meal of hot dogs and potato salad. It was nice to eat and talk to everyone in such a relaxed way.

We began the service with music from some of the people on our team, and then I preached from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 27. This was the ﬁrst time I had ever preached a message in a church like this, and the ﬁrst one on a mission trip. I was both nervous and excited.

Fortunately, I had a good translator. You need to remember that most of the people there did not speak English, so the message had to be translated. Miss Ellen translated for me, and we had prayed before the service that the Lord would use her ability in a great way.

At the end of the message Pastor Martin spoke to everyone. He gave what is called an invitation. He invited people to follow Jesus if they had never made that decision before. We were all excited to see several people approach Pastor Martin and talk to him about being saved.

Pastor Martin asked us to pray with him and one of the church members about his faith walk. It was a special time to stand next to Pastor Martin who was working so hard to teach this small church about Jesus.

We wrapped up everything around midnight again. What a day! We were all tired, but it was a good tired. A “good tired” is when you know that you have done everything that you could do.

Some of the people from our team told me that I should continue preaching. That was a nice compliment. (I have had many opportunities to preach to big groups and small groups since that trip.)

“At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” (Math. 27:16-17)

My ﬁrst sermon on a mission trip, July 19, 2002, Aschersleben, Germany

Chapter 11: Fast Food and Bible School

Saturday had arrived, and we ha d been there a week. Mission trips are full of excitement in the beginning because everything is new, and you know that you have a lot of time before you have to leave. Then, you wake up and realize the trip is almost over. This was the ﬁrst time I experienced that feeling, and I feel that way every trip, whether I am on a one-week trip or three weeks, it is the same very time.

So, there we were, having breakfast, devotion, and prayer before we set out. We went to the City Center again, because Saturday is “Market Day” in Aschersleben, and more people would be in the area shopping and hanging around.

We set up the information table again, and some of our team stayed there with some people from the church. The others of us walked around the area one more time.

This was our last opportunity to invite people to the last VBS event, and the church service tomorrow. The church service was scheduled to be in the park, and we prayed that a lot of people would come and hear the message. We are also prayed for good weather.

We stayed in the City Center until lunch time, and then we packed up our table and all the books, tracts, and ﬂyers, and we put everything in the van. Then we all went to a popular fast-food restaurant for lunch.

Some of the young people from the church went with us. We were blessed because some people from our home church had given us enough money to pay for everyone to have lunch together, and we had a great time. It was a treat for the young people too.

After lunch, we made a quick stop at the E-Center. The E-Center is a store that sells everything. They have food and clothes and a snack bar. We all bought some souvenirs and German chocolate to take home.

This has become my normal routine on my trips. I wait until the last days to shop for souvenirs. Usually, by the last day, I know which stores have the best

prices. Of course, if I ﬁnd something in a shop while I am out walking around, I will buy it in case I cannot ﬁnd the shop again.

Anyway, we ﬁnished our shopping and went back to the church to prepare for our last VBS. One of our main translators, Miss Jasmin, went out of town. She was a great help for us, and everyone enjoyed working with her. Fortunately, Mr. Stefan stayed with us the entire time.

We had seven kids and three teenagers in VBS, and we had four teenagers from the church helping us. Our last VBS was as good as the others, and it deﬁnitely had a lot of energy with all of these students.

I had an interesting conversation with the three teens who visited. They did not believe the Bible, and they did not believe in any God, but they wanted to meet our American team. As I talked to them about Jesus, they told me that they were not interested.

They said, “Maybe when we are older we will believe this.” I told them that no one knows how long we will live. This attitude was very common everywhere we went. It was a sad reminder that Christians need to be living for Jesus and telling people about Him.

We did not have a church service on Saturday evening, so we went back to Stassfurt to eat in that restaurant again. We had witnessed to some of the workers, and we wanted to see them again and invite them to the service in the park on Sunday. It was nice to see them again, and they remembered us and seemed happy to see us too.

Then we went back to the church and began cleaning. We did not go to bed until after we had cleaned the bathrooms and mopped the ﬂoors. Everyone at the church has been so nice to us, and they did so much for us that we felt like we needed to clean the place.

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Rom. 10:14)

We knew this was going to be a busy day, so we woke up earlier than normal for our morning devotion and prayer time. Then some of us went with Stefan to the gas station to buy some food for breakfast. There were not many places open that early on a Sunday.

At 9 am, Pastor Martin arrived, and we hopped into the van and headed to the park. Mr. Sven and Mr. Andres drove their cars to the park with all the equipment.

There had been a storm the night before, and it knocked a tree down across the entrance to the park, so we had to clean that up before we could get in.

VBS crafts in Aschersleben

Chapter 12: Bible Teaching and a Birthday Party

Fortunately, it was not a very big tree. We were concerned about the weather because the sky was dark, and it looked like more rain was coming.

We had been praying all week for the weather today. God, the Creator of the Universe, controls the weather, and we were asking Him to help us. The sun came out for a few minutes, but then it was gone, and it rained oﬀ and on.

Right before Mr. Mike got up to speak there was a thunderstorm, and someone told us there had been a tornado nearby. God was in control, and in the middle of Mr. Mike’s sermon, as he was talking about salvation, the clouds opened, and the sun came out! It was amazing!!

The sun stayed out, and it warmed up, and we were very thankful for this gift. The change in the weather allowed us to spend time visiting with people after the service. We believe that there were almost one hundred ﬁfty people there.

We stayed at the park and ate lunch at a little café. This gave us more time to talk to people and fellowship with the people who came from the church.

Eventually we loaded everything back into the vans and went back to the church. We had a lot to do before we travel again.

At the church, we took some time to pray, and we thanked God for an amazing day, and all that He allowed us to be a part of. Then we packed and cleaned the church again. I think everyone was ready to go home by that time.

Pastor Martin invited us all to his house to eat dinner, and we had a surprise birthday party for Stefan. It was a lot of fun. We gave him some gifts, and the people from the church gave us gifts.

We had a special time of prayer with the whole group, and then we spent a lot of time talking about the week. We talked about the good things, the bad things, and what we would do diﬀerently.

The end of a mission trip is always sad as you begin saying good-bye to people. It was a sad time, but I also felt like it was a new beginning for me in my faith walk.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Our translator, Stefan, a Brother in Christ, and a Great Friend

This was the last day in Aschersleben for us. We were all up before 6 am, because we had to go to the airport early. Some of the church members came to the church to say good-bye. Pastor Martin and his family took us to the airport in Hannover. It rained all the way to the airport, and it seemed as if the sky was crying.

The whole morning was emotional as we said good-bye to different people. Some of our team members were on a different flight, so they left first. Then it was our turn.

Chapter 13: The Last Day of the First Trip

Our ﬁrst stop was Paris again, but we did not have any problems, and we even had time to get a snack in the airport. Then it was time to get on the next ﬂight to Atlanta, and that was the longest part of the return. We had a long delay getting out of Atlanta, and we did not get home until after 1 o’clock in the morning. It ended up being a 27-hour return trip.

Here are some thoughts from my personal journal, dated July 22, 2002:

(1:10 pm) My thoughts alternate between my family and my new friends. They will be deeply missed. I do not know how missionaries can come and go like this. It is very emotionally draining. I remember how Paul longed for his friends in the Asian churches. How hard it must be to not know when you will be back.

(12 am, Tuesday) Almost home. Thank God for our safety and that the team stayed together. Thank Him for the blessings and the memories. AMEN.

“They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.” (Acts 20:37, as Paul was leaving his friends from Ephesus)

Post Script:

After every mission trip, I take time to pray and evaluate the trip. I thank the Lord for what I was a part of, and I ask Him to help me understand what to do next.

During this trip I experienced many things for the first time. It was the first time I had been away from my family for a long period. It was the first time I traveled out of the country to tell people about Jesus. It was the first time I prayerwalked. It was the first time I preached a sermon in a church in another country.

With all of these “ﬁrsts,” I asked the Lord if this was what I was supposed to be doing: was He calling me to go to other countries? The more I asked Him, the more He said yes by reminding me that He gave us a mission in Matthew 28:1820.

So, with that prayer and His conﬁrmation, I continued to be involved in local ministries, and I was praying about when to go and where to go next. It did not take long to realize what was next.

I want to thank Mike Haggard, a friend and a Brother in Christ, for allowing me to be a part of this team. He showed me things that I could do. Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone.

Aschersleben, Germany, 2002

Part 2: Into All the World

Chapter 1: What Happened Next?

When I returned home from Aschersleben in 2002, I knew that the Lord was calling me to be a missionary in other countries, but I did not know where. So, I was praying every day, and I asked the Lord to show me where to go next.

Between 2002 and 2014, I made seven trips to Aschersleben, and each time I went, the Lord showed me more of His plan. I became the team leader on those trips, and I made a lot of mistakes.

Our teams visited teachers and students at the schools. We visited a man in the local prison. We helped Pastor Martin with various activities for the youth, and we traveled with him to visit other churches in Peine and Waldkraiburg. In between the trips to Germany, I was able to go to some new places.

In 2004, I went to Honduras and helped my friend who was a missionary in Tegucigalpa, the capitol city. He worked with students, and we visited with a lot of students. I learned a lot about student ministry in a diﬀerent country.

I went with a group from our church to Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, and I served with a Disaster Relief team in Robinson Road Baptist Church. Our job was to paint and prepare a building for future relief teams to use. I fell in love with Disaster Relief work that week, and I am still involved in it.

That same year I was invited to preach a revival in Modesto, California at Temple Baptist Church. I had never been involved in anything like that before. It was nice though, because our whole family went, and everyone was able to participate.

I learned a lot about myself in all these journeys. The biggest lesson I learned was that I had so much more to learn. That probably sounds weird, but when your heart is open to learn, the Lord will teach you.

The Guest house in Peine, Germany

The Castle in Quedlinburg, Germany, 2004

The Castle near Aschersleben, Germany, 2007

In 2005, I began praying for persecuted Believers and persecuted churches around the world. This started after I read the book, “God’s Smuggler” by Brother Andrew. I highly recommend it. I began praying that the Lord would send Laborers into these areas of persecution. At the time, I did not know that the Lord was preparing me to be one of those Laborers.

I was given the opportunity to go to Hong Kong and smuggle Bibles into mainland China. I connected with a group who works with persecuted churches around the world, and then a new mission world opened up to me.

This trip on January 13, 2006, helped my mission work to be more focused, strategic, and a lot more interesting…

“He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest ﬁeld.” (Luke 10:2)

Chapter 2: Pray for the Persecuted

I did not know much about persecution, except what I read in the Bible, and Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Math. 5:10, NKJV)

Google Dictionary deﬁnes persecution as, “hostility and ill-treatment, especially on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation or political beliefs.”

Then I read, “God’s Smuggler,” and it opened my eyes to the persecuted church. The book focused primarily on the persecution that occurred during the days of Communism in Eastern Europe, but it also talked about the persecution that is happening today.

As I learned more about Christians who were suﬀering persecution, I began praying for them. I prayed that God would help them, and I prayed that God would send Christian Laborers to help them and encourage them.

My main focus however, was the Church in China because I was hearing a lot about how they were suﬀering. Maybe you have heard about the “Underground Church,” or “house churches.” As I learned about the work that was happening in China, I began looking for a way to be a part of it.

Eventually, I was able to connect with a group in California. They wanted a lot of information from me, and most of it was to make sure that I really wanted to help, and to be sure that I was not a spy, or with the secret police. When you are working with persecuted Believers you need to be very careful about what you say and do. You do not want to create more problems for them.

I ﬁnished the application process in the early part of 2005, and I made plans to go to China in October. I was not able to go in October, but I did not give up

hope. I talked to the coordinator in California, and she told me to try again in 2006. (2006 was a very busy year)

I prayed for the time oﬀ from work, and I prayed for dates that would work with the rest of the team that I was going to be a part of. I would be meeting in Hong Kong with other missionaries from around the world, and it took a lot of coordination.

By November, I knew that I would be going to Hong Kong on January 13th. I began to pray more speciﬁcally for the trip, and I began to fast once a week. Fasting is a great way to focus on prayer, and it is a great way to remember that we need Jesus more than we need food.

“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suﬀering.” (Heb. 13:3)

“God is good all the time.” Missionary apartment in Hong Kong, 2006

Chapter 3: The Lord will Provide

I have been traveling around the world for more than twenty years, and the Lord has always provided everything that I needed. In 2006, I was learning to trust Him to take care of my needs. This trip was going to be expensive, almost two thousand dollars, and I needed help.

In my daily prayers I was praying that the Lord would provide me with everything that I needed, especially the money. I needed some of the money early because I had to send it to the mission agency to pay for some of the expenses in Hong Kong. The Lord provided everything that I needed when I needed it.

This was a lesson that was so important to learn as I began working with persecuted Believers. I also learned that they depend on God for everything every day. I am afraid that in America we do not always depend on God. I think sometimes we are comfortable, and we do not pray until we feel like we really need something.

This was the ﬁrst time that I traveled to Asia by myself, and I did not really know what to pray for because I did not know what I was going to do, or what I was getting myself into. So, many days I would pray, “Lord, I do not know what I am doing, or where I am going, but I am trusting you to lead me and provide for me, so please help me. Amen.”

I trusted the Lord to provide the visa I needed to get into China, and He did. I trusted the Lord to help me ﬁnd Mr. Boca in the airport when I arrived, and He did. I trusted the Lord to provide me with the money and the food I needed, and He did. I trusted the Lord to help my friends and I get Bibles and other Christian books across the border, and He did.

Are you having trouble trusting the Lord to help you every day?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much

more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you you of little faith? ” (Math. 6:25-30)

A big plane for a long trip.

Chapter 4: The Adventure of Traveling

The day before I left on the trip, I was able to spend a lot of time with my children. My son Jay had basketball practice, and after practice we were talking about the trip. He asked me if I was afraid to go on the trip. I told him that I was not afraid, but I was a little nervous because I was about to do something that I had never done before.

It was early in the morning on Friday, January 13, 2006, and I was sitting in the airport in Memphis waiting for the journey to begin. I guess you could say that the journey begins the moment you say, “Yes, I will go.” There are a lot of things to do before you get to the departure day and the departure point. Anyway, I was at the airport waiting.

My flight plan would take me from Memphis to Chicago, and then to Hong Kong. I was a little excited about the flight to Hong Kong, and a little nervous. I had never been on a plane for sixteen hours before, and I did not know what I would do for that long period of time.

I was in Chicago by 10 am, and I was on the next plane at 12:15 pm, and waiting. You never know what the weather will be like in the winter in Chicago, except that it will be cold, and it was very cold that day. So, we had to wait for the people to get the ice off the wings before we could go.

Then finally we took off, and I was really happy because I had a good seat, and I was able to stretch out my legs. Everything was fine until the babies began to cry, and then they cried off and on the entire trip. That makes it hard to sleep.

Oh well, that is part of the joy of traveling. Babies cry off and on, and I slept off and on. I watched some movies, and I tried to not look at the time.

Do you know that when you travel between America and Asia you cross what is called the “International Date Line.” It is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and it is not really a line on the water. It is a point where the time change is so great it results in the day changing. What that means is: I left Chicago on Friday, and before I arrived in Hong Kong, it was Saturday. Just like that.

Eventually I fell asleep, and I woke up before we arrived in Hong Kong. When I got off the plane and went through customs, I learned that my suitcase had not arrived. That was not good.

I had to talk to someone, and thankfully they spoke English. Then I had to call Mr. Boca and ask him what to do next. I did not know when I would get my suitcase, and I was glad that I had my toothbrush in my backpack.

Once all of that was finished, I went to the bus stop and caught the bus to the meeting point. Mr. Boca and Mr. Hano were waiting for me. Our team consists of Mr. Boca from Brazil, Mr. Hano from the Netherlands, and Mr. Kim from Oklahoma, so we are very diverse. Mr. Boca is our team leader, because he has been here for a year, and he works with groups who come to help.

I wanted to talk to everyone, but I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as we got to the apartment.

What a day it was! I was glad that I had spent a lot of time in prayer, because I was not upset about any of this. I knew that God had a plan, and I was trusting Him to guide me through it all.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5-6)

The apartment complex where we stayed, Hong Kong, 2006

Chapter 5: Church First

When you travel a long distance, it takes your body some time to adjust to the time difference, and it takes me a very long time to adjust. I tried to sleep a as long as I could because I knew we were going to be busy during the week, but I woke up early. So, while everyone was sleeping, I went out to explore our area, and I had some breakfast at a small market.

By the time I got back to the apartment everyone was awake. My suitcase had not arrived yet, so Mr. Hano let me borrow some of his clothes. Fortunately for me, he and I were the same size.

Our first plan was to go to a local church. There was a church in the YMCA in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong. They did not have their own building, but they are allowed to meet in the “Y.” The Christians in the area have a little more freedom than the Christians in mainland China.

We walked about a mile to the train station, and then we took the train to Kowloon. I was surprised to see that the “Y” shared space with a fancy hotel. Thankfully, the church service was in English, so we could understand it.

There were a lot of people from everywhere, local people and foreigners. I was surprised to hear that they were kicking off their mission program, and we were there as missionaries! We heard testimonies from several people who had been serving in that region. It is always amazing to me when I see the Body of Christ serving together all around the world.

We visited with some people after the service, but we could not talk about what we were doing. So, our little group left and did some sightseeing.

We took the ferry boat over to Hong Kong Island, and then we rode the tram to the top of Victoria’s Peak. It was a beautiful view of the city, and the

weather was perfect. We walked around the top and took a lot of pictures, just like tourists do.

Then, as we were preparing to go down from the peak, Mr. Boca got a call from the airport. They had my bag, and they were going to deliver it to our apartment, but we needed to be there to receive it. So, we headed back to our apartment building and waited. It was delivered a few hours later, and nothing was missing. Praise God now I can wear my own clothes!

We decided to go to a restaurant to eat, and it turned out to be a new adventure. No one in the place spoke English. So, the waiter called a friend of his who spoke English, and we gave our order to the friend, and then he gave it to the waiter, and everything worked out perfectly. It was not the easiest way to order, but it worked.

Everyone was tired by the time dinner was over, so we went back to the apartment. We had a time of prayer, and we talked about what we were going to do for the week.

My Chinese visa only allowed me a few trips into China, so we were trying to figure out the best thing to do with my time. The other guys had unlimited entries. We trusted the Lord to guide our plans.

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (Prov. 16:3)

The view from Victoria’s Peak, 2006

Chapter 6: Time to Work

It was Monday, January 16, and it was time for us to do what we came to do. It was time to take Bibles and Christian training materials across the border into mainland China, and into a safe house on the other side of the border. I was excited to get started.

My first trip across was with Mr. Kim. We took three bags of Bibles to the storage room on the Hong Kong side. It was about 120 pounds total. When materials are received by the Company, they go into the storage room, and then small teams will come here to get it and take it across the border.

We met Mr. Boca there, and he gave us a briefing on how we would go across. We would all split up and cross at different points, and then meet at a place away from the border patrol. It sounded easy enough. We just needed to act normal, and that is easier said than done when you know you are carrying hundreds of pounds of illegal materials into another country.

We all prayed together, and then we loaded Bibles and Sunday School materials into suitcases with wheels. Each case carried about forty pounds of stuff, and each man had one case and a backpack. This meant that each of us was carrying 80-100 pounds of the precious Word of God.

We had to walk a long way, and then a lot of stairs, and then a train ride to the border station, and then a taxi and more walking. It was quite a workout!

We all made it across the border without any issues. They did not look in anyone’s bag, but they did x-ray Mr. Kim’s bag, fortunately they did not open it. We met at our designated spot and went straight to the safe house. Once we got everything into the safe house, we prayed and thanked God for what He allowed us to do, and for His protection.

Then we ate some snacks before we went back to Hong Kong. The entire trip, from the time we left the office until we returned to the office, took almost two hours.

We met Mr. Hano back at the office, and we began loading more suitcases for the next trip. We prayed again, and then Mr. Hano and Mr. Kim took two cases each and headed out. I stayed behind, because I only had a limited number of times to cross the border, and I wanted to make each one count.

It would cost $123, to add more entries on my visa, and someone had given me a hundred dollars before I left. I believe the Lord knew what was needed, don’t you? Mr. Boca was going to try to work it out for me.

Anyway, I walked with the guys to the train station, and then I went back to the apartment. I did not think I would make any more trips that night, but the Lord had another plan.

About the time the guys arrived, Mr. Boca also came back with our Brother from Australia, Mr. Mike. Mr. Mike was joining our team, and it was good to have another person with us because it meant we could carry more loads.

While Mr. Mike was getting settled in, Mr. Hano asked me if I wanted to make another run before the border closed. Of course I did! Mr. Boca was confident that he could get my visa extended, so I was not worried about making another trip.

We had to hurry because the border would close at midnight, so we went to the office quickly, and loaded two suitcases and two backpacks. Then we prayed and walked as fast as we could walk under that load.

Praise God that we did not have any problems at the border, and we were able to get a taxi to the safe house right away. We hurried in, unloaded our bags, and then we ran out to get a taxi back to the border crossing. We arrived at the border at 11:45 pm, just in time to catch the last train.

Mr. Boca met us at our station, and I gave him my passport so that he could get the visa fixed. We were dead tired, and we decided to take the bus back to the apartment instead of walking. I only made two trips, but Mr. Hano had made three trips in one day, so I know he was tired.

We had to thank God for all that He allowed us to do, and we prayed that all those materials would strengthen Christians who were being persecuted. Our feet were tired, but the Bible says that they are beautiful…

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom. 10:15b)

(Here is something that I always think is interesting: most of the Bibles that we use in America are printed in China, and then shipped to America. They are printed by people who have never heard about Jesus, and since most of them cannot read English, the government is not worried about it. And, there we were smuggling Bibles into the country that has printed more than 100 million Bibles according to the Christian Post.)

Bibles and Discipleship materials waiting to be delivered to underground churches.

Chapter 7: Pick-up and Delivery Day

It was Tuesday, and for me, it was the fifth day of my trip. Yesterday had been the hardest day, and my shoulders were sore. The first thing I did when I woke up was to pray for the physical strength to get more bags across before I had to leave.

Tuesday was the day that we would take bags across, and then bring some stuff back. I was not sure how it would work, but Mr. Boca had made a plan with a Chinese pastor, and we all had to carry as much as we could.

I was waiting for Mr. Boca to bring my passport back with my new visa stamp, so I could not cross yet. Mr. Kim and Mr. Hano made a trip across right after breakfast.

Michael and I spent time praying at the office, and we loaded more bags. We ate a little lunch, and then we all met at a train station. Mr. Boca had my visa, and I was happy to go across again.

Once again, we crossed the border without any problems. We each had a roller bag and a backpack, so counting the morning run, our team had taken almost three hundred pounds across on Tuesday!

After we crossed the border, we split up into two groups, and we took taxis to a hotel. We were going to a hotel this time, and we were going to give all our stuff to a pastor and his assistant, and he was going to give us some bags to bring back into Hong Kong to be delivered to churches in Hong Kong.

Mr. Boca told us that the best place to hide sometimes, is in plain sight. We all arrived at the hotel, and the pastor was in a white van right in front of the hotel, in front of everyone. So, in front of everyone walking by, we made the switch.

We put our stuff in his bags, and then put his stuff in our bags. The problem was, he gave us more than we gave him. Our packs and roller bags were stuffed, and I had so much stuff in my backpack that one of the straps began to tear. (I had borrowed the backpack from my son William, so I had to get him a new one.)

Once the exchange was complete, we had to split up again. Mr. Kim and Mr. Hano took their loads to one place, and the rest of us took our loads across into Hong Kong and back to the office.

By the time we all got back to the apartment, we were very hungry. We decided to go to a restaurant nearby, and it was very good. We also had a server who spoke English, which was a huge blessing!

That day was very exciting, and we met with Christians who were trying to strengthen the churches in China. I had read about persecution, but until this time I did not fully understand what these Believers had to do to practice their faith. I know that I had only seen a small glimpse of what was happening.

“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” (2 Thess. 3:1-3)

This is where we made the exchange, God is so good!

Chapter 8: My Last Border Crossing

Wednesday, January 18, 2006, and it was time to make my last border crossing. This was going to be an adventure because we were supposed to cross the border, deliver our load, pick up a load, go to an airport, fly to another city, make a delivery, and then travel by plane, and then train back to the starting point. Sounds easy right? I was very thankful for Mr. Boca and his experience.

Mr. Kim, Mr. Michael, and Mr. Hano went across the border at 8 am, and Mr. Boca and I would meet them at the office later. We were planning to spend two nights in another city, so we had to take our pajamas and toothbrushes. My job for the morning was to go shopping and get some stuff for the apartment, and then take everyone’s overnight bag to the office.

I thought that I had the easy job, until I went to the market by myself. That was an adventure trying to buy things with Chinese money, and trying to communicate with hand gestures and a lot of head nodding. In the end, I had what we needed, and I think I only embarrassed myself a little.

Anyway, after the morning lesson in cross-cultural shopping, I took the groceries back to the apartment, and I picked up the overnight bags and went to the office. We packed bags with Bibles, talked about the plan, and then we prayed together.

We left the office with six bags. I had a roller bag and a back-pack. I thought I was going to fall over because the pack was so heavy! This is not the end of the story, so obviously, I did not die. It helped me remember that every day, missionaries are doing hard things with the hope that people will learn about Jesus.

We all got through customs at the border, sort of. Mr. Hano got stopped, and the police took half of his books. They said that he could pick it up when he came back. That was interesting.

It was also interesting that they only looked in one part of his suitcase. So, they only took Bibles out. They did not see the materials for children. In China it is illegal to minister to children.

Mr. Hano had also been stopped on the first trip in the morning, but the police did not take anything that time. Maybe they recognized him when he went through again in the afternoon.

Once we got to the safe house, we unpacked our bags, and then we filled them up with other materials to take to another city. We have to travel by plane, so we need to be careful with the weight of the bags.

We prayed, and we took some pictures because it would be my last time at the safe house, and then we went to the airport. We took a taxi to the airport, and it was my first wild ride in a different country. I felt like we were in a video game because everyone was driving so crazy.

Thankfully we were able to check our bags with the airline. One of the bags was too heavy, so we had to rearrange some of the books into another bag. It was not a problem. Then we walked out to our flight on China Southern Airlines.

The trip was not long, but when we arrived in the new city, we had to wait a long time for our bags, and I was getting nervous. I felt like the longer we stood around in one place, the greater chance there was of someone asking questions.

Finally, we got all the bags, and then we saw the contact people. Mr. Boca, Mr. Hano, and Mr. Kim took the stuff to the van while Mr. Michael and I stayed with the other things. We did not want to walk out in our big group until the van was gone.

Then, we took a bus into the city, and then a taxi to the hotel. It was 10 pm, by the time we go to the hotel. We put our stuff in our rooms, and then we went to find some dinner. I was hungry, and tired, and ready for bed.

We had done a lot of things that were illegal based on the laws of the Chinese government, but we believe that getting Bibles to people is more important. Praise God for all that He allowed us to do!

“Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32)

Our train station, full of people waiting to hear about Jesus.

Chapter 9: Free Time and Perceptions

The next day was a free day for us, and we did some sightseeing and some resting. Mr. Hano and I were roommates, and when he woke up, we went to eat breakfast, and then we met up with the others. The hotel had a breakfast buffet, and the food was good, and I ate a lot!

It had been a very busy week, and I was thankful that no one had gotten sick, especially me. You cannot drink the water out of the faucets, so if I did not have a bottle of water, I boiled water before I drank it. Mr. Boca did not feel well one night, but I think it was because he did not eat very much that day.

After we prayed together, we went out and walked around. I saw so many things that are hard to explain, and the lostness around us was overwhelming.

I saw a man with a hump-back, and he was laying on a step because he could not stand up. He was naked, except for a small sheet around his waist. He did not look at anyone, but he just laid there chanting something. I did not know what to do, but I wanted to do something.

There were so many beggars in the streets, and many of them were missing a limb. It was sad. What would you do? How can I make a difference in this world? Or, how can I make a difference where I am today? All I can do, and all we can do as Christ Followers, is to ask the Lord to help us do our best with what He has given to us.

We did not see anyone show compassion to the street people. People walked by them, and did not even look at the suffering around them. How can a society be so heartless? The answer is easy, and it is sad: A heart without Jesus is not capable of loving people like this.

I wrote this in my journal that night: I believe we should continue to go to these foreign places, to reach out in support and love to the Believers, and to grow ourselves in Christ-like service. These are fantastic opportunities to see what the Lord sees every day.

The day was only beginning. After lunch, we were at the hotel, and Mr. Boca was explaining the area to us. The city we were in was once known as the “Jerusalem of China.” At one time it had the most Christians of any city in China.

However, all of that changed over time, and the Communist Government made a lot of restrictions against religions. They had laws against most religions, not just Christianity.

We were not discouraged though, and we decided to walk around and see if we could find any active churches. The hotel receptionist actually gave us a map with church symbols on it. Unfortunately for us, it was in Chinese, so we did not know if the symbols represented active churches or museums.

We found a Catholic Church. The Catholic Church in China is controlled by the government, and the government has to approve who leads the church. Then we found a “Three Selfs Church” nearby. This is also a church controlled by the government. It feels like a Christian church, but the local government decides what is preached and what music is used.

It seems that the House Churches and the “Underground Churches” are the most Gospel centered and evangelical. We had not found one, but we would visit one before the end of the journey.

We saw so much, and our hearts were broken over the lostness. We had to pray that the Lord would help us to help others.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Math. 25:34-40)

The old way and the new way.

This old church was closed and abandoned.

Chapter 10: Pastor Samuel Lamb

This would be my last full day in China. When I began this trip, I had no idea of what was going to happen, and I really did not know what I was going to do. I only knew that Christians were being persecuted, and I wanted to do something to help them.

It was Friday, January 20, 2006, and I was going to meet a man who would speak to my heart, and I will never forget our meeting.

Our team had gathered in the morning for our last hotel breakfast, devotion, and prayer time. After we checked out of the hotel, we took taxis to the airport because it would be faster than taking the bus. Once again, we had a wild ride. Someone needs to create a video game called “International Taxi Ride.”

We boarded another China Southern flight, and this time we were going to a different city because we had to meet him. I was very excited about where I was going, and I was excited to be going home soon.

We went into a western province of China. The weather was a lot better than where we had been. We did not have any issues at the airport. Once we had our bags, we went to the train station. We split up, and part of the team went back to Hong Kong, and I went with Mr. Boca to meet him.

In one week, we had been on trains, planes, taxis, ferry boats, and buses. The only thing missing was to ride on a tractor or a horse. The trains in China are very nice, and I enjoyed each ride.

Our train to Mr. Lamb’s city.

From the train station we took the subway, and then we had a short walk to his house church. We went in, and we soon met this little man with a big smile, and a very friendly welcome. Pastor Samuel Lamb, at least that was his English name. His Chinese name was Lin Xiangao. I have attached his story from Wikipedia in Appendix 1, in the back of the book.

It was great that we found him at the church. Of course, Mr. Boca already knew that Pastor Lamb was usually at the church on Fridays, and then on other days he visited Believers around the country to encourage them. We talked to Pastor Lamb for more than an hour.

Pastor Lamb shared his testimony with us, and he talked about the struggles he had as a pastor. He had been in prison for a long time. Pastor Lamb thought that the persecution in China was very good for the church,

because it was showing who were the true Believers, and the Church was growing. He looked at me, and he said, “Brother Richard, persecution is very good. The Church in America is too air-conditioned, persecution is very good.” (He was meaning that we are too comfortable.) When he finished speaking, he gave us a big smile, and we prayed together and took some pictures.

Pastor Lamb and myself, January 20, 2006

After our visit with Pastor Lamb, we went to get some food. It was lunch and dinner, because we had not eaten since we left the hotel.

We decided to go back to Pastor Lamb’s church after we ate. We wanted to join the evening service. They have a service every night of the week, and it was usually full.

We arrived a little early, and we had an opportunity to talk to Pastor Lamb a little more. We had given him thirty Bibles earlier, and we asked him if there was still a need for Bibles in China. He told us that the need was great, especially in the north and in the rural areas. He told us that those areas also experience the most persecution.

Then the service began. I have never experienced anything like it, even though I did not understand most of it, the service was beautiful. It began with singing and praying. We would sing, and then pray, and then sing, and then pray, and this went on for more than an hour. Then one of the associate pastors got up to speak.

We did not stay much longer because we needed to get to the train station and go back to Hong Kong. Even now, I am still overwhelmed by everything that I experienced that day.

Mr. Boca and I talked all the way back. We talked about mission work, and how we believed the Lord was calling us in different ways.

I went to bed that night wondering how could I explain this trip to people, and what did the Lord want me to do next?

“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” (Heb. 13:3)

The House Church on Friday night.

Chapter 11: Going Home and Final Thoughts

It is always hard to leave when it is time to leave. I always have a mixture of emotions, because I want to go home, and I want to stay and help with the work. Obviously, I cannot do both. Then there are the relationships that I develop with the people with whom I work. I really enjoyed working with these guys this week. We were from America, Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands, but we were Brothers in Christ, part of One Body, and we were on the same mission to serve our Brothers and Sisters. I do not know how to describe this experience.

It was the ninth day of the trip, and I had been able to do so many things, but even on this day, I was thinking about what Pastor Lamb had said, “Pray for China, pray for revival in China, and pray for new converts.” I could still feel the power of his words. Pastor Lamb was small in stature, but he had the heart of a lion. To me he was a giant, and a saint.

I had some time before I had to go to the airport, so I washed my sheets, and cleaned up my area while I waited for Mr. Boca. He met me at 9 am, and we walked to the bus stop. It was a sad walk.

Do you know that feeling you get when you know you might not come back to a place again? We walked past a lot of the places we had walked by during the week as we moved suitcases and backpacks. Mr. Boca stayed with me until the bus pulled away.

My Brother in Christ, Mr. Boca, thank you!

Even now, as I am writing this book so many years later, I am remembering the time with Mr. Boca. He really helped me and encouraged me in so many ways.

All that was left was a long plane ride to San Francisco, then to Chicago, and then to Memphis. In case you were wondering, I did buy a new backpack in the Hong Kong airport for $60, and it lasted about ten years as it traveled the world with me, it also carried many more Bibles.

Some final thoughts from my journal:

This has been a great trip. It seems too short; like I just left. Now I am anxious to see what the Lord has next for me. I want to remember these things:

To pray for China, to pray for the new Believers, to pray for pastors to be raised up, to pray for the continued work of couriers, and to pray for God to raise up obedient Believers, who will hear His voice and Go…

I am thankful to all the people who gave money sacrificially so that this trip was possible: Joe, Norma, Whitie and Verna, Benny and Lucille, Catherin, Katie D, Virginia H, my mom, Dorothy G, and David and Cindy K. I also want to thank Kirby Woods Baptist Church for their gift and their prayers.

All of these put their faith in a task they knew nothing about, because I could not share details of the trip before I went. This type of love allowed me to step out of my comfort zone, and into the world of the unknown, knowing that my God was meeting all my needs according to His riches.

Mr. Boca shared this verse with me before I left, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Phil. 3:12) Press On!

Afterword:

Between 2002 and 2006, I had taken nine different trips. I had been to Germany several times, Honduras, China, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Modesto, California. I knew that the Lord was calling me to be a missionary, and after every trip I prayed about where I would go next.

Here are some things that I learned along the way, and maybe they will help you. We are all called to tell people about Jesus, and each one of us needs to be praying about how, and where to do that. Please do not allow the spread of the Gospel to stop with you.

Lessons:

It is always God’s team and His trip.

If I will go, He will get me there.

There’s no such thing as too much prayer.

There is joy when serving with Brothers and Sisters from other churches. We are one Body.

People will do their best when their role is defined, and they are given ownership of the trip.

There is a lot of work to do. “The Harvest is Great.” The greatest blessing comes from being a Laborer, and I know that I must keep going. I pray for open doors to share the Gospel.

Listen to the local minister or missionary. They know better than you do.

Do not make promises that you cannot keep, and never promise to come back.

Understand the culture before you act like an American in a way that will offend someone.

If you do not know what to do, pray.

About the Author:

Richard is a retired Air Traffic Controller. He serves as a Disaster Relief Chaplain with the Southern Baptist Convention. He has been across North America and around the world as a missionary. He lives in Tennessee, with his wife Amy. Their three children and four grandchildren are nearby. His greatest desire is to take the Gospel to Unreached People Groups, specifically in areas of persecution.

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”” (Rom. 15:20-21)

I am a Sojourner

Appendix 1:

Samuel Lamb or Lin Xiangao ; October 4, 1924 – August 3, 2013) was a Protestant pastor in Guangzhou, China. He was a leader in the Chinese house church movement and known for his resistance against the statesanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

Lamb was born in a mountainous area overlooking Macau. His father, Paul Lamb, was the pastor of a small Baptist congregation.

Lamb was imprisoned for more than 20 years (1955–57; 1958–78) for his refusal to join the TSPM. In spite of "honey-bucket" duty at labor farms or backbreaking work in coal mines at labor camps, Lamb continued to teach.

In 1978, Lamb was released from prison and, in 1979, he restarted the church in 35 Da Ma Zhan, Guangzhou. Because the attendance grew quickly, he then moved the meetings to 15 Rong Gui Li, De Zheng Bei Road. The house church is now known as Rongguili Church, under the name Damazhan Evangelical Church. The house church continued to hold four main services each week, with an estimated attendance of four to five thousand, but was closed on October 14, 2018, and a second time on December 15, 2018.

He died in Guangzhou in 2013, aged 88. There were nearly 30,000 mourners in attendance. (Wikipedia)

All pictures are from the author.

Summary of Scripture:

All Scripture is from the NIV, unless noted otherwise.

ESV: Psalm 39:12

NKJV: Math. 5:10

A Road Less Traveled: On Becoming a Missionary