This month we're turning our gaze away from the American church for a look at the church in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Cambodia as experienced by Dave on his recent trip to Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Cambodia.  

I will start with Sri Lanka as it was my first stop. Sri Lanka remains embedded in a civil war that has been going on for over 20 years, with a brief 4-year interlude a few years ago. This makes travel very dangerous in many parts of Sri Lanka. This danger tempers but does not deter the work of the church in these areas. I spoke with seminary professors who travel into the more dangerous regions to train pastors through extension programs and to provide support to pastors and churches and those involved in relief and development work. They enter these unstable areas understanding the risks but fully confident of God’s call upon their lives to support and encourage these brothers and sisters in Christ who live in places plagued by war. It is hard for me to even describe my conversations with these professors. They told me their stories, completely devoid of any hunger for recognition or praise, but simply out of a desire to report the facts and with a sense of sacred calling to serve those in danger.

One has to remember that Sri Lanka is less than 1% evangelical Christian, so there is hardly a majority backing these efforts. The government of Sri Lanka is on the verge of possibly passing an anti-conversion bill into law. This bill has been repeatedly brought before the parliament and tabled each time for various reasons. The sense is that it now has enough votes to pass once further delays are circumvented. I asked several pastors what they will do when this bill passes, and without hesitation they answered in a sober and very direct manner, “We will continue to do what we have always done—preach the gospel and lead people to the Lord. What else can we do? This is our duty and privilege.” These people mark my life! Their commitment to the gospel is clear and unwavering.

Traveling in Vietnam is an awesome experience. The lush landscape, the madcap mob of motorbikes that swam the streets like a hive of bees on a hot summer day, the tremendous poverty, the markets, the crowded streets, the vendors constantly calling out for attention, children and mothers with outstretched hands hoping for a gift to buy bread for the day—all manner of people going about life in a way so different from my own. The walls of my memory are plastered with images and encounters from this trip. I had the tremendous privilege of speaking with the pastor of a government-recognized church. I asked him to share with me some of his joys and challenges in ministry. He rejoices that 106 adults and 50 children have recently come to the Lord. He is thankful that “every time we go out to share our faith in the community people come to Christ.” A third joy is to watch people in his congregation grow in the Lord. A fourth reason for joy is the recent birth of another church, and yet a fifth joy for him is the commitment of the church elders to evangelism and discipleship. In terms of challenges, he said that there are about one million Christians in Vietnam, where the total population is 83 million. He said that when the church does not grow there is peace, but when it grows there is trouble. They have faced “trouble” in recent days. His two recent stints in jail are evidence of that trouble. This pastor then talked about the need to train leaders for the growing church. This is a challenge.

As I visited many Vietnamese people living across the border in Cambodia, I was deeply moved by the terrible conditions in which they live. These people are not welcome in Cambodia, but neither can they return to their homeland. I visited Vietnamese who live along Cambodia’s Mekong River in very difficult circumstances. Recently they were visited by a group of Vietnamese Christians and 60 gave their hearts to Christ.

I also visited the Killing Fields and the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, home of the S-21 prison and interrogation facility. I entered the buildings where people had been tortured, the instruments on display. I was utterly overwhelmed by man’s ability to commit unspeakable acts of violence against other human beings, seemingly without any remorse or sorrow. I cannot understand how one human being can do such things to another. This place where men had committed acts of such evil stood in sharp contrast to the homes of people I had been visiting—people who give all they have to others in the name and love of Jesus. The difference stood in such stark contrast that I found it impossible to fathom the distance between the two acts.

I've returned home with the realization of the tremendous, often unrecognized, and sorely underappreciated, blessings of my life. I may go to church whenever I choose and can talk about my faith without fear of persecution. My trip caused me to realize anew that this is an awesome privilege. My trip also gave me a sense of what the larger church looks like in terms of its theology, culture, customs, and structures. The church is loved by God and it will stand, regardless of the forces that come against it.  - Dave

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IN THE QUIET PLACE OF PRAYER
Why is it that prayer, at least for some of us, is the hardest spiritual discipline to practice? I speak only for myself in the words that follow, but I have a feeling many of you may be able to identify.

Prayer seems so non-productive. Answering emails, visiting with people, working through issues with others, reading a book, washing my car—these are tasks with tangible or visible outcomes, whereas prayer just does not seem to fit into the realm of those activities that see immediate results. And we do want to see immediate results. After all, I am paid to get things done. We’re impressed by those who are able to create momentum, we praise people who get things accomplished, we expect profits to grow and output to increase. Prayer just does not seem productive.

Is this why I struggle with prayer, or is it more that in our busy world I have gotten to the point where I simply find it hard to sit still and be quiet? I do not live in a world of quiet. I listen to the radio while I drive. I listen to music on my iPod while waiting for my flight at the airport. On the plane I even wear “noise canceling” headphones so that I will hear only the “right noise” coming from my iPod as I read, sleep, or observe the circus around me. All this noise wars against my seeking God “in the secret, in the quiet place” of prayer. As I tack years onto my life I’ve become increasingly aware of my inability—or perhaps better, disinclination—to sit still and be quiet. Praying for the meal, praying through my list of requests for family, work, or friends is not a problem. The problem is to remain in the place of prayer when I’ve finished my list. This, in my estimation, is when we really pray.

Recently I've spent some time in Luke 11. It seems to me that if there is one thing we ought to glean from Jesus’ life it is that he was a person of prayer. If we are bent on pursuing Christlikeness, then we must recognize the fact that Jesus’ life was indelibly marked by communion with the Father. Jesus regularly withdrew from the activities of life to pray. Jesus appeared to have places reserved only for prayer—places where he did not engage in work, but engaged with the Father.

There are suggestions in all four gospels that Jesus sometimes prayed all night long. On other occasions we read of Jesus praying for several hours. We all know about his deeply emotional, agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane just hours before his crucifixion. It is no wonder, then, that Jesus’ disciples came to him and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Samuel Chadwick, a 19th century theologian and philosopher in England, states, “The soul needs its silent places. It would revolutionize men’s lives if they were shut in with God in some secret place for at least half an hour a day.” Pascal, the French physicist of the 18th century, said, “The greatest struggle a man has is the willingness to find himself alone for a period of time in silence with God.”

Prayer is life changing, asserts Chadwick. Prayer is not easy, concedes Pascal. When I read Luke 11, I find it helpful to notice that Jesus answered the disciples’ question, not by giving them a recipe or formula, but with a prayer. Maybe the Lord’s point is that what we need to do is to recognize prayer’s importance, find the space and time, and be quiet before God, speaking as words come to our hearts and minds. It is a place to start, but in a world that honors busyness, it is not easy.

Richard Foster wrote, “The desperate need today is not for a great number of intelligent or gifted people; the great need of today is for some deep people. And deep people come out of those who have mastered the life of prayer.” I propose that a life of prayer is worth whatever it takes because it is the main event.

So what am I going to do with these thoughts? Well, September has always been my “New Year.” It’s the time for me when things have always begun anew—the kids go back to school, my wife welcomes a new class of students, and a new sermon series begins with a look to the future. While things have changed over the years—my kids are done with school and I am no longer preparing sermon series—September still feels like the best time to make new commitments. So as I enter my “New Year,” here’s my list: 1) Love God by taking more time to be quiet before Him; 2) Love my family as I enjoy the journey, being a giver and not just a taker; 3) Make physical exercise a priority; 4) Be real by allowing only Christ to influence my actions; 5) Work hard on fewer relationships; 6) Invest my life in fewer but more strategic places; 7) Deepen my character by remembering that what is on the inside is more important that what is on the outside.

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WHAT IF...? A Reflection on Prayer

WHAT IF prayer was like touching the fingertips of God just enough for his bounty to flow down from his open hands?
WHAT IF I really believed that apart from accessing the Lord’s treasures through prayer, I had only trinkets to hand out?
WHAT IF I really believed that he who spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, will also graciously give us all things?
WHAT IF my prayer life matched my prayer theology?
WHAT IF I really believed that I, and the sheep in my care, would experience God’s favor as never before if I was consumed by being with him in prayer?
WHAT IF I was really devoted to prayer, expectant in prayer and thankful in prayer?
WHAT IF I was willing to risk brokenness and confessed my sin, my frailties and my unbelief before God with you?
WHAT IF we experienced fasting and praying together in such a way that we longed for Jesus more than we long for physical food?
WHAT IF I was more about the work of prayer and less about talk regarding prayer?
WHAT IF missionaries and missions leaders were known as those who loved to pray? What if someone said about us, “I don’t know what all they do, but I do know that they pray for us”?

(excerpted from an EMQ editorial by Gary Corwin)

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The New Global Mission by Samuel Escobar
2003 InterVarsity Press
Reviewed by David Korb

I read this book a few years ago, but when I was looking for some reading material to take on my recent trip to Asia, I decided it was worth reading again. I’m glad I made this decision, for Escobar’s words remain timely for the church, mission agency, missionary, and everyone who has a heart for missions today.

Escobar’s thesis revolves around the shift taking place, in which the majority of Christians no longer live in the West, but in Africa and Asia. Escobar reminds the reader that as a result of this shift, we must be diligent in separating Western concepts from the gospel. For far too long, he says, aspect of Western culture have been intermingled with Biblical truth. The necessary separation presents a challenge to the Western church to be willing to hear our brothers and sisters from other parts of the world as they express the gospel in their local contexts.

Escobar also discusses pre-modern, modern, and postmodern issues. He sees the postmodern generation questioning the rational view held by the modern generation, and notes that postmoderns see the value of learning from other generations. The postmodern generation realizes that while we may not agree with other religions, we certainly must be willing to learn from them. Escobar’s purpose in discussing this topic is to point out another shift is taking place, and this time on our own turf and among our own children.

The author also discusses globalization. He tells the story of sitting in a cabin in the eastern jungles of Peru, attended to by a young man wearing a “Pepsi” T-shirt, while he accessed his email, where a pop-up window invited him to join an online dating service while he was reading a message from his son in Bosnia. Escobar concludes, “One aspect of the globalization process affecting the brave new world order in which mission takes place in the twenty-first century is that the media propagates around the world the signs of the deep culture change that has taken place in the West. There has been an erosion of Christian influence on forces that shape culture, such as legislation, education, the media or art….We live in a post-Christian, postmodern world, a stark reality that missionaries cannot afford to ignore” (pg 69).

Escobar finally calls the missionary, and the church, to a life of “service both of the spiritual in proclaiming the Word and of the physical meeting human needs, according to Jesus’ model and in his name. In this new era of globalization this means new patterns of cooperation and new forms of partnership for mission” (pg 154).

To me it seems his bottom line is that in the midst of all the changes taking place in the world, we must ready ourselves for the “global partnership of churches” (pg 164) and that this partnership, while indispensable for mission, will challenge us deeply. We are accustomed to sitting in the driver’s seat, but our role is shifting due to the sheer numbers of Christians living in other parts of the world. Christianity will no longer look Western, and we must be ready to encounter this change and know how to respond.

I find Escobar’s writing tedious at times. On occasion I became lost as I tried to decipher his point in the midst of many examples interwoven with biblical commentary. Nevertheless, I recommend that you read or re-read Escobar’s book. While I don’t agree with everything he says, what he’s written will cause you to think and react to the issues he discusses—issues which I believe are even more pertinent today than when he wrote the book four years ago.

About the Author
Samuel Escobar, a leading Latin American theologian, was one of the key participants in the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974. A native of Peru, he serves as professor of missiology at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and is theological consultant for the Board of International Ministries in Valencia, Spain. He is also president of the United Bible Societies and past president of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. (from Amazon.com)

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