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| Jan 29, 2004 |
| Taiwan, Asia |
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Forgiveness brings healing
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James was a seminary intern at our church in Taiwan. He was a jokester, loud at times and through his humor he would offend some of the youth. He also tended to order them around.
I had been away at a pastors' conference and just returned home when the phone rang. Yoshen, one of the older students, was calling because he had been offended by James. Grace, who had helped found the church told Yoshen to contact me.
In Chinese culture and in Taiwan people are very reticent to confront and even more reticent to admit wrong. Yoshen was nervous just talking to me about the situation.
I knew James had offended people in the past as well so I said that I would talk to James. But I also encouraged Yoshen to read Matthew 18, the passage that gives instruction on what to do when we are offended. I encouraged Yoshen not only to read the passage but also to study and pray about what it said. And then I encouraged him to talk to James directly. He was very scared about the thought of doing that.
On both Friday and Saturday I tried to call James but could not reach him. I had wanted to talk with him before Sunday, the last day of his internship after which he would be returning to seminary.
On the fifth Sunday of the month in our church the congregation shares testimonies.
James was the first to get up and I was not expecting what I heard. James asked people to turn in their Bibles to Matthew 18, proceeded to say what he had learned from this passage and that Yoshen had come to talk with him.
James thanked Yoshen for confronting him and asked the congregation for forgiveness. He asked that if there were others who he had offended he wanted to know so that he could ask them directly for forgiveness.
God used his Word in James life for good.
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