Jesus the treasure hunter
20/01/2011 9:00 am <>
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message…
Colossians 4:3
At the Pearl Family Garden, we can see that the Lord is a skillful treasure hunter. To be sure, the women we have befriended in Taipei’s Longshan Temple area would be the last to see themselves as valuable. They are used to wearing an array of labels: tea shop women, gamblers, debtors, disabled, drug addicts, homeless, widows, prostitutes, plus a barrage of slurs that I won't write here. Yet in face of the contempt that the ladies have towards one another and themselves, Jesus is persistently seeking His pearls.
Clearing the Thorns
Fiona looked up thoughtfully from the bible pages. “This reminds me of a dream I had before I believed in Jesus,” she said. “In it, there was a tall man in shining clothes. He was very bright and I couldn’t see his face. He told me to come with him, but then I looked at my hand and shouted, ‘my rings!!’ because I saw that my jewelry was missing. Then I heard him say, ‘Yes, that’s the issue.’ I knew he meant my vanity. I now know it was the Lord.” Even as she was convicted about this character issue, I was struck by how the Lord’s kindness had reached her in that moment, so unlike the rebukes she might hear from a human voice. It was an open door for us to encourage her to keep persevering. Praise God for His Spirit that convicts a person from within and sticks with us for the long haul!
Becoming a Disciple
Julia wasn’t a regular, and I was surprised to see her show up, and that she was eager to linger afterwards. As we sat around the coffee table, she told us that one night that week she had lain awake with worry because she didn’t have the rent money that was due the next day. But she remembered that Tera and HuangJie had visited earlier and said that she could pray to God anytime. “So I tried praying, ‘God, if you don’t mind me saying, please help me so that I can pay my rent tomorrow.’ Well, the next morning, someone who owed me money returned a debt and it was just what I needed.” Since that day, Julia has rarely missed a meeting, and has been eagerly participating in a discipleship group each week.
An Invitation to Green Pastures
“Didn’t you say we could talk about this now?” I thought there was a note of softness in Jane’s characteristic holler. “Last night, as I was going to sleep, I saw a vision of a window. Looking through it, there was a beautiful green meadow. The light was so bright, it was hard to see clearly, and it looked like someone was there. I wanted to see it so badly! I have had this vision three times. What do you think it means?” Psalm 23 flew into my mind and I read it to her, wondering if her vision might be from the Lord. Sin Ee gave her a card with the Psalm on it the next week and she let us pray for her. Her heart seems to be softening.
Lately, we have been able to regularly visit new areas where we have few contacts. It can seem impossible for the gospel to make any headway, but the Lord knows each woman by name and He is more than able. Please pray that God would open doors for the gospel as only He can, that we would have eyes to see every opportunity and step in.
Audrey Lin, Pearl Family Garden, Taipei
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