Jesus Changes Everything.
The gospel expands in a lot of Asian countries. We might speculate why, and maybe find many explanations. Obvious miracles happen regularly. A sister in Vietnam, Tham, tells us about a young church leader who died in April. His family and church members brought him to the hospital, but the doctor wondered why they had brought him to the hospital when he was already dead.
While they were waiting there at the hospital, the dead church leader suddenly opened his eyes and asked, “Where am I?” He had never been in a room with that much light before because he lived in a mountain area with no electricity. His friends said that they had brought him there because he had passed away. He suddenly remembered and replied, “that’s right! I died and came to heaven, but I was met by two angels who said, ‘You can’t come here yet. Your church is weak, and you have to go back and help them.’ And then the angel put something like a leaf in my mouth, maybe from the tree of life, and I opened my eyes here in this bright room”. This pastor is now back in ministry, leading his church.
Experiences like this obviously make an impression. Another visible effect of the gospel expanding is a better economy, simply because people start doing what the Bible tells us: to stop stealing and get an honest job. They start taking care and do not waste all their money on alcohol and drugs. Instead, they learn to start helping one another, and cynicism is exchanged for mercy. Orphanages are built, children get support to go to school, and everyone can see how beautiful it is to help orphans and widows, as the Bible teaches us.
There are probably other reasons as well, leading to such a significant growth in the churches in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and many other places. Not least, there is the aspect of God's timing, an aspect that will never be fully understood. Anyhow, it is remarkable to observe the love and passion our Christian friends in Asia have, sadly different from much of what we see in the so-called “Christian West.”
Christian values are accessible to all. They can be studied in the Bible, in hundreds of languages – the base of our faith. Some of the most important ones are love, peace, joy, freedom, friendliness, truth, mercy, hope, comfort, softness, forgiveness, and reconciliation. These are undefeatable values that build life.
One of the most important reasons why the gospel is received with such joy in Asia is the visible effect it has on people. The word becomes flesh. People get new attitudes and new behavior, start speaking in a different way, and have a new radiance. How? And why? Because they nurture themselves with the Word of God, they devote themselves to it, submit to it, and prioritize it. They make a good decision every day, and so can we!
