This past month has been kind of a blur. At times it was very stressful, full of the fear of not knowing if I might have to leave my adopted home, China, at ANY time. As the days came and went, however, it became clear that I would be allowed to stay for a least a little while longer. But the signs still all pointed to having my Chinese visa cancelled, and being formally escorted (deported) from the country sooner rather than later. This did indeed happen on the evening of May 25, albeit somewhat on my own terms.
I had been booked since last year to fly to Malaysia on that date, the beginning of what was supposed to be a 10 day mission trip through south Asia (Malayisa-Indonesia-Myanmar-Thailand-Macau). But now I won’t be returning to China on June 6th as I had planned, of course. Most likely, I won’t be able to return to China until sometime in 2023!
However, the rest of my family is blessed (i’m trying to hide my jealousy, haha) and they can return to our home in China as often and for as long as they want (just so they’re not TOO long away from me!). This is the greatest of many amazing answers to prayer we’ve experienced during this whole ordeal, which started exactly one month ago today!
Now I’m going to share a list of many more of these answers to prayer (some we didn’t even pray for specifically, but God knew!) from the past month…
1) The team we were hosting safely got away (and they can’t wait to return!)
2) The authorities never accessed our personal contacts and information (as far as we can tell). We assume this in part because…
3) The police never questioned any of our close friends or contacts (indeed, not even my wife)
4) The authorities also never searched our home, although we willingly gave up about 6 boxes of literature (in order to keep dozens more concealed!)
5) We were blessed with 25 days of relative peace and “normalcy” as a family, when we could have all been escorted out of the country within 72 hours
6) The local police never followed us around or bothered us personally throughout the whole ordeal (occasionally they would call and I would go in to their office to talk)
7) Our own vehicle (a small Chinese-made hatchback) was never searched or even noticed by the authorities (they only knew about the rental van from last month’s incident)
8) Since the police remained ignorant of my car, I was able to use it on a few specific occasions these past few weeks to deliver some important “goods” to safety
9) I was also able to use our vehicle to go say goodbye (for now!) to some old friends in a nearby town, as well as explore a new mountain area for future ministry
10) I was permitted to take the flight (to Kuala Lumpur) that I had already booked many months ago, instead of having to pay for an expensive flight that I didn’t need
11) I was also able to safely carry with me out of the country quite a few important books, documents, and hard drives, that could have been incriminating in many ways
12) I ended up having lots of helpful conversations with the police (especially on our trip to the airport) gleaning much information that we can use for future ministry efforts
If I were to break these 12 answers to prayer down even more, I could come up with many more specific examples. For instance, (1) the team got away because the Lord helped me to keep my big mouth from giving up their identities or location! Also, (7, 8) its amazing the police never asked me about my own personal car, because they had the car’s title in their possession for the first full week of the ordeal, and the first night I was interrogated I had the keys in my pocket the whole time (8 hrs!) and was never asked to empty my pockets!
Before I continue with sharing some of our plans for the next year or so, let me first articulate clearly all of the things relating to our ministry that are staying pretty much the same:
1) We have our Chinese apartment leased until May 1, 2020, so we will keep our home in China. When we are not there, it will be available for others to use, as needed.
2) Our teammates, including two Latin American families as well as certain young lady from Oklahoma, are all safe and will continue in their respective ministries.
3) We will continue to provide support (financial and personal) as team leaders to those who depend on us, especially our Latino families, for whom we are their primary resource.
4) We will continue “hosting” teams to distribute hundreds of thousands of Bible portions to the unreached and unengaged of western China!
(Thank God for raising up teachable individuals whom I can train to help lead this work “on the ground” as I lead remotely for a season.)
5) My family will continue visiting China regularly (during this season that I am unable to return), in order to continue ministering personally to many of “our people”!
Ok, finally moving forward, here are a few thoughts about what the near future holds for us…
1) Asian Summer
These next few months are going to be exciting but tough, as we travel quite a bit in south Asia meeting with key people and spend some personal time getting our thoughts (and plans) in order. Without going into too much detail, after this current two week trip (Malaysia-Myanmar-Macau) is over, my family will fly to meet me in Thailand for the rest of the month of June. We will literally traverse Thailand from north to south, visiting partner ministries and good friends, and spending some much-needed quiet time in study and prayer.
In July we will cross into Malaysia where we will spend nearly three weeks. One of our Latin American families is going to join us for one week (sort of a mini-retreat) during that time, hopefully to be encouraged and re-energized to return to their work in China. Malaysia, with its unique combination of cultures and languages (Muslim, Chinese, and English) has long been one of our favorite places to visit, and is definitely a place where we would consider spending more time if my “exile” from China continues longer than expected.
2) Birthday in the USA
In late July, my oldest daughter Ariel (11) and I will travel to the States for a little more than 3 weeks, visiting family, friends, and churches in both the Pacific Northwest (July 21-23), Oklahoma (July 24-Aug 10), and California (Aug 11-13). It will be the first birthday (Aug 9, 35 yrs old!) I will spend in America in quite a few years!
Pray for grace as I preach in many meetings, train some future team leaders, and work on the first important step in (possibly) getting a new visa to get back into China!
3) Back to China
In all likelihood, I won’t be able to get a visa to get back into China THIS year (but I invite you to pray!), however, we are planning for my family to return home to China three more times after their initial departure on June 12.
The first will be in late July/early August while Ariel and I are in the USA. The second visit will be just a few weeks later, from the very end of August til mid-September. The final visit will be from mid-October until early November. (I will likely visit Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Australia during my family’s time back in China.)
4) Home for the Holidays
Even before these latest events occurred, we had plans to visit the States from early November to early February (2019). This will be our first extended visit in more than two and a half years.
We will spend the first few weeks traveling from New England through the Great Lakes region and then finally to Oklahoma just in time for Thanksgiving. We’ll be in OKC until early January, and then make a 2-3 week trip to the mid-Atlantic region, before returning to attend all of our home conference’s (Heartland!) Mission Dinners (late Jan – early Feb) for the first time since 2011!
5) Peru with a Purpose
If “Plan A” doesn’t work to get me back into China, then “Plan B” is already in place. We will be in Peru from late February until early July next year, with at least four specific goals in mind:
Goal #1- Begin the process of becoming a Peruvian citizen (eventually with my own PASSPORT). I will begin working on all the paperwork in March, and we will need to spend at least 6 months each year in Peru for the next 2 years before I can apply to become a true ‘dual-citizen’ with a Peruvian passport. We have thought of doing this for a long time, just in case I ever had trouble with my China visa in my US Passport. Now the time has come!
Goal #2- Bless my wife’s family with a Gospel presence. Pretty much her entire family (except a few cousins) are unbelievers and struggling in many ways. God has gifted me with fluency in Spanish (as well as Chinese) and so the transitiong from ministry in China to ministry in Peru is very easy (especially since their is FREEDOM to preach!).
Goal #3- Serve as missionaries in Peru for the time we are there! The first mission trip I ever took was to Peru (I arrived there 16 years ago TODAY!), and part of my heart has always been there with the people… especially the urban poor living in ramshackle houses all up and down the sides of the desert mountains surrounding Lima!
Also, more recently, my heart has ached for the Peruvian “Tibetans”… the Quechua-speaking descendants of the Incas who live scattered across millions of square miles of the Andean Plateau, most in an unreached state (unless you count the nominal catholics and the cults). I had the opportunity to evangelize in the “highest city in the world” in the mountains of southern Peru two years ago, and I WILL return! (Lord willing 🙂
Goal #4- Train future missionaries for long-term work in China. Deivy and Karen are about to get married in Venezuela later this summer, and will then move to Peru to begin saving and training to join our team in China (hopefully) next year. We look forward to being a big part of their training early next year during our time in Peru, and maybe others as well.
6) Chinese are Everywhere (and I can be “everywhere” too)
Finally, just because I can’t physically set foot in mainland China (for now) doesn’t mean that I can’t speak Chinese with people wherever I go, whether here in Malaysia, with Chinese students all over the USA, or among the thousands of Chinese immigrants in Peru!
However, not only are Chinese traveling to the ends of the earth as never before, but technology (esp. social media) is allowing for much easier communication to take place with people in even the poorest and most difficult-to-reach places in the world. Here is a very realistic example of what I mean:
Imagine me sitting in a Chinese restaurant in Lima, Peru with my Chinese Bible open sharing with the owner, while getting “interrupted” by a message on my phone from a farmer in the mountains of western China asking for more information about the Jesus talked about in the Bible portion he found on his doorstep* that morning.
*see #4 in the second section above
Unbelievable! But actually very, very believable… this is the world we live in!
In conclusion, I praise God that during my temporary exile from China I can continue doing almost everything I could do before.. except without my own physical presence. Pray that this forced exile would end sooner rather than later. Most of my closest local friends and brothers are older and are not going to live forever. And pray that I also survive a diet that for now will be without a regular helping of beef noodles (Lanzhou lamian), “mianpian” noodle soup, dapanji (big-plate-o’chicken), and more!
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PS. We are still dealing with many unexpected expenses in the aftermath of all this, so any gift would be appreciated.
