A Revolutionary Rabbi

by Sam Shewmaker

Overheard on the road…

“Can you believe that?  He just let that guy walk away!” said Matt, shaking his head.  “He was dressed to the nines…obviously has plenty of coins rattling around in that bag of his.  Wouldn’t he have been a good addition to the team?  He probably knows a lot of people in the community, too.  And seemed like a pretty good guy, judging by the checklist of laws he’s been keeping.  Probably good at paying his taxes, too.  Besides that, it wouldn’t hurt to have somebody around with a little extra change…be nice to know where our next meal’s coming from.”

“Yeah, yeah, maybe you’re right,” said Phil.   “But did you notice what the guy was really concerned about?  Sounded like he just wanted another point or two to mark off his checklist so that he could qualify for eternal life.  A little pie in the sky by-and-by.” 

“Okay, so what’s so bad about that?  Aren’t you interested in eternal life?” Matt said.  “You’re right again,” Phil admitted.  “But think back to that day when Jesus dropped by your booth and said, ‘Follow me.’  How did you respond?  I was there and I saw you.  You got up and walked away, no questions asked.  You didn’t even take the time to close up shop. You knew there had to be something better than what you had.  And look how you’ve changed over the years.  Did you have any idea what ‘follow me’ was going to mean?  No more stacks of coins, no more closets full of clothes, just a dusty path … and a totally different way of thinking and living…now, in this life, not just in the by-and-by.  Can you imagine how your transformed life is going to impact every person you meet from now on?” 

“All I can say is, if this king expects to build an army, He needs a better recruiter,” muttered Matt.

Have you ever thought in depth about the wealthy ruler’s question?  About his attitude, his desire to be good, to be right?  What about his checklist of good things he had done?  Sound familiar?  It does to me.  I’ve been there.  It sounds like the good ol’ religion.  The religion that bought into the anemic theology that God is only about getting us to the water, about getting us into the church and about getting us to heaven.

But Jesus wasn’t going to let it go at that.   He added to the ruler’s checklist: a little more justice, a little more compassion.  Really?  Sell everything?  Was it really fair to raise the bar that high?  Could you have accepted that?  Could I?

Like the wealthy man, I would’ve liked to skip from now to the by-and-by.  Give me the checklist, any day… But Jesus tops off the conversation with that stark, insistent phrase, “Follow me.”  “So what do you mean by that, Jesus?”  “I mean, join me on the steep, rocky path of life, the stumbling, the falling down, the getting up again and the pressing on.  Join me in the whittling, the molding, the shaping and the painful transformation into a life like mine … the submissive, the joyous, the abundant life … in the here and now as well as the by-and-by.”

God-Directed Ministry

by Dan Bouchelle

We are living in a time when long standing patterns of “doing church” are producing diminishing returns. As a result, church leaders have been employing a variety of methods to “get our numbers up.” While some churches have thrived, most have only faced conflict, fragmentation, and ongoing decline. There are a variety of reasons for this poor result. One of the key reasons is that most churches don’t have a good foundation for the changes they have been making and don’t have a good process in place to build support for those changes. The churches which have fragmented in the midst of change are usually led by good people who are doing the best they know to manage a situation they simply don’t understand. They are caught in the middle of massive cultural shifts that have changed the game on them, and their leadership models no longer work. They have never seen, much less been trained, in a process that might help their churches navigate the waters in which they sail.

While it is easier to diagnose problems then prescribe solutions, I would suggest church leaders consider the following things.

1. You can’t lead and be reactive.  If you don’t have a clear sense of where God is leading that you can      building around, you will reduce the church to competing power groups and you will turn into a pinball bouncing around various forces which are spreading further and further apart.
2. Leadership is not about negotiating competing visions with a church but rather leading a congregation in the discernment and implementation of a vision which is rooted in scripture, prepared in prayer, led by God, and focused on your unique missional context locally and globally.
3. There are three key pieces to leading a church through change: people, process, and product. If people don’t feel heard and respected and if they don’t respect the process, they will oppose the product even if they agree with it. Conversely, most people will support the product if they believe the process was good and the people were heard      and respected.
4. Good vision rests on several foundations which cannot be assumed to be in place; namely, values, mission, scripture, and God’s nature. If you don’t drill down into the character of God and develop a common understanding of who God is, found your vision in a common reading of scripture and common understanding of God’s mission, you will not be able to share enough values to develop a common vision, goals, etc. This can’t be done in a weekend or a quarter of a year. It is a process that can’t be circumvented in the long run.

5. Working above the vision line will never bring unity unless the foundations below it are developed because the diversity underneath the vision will continually undermine it and conflict will multiply. Then your only option is leadership fiat (positional power), which will most often result in a process which will alienate your people.      Occasionally a leadership has sufficient clout with its people to lead major change without good a congregational process, but even where this works, it is unstable and will likely crash when leadership change happens in the future.

We are living in a time when we simply cannot assume the people in our churches have a common faith upon which to build. We must rebuild, congregation by congregation, the foundations upon which our churches rest if we hope to be able to move forward together and live out the mission of God in effective ways. At Missions Resource Network, we are one of several organizations who may be able to help you with this process. Let us know if we can help.

He can speak for Himself

A Three-Column Experience

I was facilitating an MRN church equipping lab this past weekend with a local church.  We were working through some Scripture by using the 3 column discovery Bible study (Scripture/Interpretation/ Application).  Our discovery and discussion was oriented toward identifying the qualities of God, which seems a bit like kindergarten – but we decided after our study that we needed more kindergarten in our lives.

One of the Scripture texts was Exodus 34:5-7, which is the extraordinary moment when God comes down to Mount Sinai and passes before Moses.  As the LORD passes He proclaims His name, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

The small groups from this lab noticed that when God took the floor and introduced Himself, He begins with His nature; merciful, gracious, patient, determined in His love, dependable and forgiving.  We were impressed that He did not first insist upon His position or almighty power, but placed His identity within the reality of complete and unilateral goodness.   The world’s impression of God, which is most rigorously communicated by people like you and me, is One that resembles most incoherent, reactionary, and unpredictably violent beings.  Those in the small groups shared their personal frustration when they themselves are inaccurately represented and when their good intentions are described in ways that actually create a completely different person.  We all have experienced this.

Why do we misrepresent another person?  Ignorance of who a person actually is would certainly be a reason.  That should be rather simple to remedy – become informed.  But there are other reasons why I would misrepresent another; control, jealousy, perhaps a realization that I am inadequate to maintain my preferred position.  Therefore I impose an interpretation on a person that allows me to dictate the course of events, most typically toward my own preference.  If I honestly introduce the LORD as He truly is, I may lose my ability to impose and maintain my position – my preference – my power.  And if my nature is conditioned in the nature of God, then I certainly lose my ability to impose my desire, since unilateral mercy, grace, love, faithfulness and forgiveness is the model.

With the help of the community discovery approach to Scripture, I am learning that God can speak for Himself.  He can introduce Himself and describe His nature and define His role as the LORD.  And I must let Him despite the consequence this may have on my self-preservation.  I am learning that the LORD is aware of the guilty, even without my pointed finger.  I am learning that the LORD’s justice is based out of His self proclaimed gracious nature – not out of fear or insecurity that things are out of hand.

I appreciate the group at the MRN lab that brought me to this re-introduction to the LORD and for their collective wisdom and faith that allowed the LORD to speak for Himself.

Balance

By Guest Author Michael Bowen

Michael Bowen works as a youth minister at the Woodland West church in Arlington, Texas.  Missions Resource Network is involved in training his mission team, targeting Laos in 2014.  He and his wife, Kris, are devoted to missions in Asia, where they hope to see God draw the nations to Himself.

The mark of a disciple is not knowledge, but obedience. (Matthew 7:21; 28:19-20, John 15:8)

When I was eight-ish, my mom had me staying with a babysitter while she worked nights.  The lady who watched me was Mrs. Ann Brady of Columbia, TN.  We had a lot of good times together.  Popcorn is my favorite food.  I’m positive this is because she cooked it on the stove every night.  We would eat it while we watched Murder, She Wrote.  Those were good times.  Mrs. Brady was also a devoted Christian, and she did what she could to influence me.  I remember she once had me memorize the books of the Bible, both Old Testament and New.  While writing them out for maybe the hundredth time, I asked why I needed to know this information.  She said, “One day, when you get to heaven, they might ask you the books of the Bible before they let you in.”

I tell people about this and they laugh.  But really, isn’t it common for Christians to equate Biblical knowledge with righteous living?  In a Bible class on any given Sunday, if the group was tasked with choosing a spiritual leader, would not most groups choose as their leader the individual with the most Biblical knowledge?  Is this the way it should be?

Most of us who grew up in American church culture know that a high premium is placed on knowledge.  This was reinforced when we got a gold star for memorizing verses, or when we got a plaque at Bible Bowl, or a medal at Lads to Leaders (LTC in Texas), or when a child was counseled by a parent or minister that she should not be baptized because “she doesn’t know enough yet.”  There are many other examples.

The troubling thing is that we have been conditioned to learn facts without immediately obeying them.  For years, we have studied daily devotions, completed Read-the-Bible-in-a-Year programs, and taken copious notes in sermons and Bible classes.  All the while, we were downloading facts for the sake of knowledge, but not with a mind to obey.  We all meant well, and the end we had in mind was closeness to God.  Our intentions were pure.  Unfortunately, learning something we should do, and then not doing it has become a habit.  A habit we have to break!

Some have suggested that our study of the Bible should be done with a mind to obey.  New imperatives should not be learned until you are practicing what you’ve already learned.  The pattern would be learn-obey-learn-obey… as opposed to learn-learn-learn-learn-obey-learn-learn.  You see that a new habit is being formed.  Can we commit to obeying God, rather than simply learning more about him?

When put into practice, this can be so freeing.  When we immediately obey what we have learned, we are expressing love to the one who said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”  We also begin to more fully execute the Great Commission, in which Jesus encouraged his disciples not to “teach them all that I have commanded you,” but to “teach them to obey all that I have commanded you.”

So don’t sweat it if you can’t think of what book comes after Lamentations.  Or if you can’t remember how many p’s are in Philippians or k’s in Habakkuk.  On heaven’s entrance exam, I doubt they will count off too much for spelling.  Strive for the proper balance between knowledge and obedience.  To say it simply: don’t allow yourself to accumulate knowledge without first acting on what you already know.

For more resources, visit www.mrnet.org

The Ready Recruiter

By Sam Shewmaker – MRN, African Missions

Overheard on the road…

Pete, never one to dwell much on the past, leaned back and began to reminisce on when and where this all began.  “Andy, do you remember the day you brought the News?  I looked up and saw you coming down the beach.  It wasn’t your usual stroll – you were coming at a half- run.  Huffing and puffing, you almost shouted, “We have found Him!”  “Who are you talking about?” “The Messiah, of course!  Come and see Him!”  Looking back, that was the most important and exciting news I ever heard …even though it was the beginning of the mess we are in. 

“So often it was you, Andy… the ready recruiter, the networker.  Remember the boy with the loaves and fishes.  It was you who brought him to Jesus.  Remember, the Greeks who wanted a chance to talk with Him.  It was you they came to because they knew you would bring them to meet Him.  You had such a knack for sensing who was searching, who was needing to meet Him and you could find a way to make it happen.”

 

I sat down at the lunch table next to Kagabo, the most well-dressed person at the workshop, obviously, a church pastor.  Kagabo said, “Sam are you a pastor?”  “Well,” I said, “I used to be a pastor.  But now I’m a hunter.”  “What you mean, a hunter?”  I said I am hunting for discontented and dissatisfied people who know there must be a better life, a better way.  I am hunting for pastors and ordinary people who want to become disciples of Jesus Christ.  Not just church members, not just converts from one religion to another, but people who seriously want to follow Jesus, people who are willing to count the cost and to pay the price.  Salvation is free, but discipleship is costly.  Kagabo, are you one who yearns for something better, more effective.  Is your church where it ought to be?  Are you content, or are you dissatisfied with where you are?  That is my question to you.

Kagabo was at the workshop because of Felix, his friend.  Felix said ordinary Rwandan church members were surprised that they were being trusted with discovering the truth of the Bible for themselves.  In their experience only a priest had access to the word of God and was qualified to tell others what it meant.  They were excited that they could sit in a small home Bible study and share what they were hearing from God’s word, that they could discuss with others what it meant and how they could obey it. They were surprised that they were being encouraged to share what they learned with their families and friends.  Felix had already led seven of his friends to begin such Bible studies in their own communities.  Some in those study groups were now starting their own Bible study groups in their own more distant villages.  People were beginning to commit to being Jesus-followers and were being baptized.

Every Tribe, Every People

I just finished reading a great book, Strange Virtues: Ethics in a Multicultural World by Bernard T. Adeney-Risakotta.  I wish every member of every team that was trained by Missions Resource Network had been able to read this book before leaving the United States.

I love learning about new cultures.  I think my love affair began in the 7^th grade in a junior high in Corpus Christi, Texas.  That was the first year I went to a school with more Latinos – the proper name to use in that era – than Anglos. I heard more Spanish spoken than English. Spanish Language was a required subject, as was Texas history and the study of evolution. It was the first year I met someone who couldn’t speak English; she was from Spain and she had red hair.  All my preconceptions of what Spanish people looked like evaporated.  That one year of Spanish stood me in good stead when I visited Spain.  I could read the road signs and the menus. I was not surprised by the variety of people I met there; I was totally fascinated by the culture.

If you look at my profile on Facebook or on my blog-site, you will notice that most everything I love has something cross-cultural about it.  Of my two favorite movies, one is Empire of the Sun, the story of an English boy who got separated from his parents as they tried to leave China after the Japanese attack.  By the end of the movie it’s difficult to know if this now adolescent young man is British, American or Japanese.  He can live in all those cultures.  And the second movie would be Dances with Wolves (after the scalping scenes) the story of a Union soldier who learned to live with and love the Oglala-Sioux and married an Anglo woman rescued by the same tribe, who could barely speak English.  At the end of the movie one wonders if they will be able to make it in the White man’s world.  I love to read Tony Hillerman’s books about the Navajo.  The Navajo so interested me that I picked up some library books to read about this people and decided to read about the Oglala Sioux, also, which led me to still other books on culture.

When I lived in The Netherlands, our family camped all over Western Europe, from Norway to Italy.  We visited Eastern European countries after the Walls fell.  I have been privileged to visit every continent except Antarctica.  Much of my doctoral studies had cross-cultural elements to them.  Did I tell you that I love culture?

My studies and experiences have marked me.  I read The Ugly American and I’ve met him/her.  The Ugly traveler can come from any country.  I know I DON’T WANT TO BE THAT PERSON. Some of that desire to not offend comes from my desire to represent the most important person in my life, Jesus Christ.  I try to behave in a caring way so that his image is not damaged. I may be the only Christ-follower someone might meet.  As a result I wear a long skirt in third world countries. When in Muslim countries I also cover my arms.  I carry a large scarf just in case I might need it.  Yes, I know how to tie a scarf to hide my hair and neck.  When in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia, I put my hands together and bow.  I bow in China and in Japan.  I try not to touch people in those countries and that is very difficult for me.  When sitting I try not to show the sole of my shoe.  When handing my passport I try to use my right hand only. I eat and drink what is given to me.

When I moved to Texas I attended a church which was culturally different than to what I was accustomed.  Many members raised their hands when singing.  People sang with passion.  I have acculturated.  I now can do the same, but again, I find that it is difficult to raise my left hand to praise God.  Yesterday during worship, my knee was hurting.  To get comfortable I shifted and then noticed that the sole of my foot was showing. There wasn’t an Arab in sight, but I quickly placed the sole of my shoe on the floor.  I walk into a Thai restaurant and meet an Oriental waitress or hostess. I want to place my hands together and bow.

My favorite scene in scripture can be found in Revelation 7:9-10: After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”   John describes in Revelation 21 the splendor of the New Jerusalem, the presence of God and the Lamb who are both the temple and the light.  The nations will walk by that light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  All the cultures will be there.  Every language and every people will be represented.

One of my favorite songs is James Hall’s Hallelujah to the Lamb.  When we stand in the midst of the multitude of those from every tribe and tongue, redeemed by Jesus’ blood, rescued from death, there will be no words good enough to thank Him.  All the walls that divide us will be no more.  How interesting it will be to mingle together, to learn how to praise in every cultural way that exists. Together, we will lift up our voices and sing passionately with all of our strength, giving honor, giving glory, giving praise unto the Lamb of God, who is Lord of all.  What a glorious day that will be!!!!

Give ‘Em What They Want!

The church of the 21^st century is facing an unprecedented challenge in its 2000+ year history. Not only are there now 7 billion people on the planet, but they are increasingly being affected by the same cultural phenomena. Not that all cultures are becoming alike; that will certainly never be the case. However, some of the same cultural influences are affecting every culture. Social networking, for example, has played a major role in defining a modern generation in most cultures on virtually every continent.  It has played a significant part in the recent uprisings in the Middle East, now known as the “Arab Spring.” In North America, Facebook and Twitter have become the mode of communication of a generation (and beyond). Tweets, Facebook messages, and SMS texts have replaced the letter, the telephone, the CB radio, and even most recently, the now archaic email, as the common forms of communication. The Modern Language Association (MLA) has just revised their writing handbook (in an online post) to include rules for citing tweets in academic research papers. And it’s not just social networking. Justice, development and humanitarian aid are what matters most to the under 40 population of most countries. It is not just an American college student craze; it is worldwide.

 

The internet surely has contributed to this. Case in point is the You Tube video “KONY 2012,” released by Invisible Children, highlighting the notorious guerilla warfare leader Joseph Kony of Uganda, who preys on children to accomplish his “Lord’s Resistance Army” agenda. As of March 12, 2012, it has over 74 million views on You Tube, and another 17 million on Vimeo, after having been released in February, 2012. This is an example of the cross-cultural influences of modern technology and thought which are seemingly making the world more similar or “flat.”

 

What has this got to do with missions? In light of the above, there are some generalities that can be made about people across all cultures in today’s modern world. I will attempt to highlight only a couple of them that pertain to missions.

 

1)      No one wants our religion, but the world is starving for Jesus. While religious organizations are losing members, there is still a high interest in the compassionate Jesus who fed the hungry, healed the sick, and talked about the Father in heaven that cared for all people. The problem seems to be that most people do not see Jesus in the lives of Christians.

2)       No one wants our sectarian beliefs, but many are interested in how God’s Word is relevant to their lives today. Those outside churches are repulsed by the arguments among churches about doctrines and sectarian dogma. However, knowing what God’s message is for them, particularly in their present crisis of life, is still appealing to most.

3)      No one wants to be a part of an institutionalized church, but many desire to be part of a community of like-minded believers, who resemble a family. One hourof corporate worship on Sunday is not meeting the spiritual and/or emotional needs of most people. There has to be greater relationship among believers. True community, not just adherence.

4)      No one wants to hear preaching, but most want to see Christ in the lives of Christians. The old adage, “talk is cheap” has never been truer than now in the religious world. Visitors at a worship service are not usually coming back because of the sermon. But most will come back due to personal interest and care shown to them by others. Being Jesus to others means doing things Jesus would do.

 

Let’s strive to give the world want they want from Jesus, not what we think they need. They may understand evangelism better than we do in today’s world.

Ethnic Churches Needed

Most of us will never be able to go abroad on a long-term basis to share the gospel with the nations of the world.  Yet God has brought the nations to us.  Consider how many nations reside on American soil; thousands of communities are peopled with ethnic minorities who are largely unreached with the message of Jesus.

A steady stream of racially and linguistically different people is pouring into our country.  Latin Americans from twenty-five nations, migrants from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia are moving next door.  More than cheap labor for the job market, these minorities are candidates for the Lord’s kingdom.

Minorities are acutely aware of how different they are from the typical American.  They speak a different language at home, observe different customs, eat different foods, and worship different gods.  For the most part, they cannot be won into existing American churches.  Some will trickle in from the minorities and be welcome, but if we want to reach them with the gospel in any significant way, we must begin ethnic churches among every sizeable minority.

The Westside Church of Christ in Los Angeles was such a congregation for more than eight decades.  Comprised primarily of Japanese Americans, it held two Sunday services: one in Japanese for the first generation Isseis and another in English for their children and grandchildren (Nisseis and Sanseis).  All of the elders were first generation Japanese.  They patiently allowed some young Caucasians, like this writer, to learn how to preach while ministering to the Nissei and Sansei Christians.  Proceeds from the sale of their building in 2002 established a scholarship at Pepperdine University for graduate students in religion from the Churches of Christ whose declared intention is to “preach, teach, and/or evangelize for the Churches of Christ.”

Approximately ten percent of our budgets could be set aside to establish this kind of church among each of our nation’s minority groups.  Bilingual and bicultural evangelists should be secured and congregations multiplied in homes and storefronts across this nation.

When Jesus gave His church the Great Commission, it encompassed the lost who were both far and near.  Surely, that includes the racial minorities in the United States.

Dr. Bob Waldron

Dogs and Tricks

By MRN Guest Author Michael Bowen

Our mission team was recently downsized when one of our three families felt the Spirit calling them to foster parenthood.  With only two years remaining until our launch date, the four of us who remained started prayerfully going through our contacts, looking for anyone who might be called to serve in Asia.  Though we were initially looking for people with mission experience and training, we soon began to exclude these “obvious” choices and narrowed our search, focusing on people we knew who had little mission experience, had no missions training, but exhibited the characteristics indicative of willingness to disciple and be discipled.

We had found that those already initiated in the mission conversation had trouble letting go of old practices and accepting new, exponential, biblical methodology.  Starting a church has been the standard of success for so long that we have trouble imagining that success should include starting a movement of hundreds of churches.  Having a church building and appointing elders has been seen as the ultimate goal for so long that we have forgotten to do the basic math: a world population of 7 billion and counting won’t be reached if our goal is only to plant one church with shepherds.  Churches have focused on baptisms instead of making disciples for so long that we have forgotten that faith-sharing can and must be a continued pattern, not just an element that accompanies baptism.  Unfortunately, thinking traditionally has prevented us from thinking big.  With so much baggage to leave behind, it seemed easier for our team to look for a blank slate with an open mind.  Could this be why Jesus called fishermen instead of scribes to be his apostles?

It’s not to say that paradigms can’t change.  I earned a degree in missions myself, buying in to the old ways of doing things.  If I can re-envision mission, so can anyone else.  But to do so requires us to embrace the painful unlearning process.  For an old dog to learn new tricks, he must first have the humbling experience of admitting he’s an old dog.  In my limited experience, it appears that those who have the most experience are the most willing to adopt a new paradigm.  To me, it’s an impressive statement when a missionary with decades of experience says, “Learning about disciple-making movements completely changed my paradigm for missions.”  It’s even more impressive when accepting the new paradigm means conceding that one’s old practices were futile, maybe even harmful.  Yet, this humble attitude is what is needed if the church is to shift its focus and get the gospel to millions.

In this world of explosive population growth, we all have the responsibility to carefully adapt.  Innovation is not about being hip- it is necessary to remain relevant.  That doesn’t mean we abandon our biblical roots.  Instead, it requires us to constantly and critically examine what we are doing and why we are doing it.  It requires us- all of us- to consider the long-term consequences of our practices.  It requires us to admit that we have not arrived nor will we ever arrive at the perfect methodology.  The questions below might help us assess our openness with introspection.

When others speak, do I listen or critique?

If I am resistant to change, is my resistance driven by fear, a need for security, or a true conviction that my current way is the most biblical?

Does my current methodology address the hard reality that the world population is vastly outgrowing Christianity?

How might my current methodology (new or old) prove harmful to the mission of the church if played out for fifty years?

Come Needy

By Guest Author Michael Bowen

It had been raining a lot in Hangzhou. So much that they postponed the highly-anticipated Sports Meeting at the last minute because of all the mud and general sogginess of our campus. Rain is inconvenient here at home because you have to get wet on the way from your door to the car, and if you drop the keys or if your hand slips on the car door handle, you’ll be in the rain an additional 8 to 10 seconds. In China, where I lived in 2009 and 2010, the rain is slightly more inconvenient because you have to get wet on your entire twenty minute walk to the market and another twenty minutes on the return trip.

And my umbrella was broken.

After a few experiences, however, I decided I wouldn’t get a new umbrella if it rained every day until I left. Why? Because when you come needy, the good people come to you.

Andy was one of my students. His English is very good, but he was relatively quiet in class, sitting in the back with some of his guy friends. He didn’t really stand out as someone I should pursue while I was there in China. But I remember that day when I was ready to step out into the rain after class and make the half-mile trek home.  Andy popped out of nowhere and demanded that he escort me. So we walked and talked under his umbrella for the next fifteen minutes. Wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been needy.

Chen Shu was an art student at the university. She was studying vocal art, perfect mastery of the Chinese language so that she can be a newscaster or television spokesperson. She studied at my university, but not in my college. I would have never met this girl, except one day she noticed me walking behind her on the way back from the market.

She asked where I was going and pulled me under her umbrella. We introduced ourselves and talked for twenty minutes as she kept me dry all the way to my building on campus. Chen Shu said she was interested in coming to our English practice meetings, where we used a good book to learn English. I never would have met her if I owned an umbrella. If I hadn’t been needy.

A great man once sent out his followers saying, “Don’t take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; no bag for the journey or extra tunic or sandals or staff.”

Come needy.