Peace beloved in Christ!

In January 2011, a representative from International Ministries asked us if we would be interested in a mission opportunity to serve in Macau, China.  Our response sounded like Moses' excuses because we can’t speak Cantonese.  We know only one possible source of support, our church, Karl Road Baptist Church, which already supports many missionaries.  However, we still submitted our prayer to the Lord as the Lord’s Prayer for this IM opportunity.  If this is His will, then He will fulfill His plan and prepare us for it.

While filling out the IM application form, one question was more difficult: “What would prevent you from being sent out to the mission field within 5 years?”   Our minds were flashing “sell the house and pay the debt first.”  Remembering the story of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant through the Jordan River, we asked ourselves, “when Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan, did the water flow stop first before they touched the water, or did they touch the water first and then the flow stop?”  The scripture was our guide.  Like Joshua we would not wait for the water to stop or split, but we would step into the mission call and trust God for selling the house.  We signed up with no restriction or condition.  We submitted the application in early March. 

Did you have a garage sale in this year?  We had many garage sales in this year.  At one of the garage sales in early May, my neighbor asked us, “Would you sell your house also?”  Later, they brought their relatives to look at the house.  We told them that it was not a good time to take a look since we were preparing for a garage sale; the whole house was very messy with papers, plastic bags and boxes all over the place. They said they didn’t mind and insisted on seeing it.  After they looked at the house, they made the offer.  Does this sound like a fairy story?  Halleluiah!  Praise the Lord!  We were surprised by the Lord. 

While the house was in contract, we continued to clean up our house by giving away many things and making countless trips to donate stuff to charities or another garage sales.  Some of these things were new or very expensive, but we had to give them away, even the things that had been precious to us for years.  Our hearts were broken.  Do we really have to give away so much?  Therefore, Ivy and I played the tag game.  When she wanted to throw things away, I took them back and visa versa.  At one of the garage sales, an elderly man who knew the purpose of our selling the house gave us a “crucifix fish”.  A “crucifix fish” is made from a skull of a catfish. Only certain catfishes have this cross shape in their skull.  He also told us the legend of the “crucifix fish”.  When we saw it, it reminded us of the rich young man story in Matthew.  We finally realized those processions had blessed us for years, but it was time to share those blessings with others.  The Lord has used the cross to comfort us and tell us to give away those stuffs to follow Him.

Finally, the sale closing date was scheduled one day earlier than planned.   Even then we still could not believe how easily we were selling the house.  After the closing and when we went home, Ivy called out, “Look! A super huge cross in the sky is above our roof top.”  We realized that it was not we who sold the house but the Lord who walked with us from “day one” until the house was turned over to the new owner.

      Would you prayerfully consider joining the partnership with our mission?   Here are the prayers we need from you: Pray the Lord to prepare our hearts to serve the Chinese, and pray that the Lord opens many doors for us to share the good news to win and bring those souls to His feet. In order to accomplish that, please pray that the Lord would raise up a strong team of prayer and financial partners for us.

Rejoicing With You This Christmas!

Ivy and Emerson