Taped to the inside of their apartment front door is a list
of essentials — “phone, water, keys, money, copy of passport” — that a North
Carolina couple doesn’t want to forget when leaving venturing into the streets
of a South Asian city of 12 million people.
Claude and Lynne*, members of Englewood
Baptist Church
in Rocky Mount, have been living in
South Asia since April 2011.
One item that’s not on that list but is crucial to their
ministry among the Koli people is prayer.
Answered prayer is why they are there.
The couple plan to live in the South Asian city for at least
10 months to help Englewood with follow-up among the Koli — an unreached people
group that did not have a church-planting strategy among them until recent
months. Englewood began a
partnership among this people after the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)
annual meeting in Orlando.
Claude first felt the call to live among the Koli after his
pastor, Michael Cloer, returned from the SBC
with a conviction that Englewood
should do more to spread the gospel among those who haven’t heard about Jesus.
“I wondered if that could be us,” Claude said of Cloer’s
passion. “I didn’t know if God was in it or not. I just kind of thought about
it, prayed about it. It looked like a tremendous opportunity.”
|
At the time, Claude and Lynne — like many Americans — had
issues with debt, bills and thoughts of missing their children and new
grandchildren. Nevertheless, the couple became more compelled to learn about
this new opportunity.
Then, their world was rocked when Lynne was injured in a car
accident.
A truck struck her vehicle as she was driving through an
intersection, leaving her unconscious with two fractured bones in her back, a
cracked rib and internal bleeding.
Then, doctors discovered something else.
“The internal bleeding was actually (caused by) a tumor on
my right kidney,” Lynne recounted.
“It was fairly large, so we had to process that.”
At that moment, plans of going to share Jesus among the Koli
people no longer were “on the radar.”
Yet, Lynne said, “God was with us. We sensed His presence
carrying us through this, (but) we were not thinking about the Koli people at this
time.”
“This is God’s answer — we’re not going to (South
Asia),” Claude added.
“The focus of our life was my wife … and her health. I kind
of just let it go.”
And then as quickly as cancer entered their life, it was
gone. Doctors removed the tumor before it could spread to other organs.
“God was so good,” Lynne said. “He had such a perfect plan.
“That accident was a way for the doctors to find the tumor.
Now I’m cancer free.”
Still, even though the cancer was gone, obstacles remained
that kept them from being sure God was still calling them.
“Before Lynne’s accident we were thinking about our
children, finances, bills, debt and things that would keep us from going,”
Claude said.
One by one, however, each barrier began to fall as the
couple prayed and let go of their fear.
He quoted Mark 11: “Jesus said, ‘I say to you whoever says
to this mountain ‘be removed and cast into the sea’ … but believes those things
he says (it) will be done.’”
“You start understanding that if God’s in us going to South
Asia, if it’s His will, He can topple mountains. My future and our
future … we just surrendered that.”
In February 2011, the couple went with a team from Englewood
Baptist Church
to South Asia, with the plan to return for 10 months. In
their return trip a few weeks later, the first three days were a “mountaintop”
experience, as Claude described it.
“We were with the Koli; people were coming to Christ; we
were being let into homes,” he said. “Wow … this is so fun.”
“We were welcomed,” Lynne added. “We were treated with such
respect and honor no matter what home we went in.
“We were given the best food. Whatever they had, they gave
it to us. It was just so refreshing … the love of the people was just
overwhelming.”
Then reality hit.
“We crashed after the third day,” Claude said. “I believe it
was spiritual warfare. I believe the enemy came against us.”
“It’s a very intimidating city, overwhelming,” Lynne said.
“There were things that I saw and smelled. I couldn’t process
it and deal with it. It was just so much in your face.”
The peace of God that Lynne once felt vanished as she
struggled more and more with doubt. Even simple tasks like walking along the
city streets and navigating traffic were a challenge.
“What are you doing here?” she thought. “You don’t speak
(the language). You can’t even cross a street.”
Claude also struggled with discouragement. “The adversary
really came against us,” he said. “He’s been controlling these people for
thousands of years.
“This is an unengaged, unreached people group. There’s no
light (of Christ) among them. So when two people ‘bebop’ over here from the
States, thinking they’re gonna go into (Satan’s) territory that he’s had for
thousands of years and rescue people with the gospel, he came against us.”
Both now say their “low point” was a combination of fatigue,
spiritual warfare, culture shock and the stress of moving from family. Lynne
credits the prayers of friends back in the States with helping her cope with
the challenges. One friend later told her she specifically prayed that Lynne
would feel at home while she was away. Those prayers made all the difference,
Lynne said. “I’ve totally adjusted,” she said. “Even though I hear horns … it’s
noisy and loud, I can sleep through the night. It’s like home.”
*Names changed.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — James is a senior writer for the
International Mission Board.)
Related story