November 2006They Don’t Take Vacations; They Never Complain; They Touch Lives Wherever They Go
Gosh, it was very difficult to write a blog the past few days.
Travelling is tough. (In the last 36 hours, I’ve hopped on four planes.)
I just finished giving a talk to a thousand young Indonesian Catholics in Surabaya. A thousand! With the small Christian population here, that number is awesome.
They’re led by Ibu Jane, a 57-year old woman of God who doesn’t look 57 at all. Her husband and her two adult children are all part of the ministry. She also acted as my dynamic translator during the talk.
And wow, I cannot fully describe to you what I felt when I watched these young people worship God. At one point, they all knelt down and sang a Reuben Morgan Hillsong song. (By the way, there were no chairs in the hall. Everyone sat on red carpets.) I tell you, I felt God in that room. It was so beautiful, I wanted to cry.
Because they spoke in a different language, I couldn’t understand their prayers.
And yet, in a non-rational way, I understood them.
I understood every sigh, every word, every gesture, every cry.
We really have the same heart in all of us: The heart that’s desperate to be loved. And only God can satisfy that deepest longing of the human soul–completely.
I talked to Olive, a young Indonesian kindergarten teacher here who told me that she ordered my book Your Past Does Not Define Your Future from my website (www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph) She told me how God touched her through that book. Listening to her share to me, it hit me how we are all alike—no matter what race, tongue, color, or nationality we come from. We have the same wounds that need to be healed, the same fears that need to be faced.
In this trip, I brought 200 of my books with me. Dragging them with me all through the trip is my daily weight training regimen. But alas, I don’t have to drag them anymore. In my first event in Indonesia, they were wiped out. Every single book was taken. I have four events to go, and I’m so sad I have no more books for the other people there.
You see, I consider each of those books an “Evangelist”.
Each book will strive to touch the person who reads it. Hopefully, each book will be passed from one reader to another reader, blessing more people with God’s love. My 200 books will go around Surabaya and continue to evangelize long after I’ve gone. Isn’t that wonderful? Gosh, I’d love to have a million of those “Evangelists” working for me.
Anyway, just watch my daily Realty TV show Preacher In Blue Jeans. Yes, you can see what I’m doing here in Indonesia. Join kerygmafamily.com and enjoy all the TV shows.
When I get back in Manila, I’ll write more often in my blog.
By the way, I’m thinking of a name for my blog.
Would Writer In Brown Sandals do? Haha.
PS. Speaking of books, my friend Jomar Hilario texted me from the Philippines. He said that that the #1 bestseller now in National Book Store is my latest book, How To Find Your One True Love. That means more of my “Evangelists” are spreading all over the Philippines!
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