He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. Go! I am sending you out like lambs surrounded by wolves. (Luke 10:2, 3)
Vibrant-green sugarcane swept past our windows. School children froze in place at the sight of a van full of white people in rural India. The road ended hours later in the village of Nampiyumpetu. Every attempt to bring the gospel to these mountain dwellers had been met with hostility—twenty years worth. Our plan was a free medical clinic, but, by the time our van arrived, the doctors had seen most of the infirm and were about to leave. Our evangelism team deflated with audible sighs.
I sat by the last patient, a feverish boy, and explained the gospel. A crowd gathered to listen in, so my interpreter, Asher, encouraged me to stand and address the group. At the end of the presentation, thirty-two adults signed decision cards and Asher’s father, a pastor, agreed to return weekly for follow up.
What happened? We planned a medical clinic but God planted a church. The crazy, beautiful circumstances that unfolded that day leaped from the book of Acts. God is still very much in the business of supernaturally converting people and we have the opportunity to join his work.
Jesus is zealous for our involvement in the grand harvest. As I learned in Nampiyumpetu, we must only be willing to be willing to join the party. He is the party. He is, in fact, the lavish present. I’m simply the cardboard box used to deliver his priceless gift. But has there ever been such a privileged scrap of cardboard?
Prayer: Father, I’m willing to be willing to go.