Back at it
Our First Family Minister to Families Cory Brand asked me if I had a blog. I told him I did and sent him the link. After the shame he heaped upon me that it has been a long, long time since I updated, I'm back to work. Let's start here.
At lunch yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit with some new friends. One of our international partners brought them through Midland and they stayed at one of FBC's missionary houses. I have no clue if their stories are true, but I have no reason to doubt them either, esp with their connection with our ministry partner. Here's what I learned.
One of our guests is a trained engineer, trained at China’s version of MIT. He came to faith in Christ while in school and wanted to come to Westminister Seminary in Philadelphia, but couldn’t get the proper paperwork in place. Instead, he was working for the Chinese government and discipling believers at home. It wasn’t long till he was caught and jailed for 8 years. He got out and went right back to it - jailed again for 8 years. That’s when he decided to escape. In October 2017, he snuck across the border into Nepal and went into hiding in the villages. After three months of hiding, he slipped into India where - somehow - he made contact with Bob Fu who helped arrange a flight from Kolkata to Los Angeles and from there to NYC. His traveling partner met him there. They are driving cross-country to see the US on their way to work with a refugee ministry in LA.
At lunch yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit with some new friends. One of our international partners brought them through Midland and they stayed at one of FBC's missionary houses. I have no clue if their stories are true, but I have no reason to doubt them either, esp with their connection with our ministry partner. Here's what I learned.
One of our guests is a trained engineer, trained at China’s version of MIT. He came to faith in Christ while in school and wanted to come to Westminister Seminary in Philadelphia, but couldn’t get the proper paperwork in place. Instead, he was working for the Chinese government and discipling believers at home. It wasn’t long till he was caught and jailed for 8 years. He got out and went right back to it - jailed again for 8 years. That’s when he decided to escape. In October 2017, he snuck across the border into Nepal and went into hiding in the villages. After three months of hiding, he slipped into India where - somehow - he made contact with Bob Fu who helped arrange a flight from Kolkata to Los Angeles and from there to NYC. His traveling partner met him there. They are driving cross-country to see the US on their way to work with a refugee ministry in LA.
The other is a former Chinese Navy Colonel helicopter pilot. He was a part of a black ops group working on Russian surveillance and recon in SE Asia. Under orders from his superiors, he led a trained team on a three year mission to attempt to steal a Russian helicopter. They were successful and flew it back to China for reverse engineering. The Russians were more than a little upset about it. The Chinese government disavowed their involvement, claiming he had acted alone. Thus, he was imprisoned for 7 years. While there, he came to faith in Christ and became convinced things in China were broken. Upon his release, he began a ministry trying to reconnect families with lost children. He reported he had made 4000 such connections. When it became clear he was being sought by the authorities, he smuggled himself onto a Chinese cargo plane and flew to Ho Chi Minh City. From there, he made contact with Bob and got to the US.
I found it interesting to hear their take on President Xi Jinping’s declaration of the end of term limits. Sick to their stomachs is the only way I can describe their reaction.
Join me in praying for China. The government is crashing down on churches of all flavors and yet, in spite of that, there's a revival happening there! Pray it jumps across the Pacific to us!
Darin
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