HARD PLACES

Some of the first English words that this little girl and her sister learned, were lines of worship songs that my daughters taught them as they all played together in the street. As we grew in relationship with her parents, we gifted the family a Storybook Bible in their heart language at Christmas time. We’ll never forget them coming over with seafood pizza on our first Christmas Eve in Southeast Asia! And oh we cherish sweet memories of the many family outings we shared together. Ten years of sowing seeds found us dear friends, but still one Christian family and one Buddhist family.

Imagine taking a beating and being forbidden to attend a Christian gathering by your spouse – then going anyway. Though following Jesus is not illegal, anti-conversion laws are prevalent in many parts of the world – including her home town. In some places, men of a particular faith are allowed and even encouraged to marry Christian women. Taking a Christian wife is said to spread their belief system by preventing the woman from marrying a Christian man and having Christian children. Sharing the Good News takes wisdom, discernment, and much prayer.

In a warren of souks, I noticed a spectacled barber with a straight razor in hand. Stepping into his shop felt like entering a tiny time capsule. With permission to take a few photographs, I snapped a few frames and waited. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get in his chair. Imagine learning a local language and engaging with a neighborhood barber regularly. It’s such a natural place to build bridges and connect – though I don’t recommend chatting during the shave! Of note however, is a criminal code that prohibits proselytization to Muslims. It’s punishable by small fines, 6 months to 3 years of prison or expulsion from the country.

Adherents of Sikhism gather together in a place called a Gurdwara – a temple and community center. There’s a place for worship, learning and even a community kitchen., all run by volunteers. Serving is considered an act of devotion and humility. I met this gentleman outside where I helped peel a mountain of potatoes before seeing the kitchen. It was seriously impressive. Massive cauldrons, enormous mixers. Pallets of rice and lentils and flour. The smell of the spices was amazing. In the bustling dining hall I sat on the floor in a row with others which symbolized that no one was higher or lower than another and enjoyed a seriously delicious vegetarian meal. It was free of cost and anyone and everyone was welcome, regardless of race, religion, caste or background. The experience made an impression, but even more so as I left the Gurdwara. Right next door was a Christian church and I’m confident that there are sorts of security issues that I’m not familiar with, but the church building stood behind an 8 foot metal fence with barbed wire along the top and it was closed.

What a privilege to have lived in Southeast Asia while this country was more accessible than could have been imagined in decades past. It was there that I saw a group of skaters being transformed by something that I think can truly be described as a move of God. Now I don’t want to paint all of them with the same brush but this was a pretty rough crowd. The drinking, fighting, tatted up kind of crowd with language that could make a sailor blush. And they were passionate about in-line skating. They’d gather at all hours beneath an overpass where skate ramps and grind rails and even a half pipe was set up. And I think they were a little crazy. They would just do things that were fearless. And it’s like God took that vibe and just turned it around for His glory. As they embraced grace and discovered what following Jesus looked like through the scriptures in their own language they didn’t have just an intellectual shift, but instead were hungry to do the things that Jesus did and be the way that Jesus was. It was messy and imperfect and beautiful. Once again this nation has been gripped by conflict and is largely closed to the outside world. But I have every confidence that God is at work for his glory there – preparing more hearts and calling laborers to that harvest field.

It was the heart of monsoon season in the mountains and everything was lush green – it was beautiful – and a treat to be away from the smog of the city. I was walking down the road in a small village when I began to hear the tinkling sound of a bell. It’s common to tie a bell around the neck of your cow or donkey or what have you. And sure enough, a cow came busting out of the brush and up onto the road. It was quickly followed by this little gal, with a switch in her hand. She was driving that cow from wherever it had been, to wherever she wanted it to go – with gusto I might add. Now that cow looked to be 7 or 8 hundred pounds, and I’m pretty sure this little girl was maybe 50lbs pounds wet. But just look at that sparkle in her eye. She’s got one braid in a ribbon and the other side is just flying free, crumbs on her cheeks and that grin that seems full of mischief. She just filled up my heart. I can’t help but long for the Gospel to transform the world she’s growing up in. Today the realities of female infanticide, severe gender discrimination, limited access to education, early marriage and high risk of sexual violence are the norm.

I’m no stranger to challenging environments, but this city is hard for me. I’ve visited many times. I think part of it is the call to prayer being blasted out, and the drab yellow brown of almost every building. And truthfully, I’ve struggled to get a handle on the culture here. It’s more aggressive than I’m most familiar with. Still, encounters like I had with these three guys help to soften the blow and focus me in on what’s important – people. And I’m so thankful that God has called such a diverse group of people to serve Him among the unreached. There are Pioneers just thriving in this place – a place that crushes me. So if you feel a tug on your heart to go to the Middle East, if the Lord has wired you for loving Muslim people in a hard urban environment, there is a place for you. Praise God.

For as long as I can remember, particularly near Christmas time, I would hear and read accounts of shepherds in the Bible. And of course I’ve come to understand Christ Jesus as the Good Shepherd. So for a long time I had a picture in my mind of what a shepherd would be like – but I’d never actually met one – in my passport country and culture they just aren’t a thing. So there I am during a ministry trip in India of all places – and I guess I hadn’t given any thought to whether India had shepherds or not because it came as a real surprise as an actual shepherd with a flock of sheep come into the field in which I was standing. I was so excited, you have no idea. I mean, just look at this gentleman’s turban. And that mustache! Fantastic. As it’s turns out he is Rebari, a tribal caste of nomadic shepherds and herders. They’re found primarily in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The name ‘Rebari’ can be translated as “outsiders”. Some sources say it’s because this people group originally immigrated from another part of the region but I’ve also read they are know as outsiders because they are nomadic and stay on the outskirts of communities with their flocks. Regardless of the translation, I know our Heavenly Father longs for them to be inside His Kingdom. As a frontier unreached people group with no known believers, I hope you’ll pray with me that the Rebari will come to know the Good News and their Good Shepherd.

I’ve heard it said that Pioneers are trying to work themselves out of a job. It’s our collective ambition to raise up to self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating local fellowships among unreached people groups. And some missiologists would also add self-theologizing, as well, meaning local Christians interpret and express their faith in their own cultural terms. And this photo represents that to me. As underground Christianity began to spread among one of the officially recognized ethnic minority groups in this country, there were few resources in the native language and certainly no worship music. Christian faith was transmitted orally without formal clergy or even a complete Bible. Since then and prior to this picture the Bible had been translated and distributed, and here, in this photo I gathered with a small group of Jesus followers. As I understand it, they were beginning to work out some of the very first worship songs in their heart language. Not simply translations of Western hymns or choruses, but rather, guided by the Holy Spirit and their understanding of Scripture to compose their own music with their own words, in their own style, with it’s unique cadence, dynamics and rhythms. How beautiful.

I met this man at his decaying mosque in a coastal region of a Southeast Asian nation clutching the Eastern side of the Bay of Bengal. It’s one of the most culturally distinct and historically complex parts of the country. His ethnicity and Islamic faith make him a minority in a place where religion is deeply tied to identity and plays a role in conflicts large and small. At the time this photograph was made, vines covered much of the exterior of the mosque and portions of the roof were missing. The government restricted Muslims from gathering, and required special approval for mosque repairs, which in this case had been repeatedly denied. I came away from my encounter with him sensing his hunger and longing for God. Yet, as I understand it, not a single word of the Bible had been translated into his language until 2020. Though the New Testament was completed in 2025, today the country is engulfed in a nationwide civil war combined with economic collapse and growing humanitarian crisis.