Will You Pray About Going?
Written by Ps Zheng Haoren
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8
As we paused to pray, a pastor from a West Asian church turned to me and asked, “Do you have a huge sports stadium in your country? What’s the seating capacity?” With a little pride welling up as the Kallang Roar of April 1976 echoed in my mind, I replied “Yes, with a seating capacity of 55,000.” What he said a moment later hit me hard.
“Imagine you’re in my country and you walked into such a stadium hoping you could ask someone about Christianity. Statistically, there will only be 4 Christians in a crowd of 55,000. You sat down, turn to the person on the left, on the right, in front of you, and behind you, but no one could tell you anything about Christianity. What is the chance that you’ll be seated beside any of the 4 Christians in the stadium?” The answer is obvious.
Comparatively in Singapore, one out of every 10 passers-by will likely be an evangelical Christian. And it is likely that the majority of Singaporeans would have heard about the Gospel in their lifetime. In the country where that pastor came from, only 0.000075% of the population are Christians and more than 400,000 people die each day without hearing about Jesus. What a contrast!
When God called Abraham, he went. He did not know where he was going, but he trusted God. Because of Abraham’s faith and obedience, we are now a part of spiritual Israel. A young friend of mine struggled about what she could offer God as a missionary. Hebrews 11:8 spoke to her. God assured her that even though she may not know what she will be doing, she can be confident that God knows what He is doing!
A young couple, members of another church, used to live opposite Zion Bishan (ZB). They sent their children to ZB Kindergarten and would worship with us occasionally. Their hearts were set for missions since young. In Dec 2016, this young family left for a ME country. In their latest update, they wrote, “Being far from home with little engagement (because of COVID-19 lockdown) sometimes makes us question the point of our being here… We are praying for opportunities to connect with people… and trust Father for bringing us here.”
Beloved, people afar need to hear about Jesus. Some of us need to step up, heed the Call of the Kingdom, and go! Will you pray about going?
