missionary progress

Photo courtesy/Wang Zhiyuan

▲As the seasons of life change, the author and his wife brought their light bags to the corn fields of Pennsylvania and blended in with the beauty of heaven and earth.

Seasons of life change

got windy! It’s almost time to set off!

Farewell, two months of pastoral life at Messenger Farm in Pennsylvania - the endless golden corn fields, the brilliant sunset, the peaceful Amish farmhouses on the ridges of the fields, the cattle, sheep and horses leisurely walking on the grassland, the kicking and kicking on the road. The sound of horse-drawn carriages and the breathtaking blue sky above the farm. Packing my bags, my thoughts are complicated...

Looking back on 2021, the whole family is experiencing an earth-shaking change of seasons in life. First of all, I quit my high-paying job of 20 years. From being a senior computer engineer and the main source of income for my family, I became unemployed sitting at home with nothing. I fell into the pain and struggle of losing my self-identity from someone to nobody.

Then in June, my precious daughter got married. The little girl who had been around me since childhood no longer jumped into my arms and acted coquettishly. When she packed up her room and moved to her son-in-law's house, she suddenly felt that a piece of her body had been taken away. An emotion that she was unable and unwilling to let go of, lingering for a long time.

Immediately afterwards, in July, my wife closed the kindergarten that she had run at home for more than ten years. She seemed strong on the surface, saying goodbye to her parents and students happily, but secretly, I knew she was hiding in bed crying for several days.

Then the whole family started cleaning. It took more than a month to clean the house from inside to outside, top to bottom, throwing away everything and giving away everything, so that a young pastor and his family of five could move in. Suddenly we became shellless snails, homeless.

When we packed the travel belongings into the only 2006 Corolla car left at home, the couple drove away from the "home" where they had lived for 20 years in style, temporarily shelving the happy time in this beautiful home and resolutely Driving to the Pennsylvania Messenger Farm, toward an unknown future. In an instant, the couple seemed to see tears flashing in each other's eyes that could not be concealed.

Crop owners still lead

After my wife and I returned from a short-term mission trip to East Asia in the summer of 2018, God placed the missionary burden in our hearts. Knowing that missionary resources are extremely unevenly distributed, it is almost impossible for them to hear the saving good news of Jesus if no one is willing to step onto their soil and tell them the gospel. At that time, my confidence was still very small because I was just a computer engineer. I had no confidence in missionary work and doubted what I could do. Year after year, God continues to encourage us through various experiences and words to move forward in His predetermined direction.

During a visit to Bethesda Correctional Institution in Hualien, Taiwan, in the fall of 2018, missionary Monika encouraged our husband and wife: "Looking at others will make you fall, looking at yourself will make you disappointed. Only by looking at God can you have strength and hope."

At the Chinese Mission Conference (CMC) at the end of 2019, Pastor Chen Weien testified: "Is the faith of the residents of Papua New Guinea worth paying the price of my daughter's life? It is absolutely not worth it... Our lives are worth creating the universe. God, paid the price of His only begotten Son’s life in exchange for it? It’s absolutely not worth it!” But 2,000 years ago, Jesus really came to the world and died on the cross for us who didn’t deserve it.

In the year of the epidemic in 2020, my mother passed away. My wife and I returned to Pingtung, Taiwan, and attended a gathering at the Peace Church. We also heard the gospel message preached by Senior Pastor Ge Zhaoxin: "The paralytic who has been lying beside the Bethesda Pond for 38 years! Get up, get out, and leave. ...Abraham believed as he walked, and believed as he walked; wherever he went, he believed and received wherever he went...Seize the critical moment and bravely cross the border for the Lord." When he came to Kaohsiung Blessing Church, Pastor Yang Xiru also conveyed the same message: "There is no unaffordable price in the world, only invisible value." Every word seems to be speaking to me!

In 2021, our family has truly experienced the process of "cutting off, giving up, and leaving": "cutting off" financial resources; "giving up" comfort and comfort; "leaving" relatives and friends. Doing things you have never done before is change; doing things you don’t know how to do is growth; doing things you don’t want to do is breakthrough. Why choose "break away"? Why experience change, growth and breakthrough? The answer is only three words, because "He is worth it."

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said to his disciples: "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Encourage yourself to be used by the Lord - rather to be burned than to decay. It turns out that God has been preparing our hearts for a long time. Now due to health reasons, I have returned to Taiwan for thorough medical examination. Although my missionary schedule has been delayed, everything is in progress.

The wind has picked up and we are about to set sail. Although I don’t know what tomorrow’s missionary journey will be like, I know that the sunset over the cornfield is still brilliant and the sky over the farm is still blue; I know that the God who created the sunset and the sky is also the Creator who owns the cornfield and the farm, and still leads us on the journey. An uninterrupted missionary journey for thousands of years.

Written at Messenger Farm, Pennsylvania 10-10-2021

Wang Zhiyuan, a science and engineering man who likes literature. Live until you are old, learn until you are old, play until you are old, and serve until you are old. The picture shows the author and his wife Liao Meihui, walking hand in hand on the road of life and missionary work.