MINISTRY // An engineer struggles with faith

[One of 316NOW’s professors wrote from China last fall,] I met one of my translator’s brothers today. He has cancer. For all his life he has resisted talking about faith in Jesus -- until now.  

He was an engineer. He has a big heart and often supports our translator.  But he does not understand why his sibling translates for American Christian teachers.  “How will you get money that way?” he asks her.

A good, not perfect man

His has a dignified manner. He conveys a measure of pride about himself -- good pride, not conceit. But he doesn’t brag; he is quieter than others. His wife, however, is talkative. And like her husband, she is giving. Neither attends a church. 

My translator is worried because she wants all her family to be together in heaven.  

Introduced to the Good Shepherd

Her brother and I talked an entire afternoon. I kept the conversation focused on John 3:16. I emphasized God’s great exchange: how, in our place of sin, God has given his Son, as our Savior. He told me it was hard for him to believe any god existed because, as an engineer, he was educated in Darwinism.  

We met the next day and talked about John 14:1-3 where Jesus promises, “In my Father’s house are many rooms…. I go to prepare a place for you…and I will come back…so that you may be where I am.”  

Touched by the good news

Before we parted ways, his wife promised me they would read the Gospel of Mark. I heard that after we left for the remainder of our travels, he began attending church for the first time in his life.  

I pray that my new friend will be with Jesus someday. Please pray for my friend, too. And pray for the hundreds of millions of China’s citizens who don’t yet trust Jesus’ promise that he is preparing a place for them in heaven.