Posted by Darren Lim • Oct 18, 2022
I had arranged the last remaining hours of my India business trip to stop by several places before heading to the Chennai airport. These included visiting the second longest beach in the world called The Marina and the Santhome Cathedral, where the body of martyred Apostle Thomas was said to lay. I found myself marvelling at God’s greatness and goodness as I soaked up all the experiences of nature, history and ancient architecture. It wasn’t only these though that I was praising God for – as wonderful as they may be – but that God was sovereign and infinitely wise. The one week trip has certainly been fruitful and throughout the trip, I was blessed to glimpse brief moments of how God works out His good purposes. Several seeming coincidences underscored the mission theme. And here I am assigned to write on Mission week! Coincidences? I think not. God’s perfect plan? Most certainly!
It was my first business trip since the borders reopened post-pandemic and to be frank, I had mixed feelings about coming here. It was certainly energising to reconnect with colleagues after 2 and a half years of virtual working. Nothing beats being able to shake someone’s hand and have conversations eyeball to eyeball. Engagements were great but it was also disruptive to routines. Back home, my wife had to pull all the weight from attending the many household responsibilities to managing our three kiddos. That meant school runs, showering, revising studies and putting them to bed. No easy feat. As for me, due to the time difference and unfamiliar surroundings, it was difficult to eat right, sleep right or to get any semblance of an exercise routine in place. In fact, due to the unfamiliar hotel gym equipment, I picked up a back sprain on day 2. All this while hard deadlines loomed closer which necessitated working after a quick bite at the end of the day.
It was on one of those days where in between meetings, I had to take a separate call with a colleague. We were working to complete a proposal due end of the week. The YouVersion notification popped up midway through our conversation as I was sharing my screen. Finally at the end of our serious conversation, my colleague asked me if I was a Christian to which I said “Yes”. He then proceeded to ask If I knew what ‘Alpha’ was, to which I replied with a quizzical yes – wondering In my head where this was going. He then confided in me that he was also a Christian and that he would appreciate If I prayed for him. He and his wife, together with another couple were running a home ‘Alpha’ that very evening and he was nervous whether it would turn out well.
I expressed how encouraging it was to see my brother stepping out to answer God’s calling and assured him I would pray. I shared an experience related by Rev. Miles Toulmin when he last preached in DUMC back in August 2022 (The Art of Fishing). Rev Miles is the Executive Director of Alpha Asia Pacific and he shared how God always works out His perfect plan, just not always how we expect it to. In this performance-driven world, we are inclined to expect results – great turnout, high participation rate, low dropouts, high conversions and increased referrals. But many times, drop outs may later return at a later season to accept Christ or even refer someone else to do ‘Alpha’. We faithfully sow, leaving the rest to God.
Fast forward a couple of days later, we finally sat down face to face and my dear brother related that the first session went well with the visitors looking forward to next week’s session. He told me that he related what I shared to his wife and the other facilitators, and that encouraged them to press on, committing the results to the Lord. Hallelujah! Praise God! I am so inspired by my colleague – whom I now call a dear brother – for uprooting himself and his family to obediently fulfil the call of being marketplace missionaries. There are real risks doing so in a country with its polytheistic culture where there still exist political pressures and social stigmas about Christianity. And God, in His infinite wisdom has placed me in India to play a small role to pray for and speak a word in season.
A planned business trip, a writing assignment, a chance disclosure and an opportunity to stand in the gap and speak words of comfort. This was a divine appointment. I pray this rich experience that, in God’s great providence He saw fit to have me play a small part, will stir the hearts of many to walk faithfully in love and obedience to God. Those He calls, He equips and in His infinite wisdom, we are placed precisely where we should be for His good purpose so that, above all, the name of our Lord be glorified by all the nations.