A sentence Frank* and Helen* heard in a Buddhist-majority country in Southeast Asia made them stop in their tracks. “Our kids go to church on Fridays, but they come home and worship the idols afterward,” joked the women gathered around a roadside stall.
Frank and Helen were visiting a co-worker and had been asking the Lord each morning, “Where do you want us to go today?” Following the pattern Jesus gave his disciples in Luke 10, they went wherever he led, praying for people, sharing the Good News, and looking for those who would welcome them into their homes.
That day, he led them to these women.
When the women joked about worshiping idols, Frank and Helen responded seriously, reminding them that God calls us to worship him alone. The mood immediately changed. One woman jumped up, ran home, and returned with her Bible.
She proudly showed them verses she had memorized from a local pastor. He rewarded the women with rice and cooking oil whenever they recited the verses correctly.
But the women admitted they didn’t really believe what they had memorized. They had no intention of changing how they lived. They just wanted rice and oil.
Then they asked Frank and Helen, “What will you give us if we convert right now?”
Frank and Helen had nothing to offer but prayer.
“We wanted to give them the gift of eternal life, never-ending joy and peace, and total fulfillment,” Frank said. “But they only wanted money.”
They remembered Jesus’ instructions in Luke 10. His disciples were not to carry money or extra supplies with them. Perhaps one reason was that when we bring material things, people can become more interested in what we give than in the One we proclaim.
So, Frank and Helen prayed for the women, blessed them, and moved on.
Jesus also told His disciples that when people would not welcome them or receive their message, they were to “wipe the dust” from their feet and go on (Luke 10:5–6, 10–12).
Not every encounter ends with someone choosing to follow Jesus. But obedience means going anyway. Frank and Helen kept walking, trusting God to lead them to people who were ready to hear, receive, and obey the Good News.
*pseudonym
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