Follow God's call on your life

As I write this blog entry, I’m soaring above the earth somewhere between the US and China on a Cathay Pacific airliner. I take advantage of time in the air to read and write. When most everyone else is sleeping and the lights in the cabin are off, I often find this a good time to pray and reflect on what God is doing in my life.

Tonight I’ve asked God why. God, why have You entrusted me with a ministry that now reaches the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich? God, why have you called me to be involved in the international business world? God, why me?

Do you ever ask God why? I guess most of us do for different reasons and at different times of our lives. It’s OK. He doesn’t mind. A good father wants his children to ask him questions. He doesn’t want us turning to anyone else for answers.

I still don’t know why, but I’m humbled and thankful. I’m the least deserving. I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I have my faults just like everyone else. After all, I’m only a man. It’s easier for me to see why God called my beautiful bride to the ministry. Nobody is sweeter, and she’s such a godly woman. Oh, she isn’t perfect either, but she has purity about her that only God could have put there.

I may never know why God called me, but I’ve never been more certain of His call on my life. From preaching to the unreached in places like the Philippines to providing opportunities for people in Dothan to realize their calling to shining the light of Jesus in international business meetings, I’ve no doubts He has called me to do those things and more.

Are you sure of His call on your life? If so, keep going forward in His might and strength. If not, ask Him. Jesus says in Matthew 7: 7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

One thing you can be sure of, wherever God has you at this moment, He wants you to tell those around you about His wonderful Son. You may not be where you want to be, but you are where God wants you.

God didn’t call us to a life of comfort. He will take us out of our comfort zone. One reason He does that is so we have no choice but to depend on Him and not in our own abilities. I’m learning more and more to trust in Him and not in my abilities. They aren’t mine anyway. If there is anything good in me, and if I have any talents, my Father in Heaven gave them to me.

When I first reached out to a homeless person, that was a moment of God taking me completely out of my comfort zone. I had never been exposed to the homeless until then. When God called me to preach in foreign lands where to people that speak different languages and cultures much different than America, He pulled me out of my comfort zone once again. When God called me to leave the newspaper industry after 22 years, that was another change in my comfort zone.

When he called me to enter the world of international industrial recruitment, that was another huge change where I felt totally uncomfortable. What does a newspaper editor/ministry pastor know about international business? Nothing.

When I told Martha I had no clue what I was doing back in January, she said, “Good, because God does.”

So you see, God’s calling has nothing to do with comfort or our abilities. It has everything to do with God and our willingness to trust and obey Him. It’s not easy.

People may look at traveling the world as glamorous. Let me tell you, it’s not. Have you ever lived out of a suitcase for nearly three months while traveling by jet, boat, train and car? It’s not easy, and far from glamorous.

It’s not always fun, either. I’m not a fan of being away from my wife and family. I miss my LIA and Harvest families. But, it’s worth it. To see one soul saved is worth any price.

If Jesus wanted to take the easy way out and only think about Himself and His comfort, He never would have come to earth, much less die such a horrible death on the cross. No, Jesus thought we were worth it all. We must think the same about Jesus. He is worth it all, and reaching one more lost soul no matter the cost is worth it all.

91 years old and homeless

Martha and Glenda talk with Ms. Olive at the Dothan Bus
Station Saturday evening during LIA's bus station outreach.

Her long white hair and wrinkled skin shows her age, but her youthful laugh tells you she still has plenty of life in her.

Ms. Olive tells stories of her life with great detail, painting pictures of snow-covered ground in Alaska and hot humid afternoons in Florida. Some stories are sad and filled with pain,which brings tears to her eyes. Others are happy, making her laugh as she holds her hand over her mouth.

She's 91 and homeless. We met her Saturday night at the bus station as she stepped off the Greyhound here in Dothan. She wanted to go to a Seventh Day Adventist church, so we drove her to one, but nobody was there.

We didn't want to take her to a shelter. She's healthy enough and definitely independent enough to take care of herself, but she needed some place quiet. She was tired, worn out from a long bus ride from Milwaukee. We took her to a safe hotel that's quiet and comfortable. She liked it, smiled and cried as she thanked us.

After we got her settled in her room and talked for a while, we prayed. She wanted to pray as well, and she thanked God for having all of us there at the bus station to help her.

This evening Martha read the Bible to her and we discussed scripture, and she shared some more stories. This time of life in Los Angeles.

Ms. Olive has traveled throughout the U.S. on bus, and by air to Alaska, since the mid 1960s when her and her husband had problems and they split. She's had a tough life, but through it all she talks about God's faithfulness.

Through her moving around and her children moving, she's lost contact with them. She doesn't know where they are, and they obviously don't know where she is. Unfortunately, her story isn't unique. However, her stories are much more interesting and detail-oriented than others.

Throughout our 14 years as a ministry, we have heard similar stories of people who become homeless for a wide variety of reasons, and many of them are due to life-changing situations. In the early to mid 1900s, it was not uncommon for wives not to understand finances or have job skills, as the husbands worked and kept track of all the finances. Unfortunately, some men kept women in the dark about many things. It's called control, and it's a horrible thing to do to someone.

If the man suddenly left the woman, she was lost, and if there wasn't any help from family available, life all of a sudden became extremely hard.

When people fall into homelessness for whatever reason, many lose track of their family. Some never find their family again, but we have also witnessed reuniting and restoration of the homeless to their families. It's awesome to see.

Maybe that will happen with Ms. Olive. Maybe we can find her children. Maybe that won't happen. What we do know is God brought this sweet lady into our lives, and we are going to take care of her for however long she's here.

Martha and I asked her if she would consider making Dothan home and settling down. She smiled and said she would like that. We're going to check on housing for her and see what we can find. She loves Jesus, and at 91, we just want to see her live out the rest of her days happy with a feeling of security. No more wandering.

Please keep Ms. Olive in your prayers. If you ever meet her, you will love her, and I guarantee you she will share one of her stories with you. Memories. That's all she has left of her family, and whether they are painful or joyful she shares them. I guess I would to if that's the only family I had.

Ms. Olive now has a family of God here in Dothan who loves her. Maybe she will stay and make new, happy memories.

Reaching new unreached people groups in 2014

We are only in March, but what an incredible year it has been already.

During our mission trip to the countries of Myanmar and Philippines in late January and February, we saw more than 1,500 people make decisions for Jesus. Many were Buddhists and Muslims.

It was amazing watching God move in such powerful ways. These people are being followed up on and discipleship is taking place. Praise God!

Now we need to build churches. In some areas we can build churches for as little as $900. In other areas, it costs around $2,000. Please pray about how you can help us build churches to reach more unreached people groups with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples in the Philippines and Myanmar.

While we have always reached the poorest of the poor with the Gospel over the past 14 years, God showed us another unreached people group while in China during mid January, late February, and early March.

After I stepped down from my job at the Dothan Eagle last year, another job opportunity came up. Martha and I prayed about it, because we wanted to make sure it wasn't a distraction. It was an opportunity to work for the SoZo Group, the company that's connecting Chinese industries with U.S. communities in hopes of creating jobs in the U.S. and industry expansion for the Chinese companies, and visa versa. The job is communications director. We felt led to check out SoZo.

Raymond Cheng, the CEO and president, and I really hit it off from the first time we met. Since Asia is a major area where God is working through LIA, we wanted to see if God wanted us to work in China. So, we prayed that He would open doors, and He did on our first trip there. Incredible doors.

Through the SoZo Group, we met many extremely wealthy industry owners and government officials. And, we were able to minister to some of them. When Ray introduces me, he tells people I'm SoZo's communications director and that I'm also a pastor and that Martha and I have a ministry in Dothan and other parts of the world. They were very interested and we talked to them about Jesus.

There was one person in particular whom we prayed for, and afterward she told us that was the first time anyone had ever prayed for her. She’s in her 50s. We also shared John 3:16 with her and another person that night. Those were wonderful seeds of the Gospel planted.

Near the end of our trip in China, God spoke into my spirit. While preaching in the Philippines and Myanmar I always used John 3:16 in the sermons and talked about "whosoever" to explain that Jesus died for everyone. God reminded me of that while in Hong Kong before coming back to Dothan. He said, ever so gently, that "whosoever" also meant those industry owners and government officials He has opened doors for us to meet.  He said they need Him, too.

We have always focused on the homeless and poor, and we always will. Jesus did, and He tells us to do the same. But, Jesus loves everyone, and He has opened huge doors for us to reach more unreached people groups.

Nobody has ever told these people about Jesus. One reason it's where they live. Buddhism is the dominant religion. That's all they know. And secondly, it’s because of who they are. They are the rich and powerful, so people don't approach them and can't approach them. They have to protect themselves from people who want to kidnap them for money.

But now, God has made it so we can tell them about His glorious Son. From the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, Jesus died for everyone.

Then, God gave us another amazing opportunity to further validate our decision for me to join SoZo. There is a group in China called the Earthpulse Foundation. They are not a Christian organization, but that makes it all the more exciting to me. They do a lot of great work with orphans and the extremely poor in Inner Mongolia and other parts of Northeast and Central China. They provide education, conserve the people's heritage and help with social issues.

We had dinner with the founder of that foundation, and he wants to bring five students (orphans and others from very poor families) to the U.S., more specially, to Dothan, Ala., for six weeks this summer. I immediately spoke up and said Love In Action would find five homes for the teenagers.

We'll find five safe, loving homes for these children, so they can experience the love of Jesus. He also wants these teenagers to give back to the community through social work. I told him they could work with Love In Action and help us in our outreaches.

This is amazing. God is bringing unreached people groups to us right here in Dothan. Praise God!

So, you see, God is not only providing us with a salary through SoZo, but He is providing more opportunities to reach unreached people groups in China. My prayer is to preach a crusade there. I don't know how God will pull that off, but He's God, so I know He will in His perfect timing.

And, while all of this was going on in Asia, our local ministry continued to thrive. People were being saved at our outreaches at the bus station, and homeless being helped. One family even moved into their own home, and we were able to help.

We will soon be able to provide showers for the homeless at the Love In Action Ministry Center thanks to First Baptist Church in Dothan. They are doing a wonderful job installing the shower, and we can’t thank them enough.

It’s amazing watching our awesome God touch lives all around the world, and we give Him all of the praise, honor and glory.

LIA needs host families for Chinese orphans this summer

We are very excited to announce that Love In Action will work with the city of Dothan and the SoZo Group to bring 20 students from inner Mongolia, China, to Dothan this summer. The students will be teenagers and most are orphans and the others are from extremely poor families.

Inner Mongolia is in north China near the Russian border.

We will be working with the Earthpulse Foundation in Hong Kong to coordinate these efforts. Earthpulse will bring the students to Dothan and Love In Action will find qualified host families. If you are interested in being a host family for six weeks this summer (July-mid August), please email us at loveinactionministries@hotmail.com

This is an awesome opportunity to speak into the lives of orphans and show these youth our community. They aren't coming on vacation, however. Earthpulse wants them to do social work, so Love In Action will fill that need as well.

We are extremely excited about our first opportunity to work in China. This is an answer to prayer. Before I accepted a job that would put me in Hong Kong and mainland China a number of times each year, Martha and I prayed about it. We both felt God was providing this opportunity as an open door to minister in China. God validated that tonight as we discussed plans at dinner in Hong Kong with Earthpulse founder and chairman Hing Chao.

Chao said he wants the students to be part of the community during their stay in Dothan.
"I don’t want the students to go and play," he said. "I want them to engage with the community and to do some social service work. We want them to give something back.  That’s something that’s lacking with young people."

Much more information will be forthcoming soon, but the time frame will be from the beginning of July to no later than the third week of August.

Please pray about being part of this awesome opportunity to work with these orphans. We will go through an application process that will include background checks. We want the best homes for these children, so their time in Dothan will be safe and fulfilling.

Please email us at the above address if you would like to apply to be a host family.

Please pray for everyone involved in putting this together, and go ahead and start praying for the students who will be coming to Dothan from China.

Thanks and God bless.

Spreading the Gospel in dangerous regions

Martha sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a dangerous region in Zamboanga City.

People in an area in Zamboanga City gathered on a basketball court to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Philippine Marines swept the area before we arrived to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While we ministered to the people at the open-air basketball court in the center of town, local police arrived to keep guard. As we left town, police escorted us from the front and the back of our vehicles.

This happened as we ministered in a barangay (town) in Zamboanga City. The presence of the Marines and police was due to the fact this barangay is a well-known stronghold for the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), an Islamic terrorist group. The MNLF attacked the “City Proper” of Zamboanga City last September in what is referred to as the six-week war. The Philippine military is still looking for some rebels involved in the attack.

Why were we there? The people need to know about the love and peace of Jesus Christ. Everyone needs to hear about Jesus and have a chance to respond to the Gospel, even in the dangerous areas. Jesus says He sends us out like “sheep among wolves.” (Matthew 10:16) He never promised that we would share His message in nice comfortable and safe buildings.

Martha and I had never preached where military and police protection was needed, but this was an area we knew we had to share the Gospel. At least a dozen people responded to Jesus, and a lot of seeds were planted. I think we even shook hands with some of the terrorists and told them that Jesus loves them.

Jesus loves terrorists? Yes. He doesn’t love what they do, but He wants to forgive them and save them just like everyone else. Remember, Jesus said, “whosoever.” Someone just has to tell them. We pray those seeds planted will grow into a great harvest.

Zamboanga City had been on my heart for three years, and we had the great opportunity to visit the area twice during our mission trip to the Philippine island of Mindanao.

The results? More than 300 decisions for Jesus. Will this make a difference? Yes it will. These people not only decided to repent and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but they want to follow Him, live for Him. We can help them.

Our indigenous pastors and church workers do an incredible job of follow up after evangelistic meetings. They write down the people’s names, addresses and phone numbers. Then they follow up with Bible studies in houses. That leads to building churches.

The problem is our indigenous team has very limited to no resources. The people in Zamboanga City are already showing up at house church services. They are hungry for the Word of God. We have an opportunity to build two churches now. We need $3,000 to build both of them. We already have the land, and here’s how that happened.

A mother and daughter who were Muslim gave their lives to Jesus. They have a house where a young pastor leads Sunday services and Bible studies. The response to the Gospel is so great they can’t all fit in the house, so services are held outside. They have given that lot to us to build a church. Their congregation grew while we were there.

After preaching, a young couple gave their lives to Jesus and wanted to be baptized. We walked down to the sea shore and I had the great privilege of baptizing them in the Sulu Sea, which is the Pacific Ocean. Along the shore lives people from the tribal group “Yakans.” Their huts are right on the shore and they fish for a living.

The Yakans watched the baptismal service. We greeted them afterward and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. They responded. Now, 13 of them want to be baptized. All of the Yakans showed up Sunday morning for church. We need to build a church there. It rains a lot in the Philippines, and they won’t be able to have church services and Bible studies on rainy days. 

Another area in Zamboanga City where we saw a great response was in a barangay that has a refugee camp. They are refugees from the six-week war. Their homes were destroyed, and for some of them, if their homes are still there, it’s still not safe because of the MNLF rebels who are in the area.

We ministered twice in this area, and more than 200 people made decisions for Jesus – children and adults. One teenager who attended the first service was so excited that he brought his Muslim mother, father and brothers to the second service. The Muslims are responding to Jesus. They see the love and hear the truth of the Gospel, and they are accepting the Gospel message. After hearing the truth and seeing the love of Jesus in all of us, they realize Jesus really is the “way, the truth, and the life.”

After our first service there, we met with the top barangay official and prayed with her. She was tired, hurting, and requested prayer for love, peace and understanding. Martha did a wonderful job of ministering to her one-on-one.

The officials had a meeting and decided to donate land for a church next to the basketball court we ministered at, just outside the refugee camp. They said the American missionaries came to them with no fanfare, but showed love and helped the people, so they need to help us. Praise God!

These are two churches that will reach hundreds of lives. A $3,000 investment is very inexpensive to reach this many unreached people. Can you help? If you can, please send your tax deductible donation to: Love In Action International Ministries, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302, and in the memo of the check write “Zamboanga churches.”

God continues to touch and transform lives through what I’m calling the “Great Mindanao Revival.” Unreached people groups, including hundreds of Muslims are coming to Jesus. We must continue to push forward with resources to continue to spread the Gospel for the sake of souls and make disciples.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. Together, we are making an eternal difference for the glory of God.

Pastor Jun sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at in area in Zamboanga City.

A building that was bombed during the MNLF attack on Zamboanga City last fall.