One of the richest experiences I have had as a Christian has been to participate in a handful of short term mission trips in Asia. The time spent on them has always refreshed my relationship with the Lord as I see firsthand the vastness of his love for the nations and the intimacy we can experience with Him no matter where we are on the globe. And it is very good to “fast” as it were, our own culture for a while and bathe oneself in Kingdom culture without day to day distractions.
I was reading an update today from our short term group in SE Asia. There was specific prayer request that a meeting with a person(man) of peace would go well. If you have never been a part of one of these encounters firsthand, it might be easy to breeze over this kind of request. But these meetings are no less than miraculous!
This morning, before I even read the prayer request, I was reading in Luke chapter 10 about Jesus sending out the 72 to announce his arrival. One of the instructions He gave was to enter a house and say “Peace to this house.” He goes on to say that if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. Then, Jesus says to stay at that house while in that town. Reading this passage always takes me back to a trip I went on 6 years ago, to a time when I got to participate in exactly that kind of thing. Our person of peace was a man named “Achu,” (yes, pronounced just like a sneeze.)
Over the 4 days we were with him in his small village, he took great care of us. Achu received the peace we had to share with him in Jesus Christ, and we could tell that the peace had stayed with him as he invited many to hear the Gospel from surrounding areas. When it was time to go, it was with tears on everyone’s part that we went separate ways. It was a beautiful picture of God’s Kingdom and how it was that only by the power of the Holy Spirit could we have worked with this man, let alone even find him!
Getting to meet with a person of peace is a privilege. They are handpicked by God from the multitudes in spiritual landscapes to receive and spread the Gospel in their context. There is no way to determine how you might cross paths with a person or peace. But if you earnestly listen to God and look with anticipation, your chances will increase! There are people of peace here in our context too. Be still before the Lord and see if He will lead you to one!
In His Steps
Chris
