A Trip Worth Every Penny:
MEXICANS MINISTERING TO THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH IN ASIA
By Kerry A. Olson




A BATTLE FROM THE OUTSET
This ministry trip had been on the calendar for close to a year. As the date approached it seemed we were so busy, it was difficult to think of leaving, especially after having been back from a two-month furlough to the U.S. just 30 days.

The trip also came at a difficult time for us financially. There were many expenses during the summer, as James transitioned to college in Boston and Jonathan to Youth With A Mission Thailand. We sold a car to enable us to both go on this trip. Even though we had acquired two free tickets on Frequent Flyer Miles, the cost of the trip was close to $5,000 dollars for the two of us.

At the Mexico City airport, we ate a meal at a restaurant before our flights to Dallas and Chicago. We still don't know how it happened, but somehow we lost Jan's insulin and blood glucose meter at the restaurant. We did not find out however until we were at the Dallas airport. Upon arrival in Chicago at 11 p.m. we checked into our hotel and took a taxi (a first in our own country!) to the emergency room of a local hospital. Thankfully we had to spend the night in Chicago before the flight the following day to Asia. We spent the next few hours waiting for a prescription. Ten minutes of medical attention and $$ dollars later, we were leaving the hospital en route to a 24-hour pharmacy to purchase the medical supplies. Needless to say we got to bed at close to 4 a.m. prior to our 13 hour "morning" flight to Asia.

During the trip, Kerry's new lens for his camera fell and busted. Also, upon connecting to the internet with our notebook computer (we only connected twice as we were under surveillance) the government sent 5 viruses which actually closed down the computer completely. Thankfully we got it up and running recently.


A PRICE WORTH PAYING!
Not only were we able to visit our workers in the region and make progress on the business model we have for this country, but God opened doors for us to be able to minister and develop an ongoing relationship with the underground church.

We were able to meet with three of the top leaders of the underground church. Some of these leaders represent millions of Christians which meet secretly in small house churches in both rural and urban settings around the country. As we shared our experience in Mexico, it was obvious that God has prepared us to speak into the lives of these leaders and their house group leadership.

I was burdened to share and teach on the need for the national church to run with the vision God has given them and for them to become self-sufficient in every area. Years of experience here in Mexico has taught us that missions is often done in a wrong manner by creating outside dependencies, resulting in a weak national church that does not mature in the areas of finances, teaching and discipleship. When we gave our testimony of a Mexican church’s impact on society, it’s being self-sufficient with no outside funding and the missions’ vision we have for one congregation, they were blessed and challenged.

Each of the national leaders asked for prayer in knowing how to better teach and disciple their people and the great need to know how to reach their cities, due to the massive migration of rural people into the urban areas in this country. This was an interesting request, as God has given us a measure of success being located in Mexico City, the world’s largest urban area, with an estimated 40 million inhabitants.


A VERY HUMBLING EXPERIENCE
Each occasion we had to teach and share with the underground church was a very humbling experience. 99.9% of the Christians above 40 years of age have been jailed for sharing their faith at some point in their lives. Only 20-25% of those less than 40 years old have been imprisoned for their faith. This country has had some change, most as a guise by the government to appear to democratic. At this moment thousands of Christians are imprisoned and the church continues to suffer persecution.

We were humbled to be in the presence of these leaders. They had been informed not to meet with foreigners and our very presence was putting them at risk. It was also humbling, as we taught them. Each time I stood before them, I mentioned that I should be sitting and they should be teaching me! They did teach us many things. One of our team members mentioned how he was impacted because they give their lives to serve and most Christian churches have a hard time finding people in the congregation willing to serve, even for a couple of hours each week in the midst of freedom and abundance.

Our first ministry experience took place in a city we had not even planned on visiting. (We were there for less than 24 hours) We were to meet with a house group in the evening and had to circle around part of the city for quite a while until it was completely dark. We were driven to an old building near a large apartment complex. As the van stopped, we were informed to quickly enter the house and shut the door behind us. We entered through three doors and were quite surprised to see 55 believers (Jan counted!) crammed into a small living room which measures by my estimate 10 by 18 feet, worshipping in a loud voice (Most of the time worship takes place in whispering voice, so that the neighbors cannot hear). I later asked why they were worshipping so exuberantly and the leader commented that when God’s Spirit falls, they simply trust God that He will take care of them.

We were particularly impacted by the testimony of a 19-year old girl, who through her tears related how she grew up not knowing her father. She only recently has been able to spend any quality time with him. She spoke of many times when their home was raided by the secret police, usually at midnight when everyone was asleep. They would always break down the door and tear apart the house, dragging her father to prison. On one ocassion he was imprisoned for three years. She mentioned the upside of being imprisoned for a longer period according to her father is that, “the beatings were less severe”. Her father is one of the top church leaders in the country. Although she shared with us that at one point in her life, the last thing she wanted to do is serve Christ like her father, she currently is a teacher for a clandestine Bible school with over 500 students and has given her life to serve Christ no matter what the cost.

The climax of the trip was meeting secretly in a hotel suite with leaders from the region we were visiting, most of them in their 20’s! We spent most of the day together inside that room, worshipping and receiving teaching together. (Mid-day we had to send out for pizza – the only Western meal we had on the trip and a first-ever experience for some of these Asians!) The last message given by our pastor Nahum was on the Father Heart of God…. The Holy Spirit fell on the place. We spent a good deal of time praying for each one of them and just were there “to love on them”, embracing each leader. One of the national leaders and his wife were present at this meeting. Each one was encouraged to embrace and give words of encouragement to them. Something not easy to do in their culture, especially with such a revered spiritual father figure, but God’s Spirit moved once again.

Our workers in the country have the respect of the underground church leadership. They will be helping us with human resources for projects. A special connection was made between this exploding Asian church and 9 people representing the Mexican church. We believe that this is just the first chapter in our relationship and have a sense in our spirits that God has much more in store.

As for the little personal battles before and during the trip, they don’t seem like a very big price to pay for lessons learned and relationships established. To God be the glory!


October 1, 2008
Mexico City, Mexico


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