Devotionals

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Recently I had the great honour of speaking to a large group of people who had gathered on a cold Tuesday night in late July. It was a gathering of over 500 Australians, most of them originally from Middle-Eastern backgrounds. It was no ordinary night. To be honest, in spite of the fact that I was the guest speaker, I was not really the reason that people were attending this gathering. The main event was a concert by an African children's choir from a group called Watoto. I'm not sure if anyone will remember anything I said that night, but everyone in attendance would remember the songs and stories of some of Africa's growing number of orphans.

As we listened to the singing and heard the kids' stories, I was moved to tears at the vision and goals of this wonderful Christian mission. The short-term goal is to provide families and homes for thousands of kids. The long-term goal is to raise up a new generation to become the nation's leaders of the future. The kids shared their dreams of becoming a generation of future African leaders: doctors, teachers, pilots (many of the boys wanted to be pilots), nurses, accountants and lawyers. However one young lad, I think his name was Paul, had quite a different ambition. "I want to be a pastor" reflected this young lad's desire to lead his nation spiritually, in the same way he had been led from darkness to light.

Another young man on the other side of the world also dreamed about being a pastor. I am not sure how old he was when he heard God's call, but like young Paul from Africa this man also felt called to shepherd a flock in God's pasture. I don't know much about his church or ministry. I do know that this year at age 42, this Presbyterian Pastor from South Korea by the name of Bae Hyung-kyu, led a large team of enthusiastic Christians to be part of a short-term humanitarian mission to the troubled nation of Afghanistan. Sadly the world knows this team was taken hostage by extremists and that the lifeless body of Bae Hyung-kyu has been found with 10 bullet wounds to the head, chest and stomach.

My guess is that this brother knew that he was surrendering his life when he first followed Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. My guess is that when he trained to be a pastor he again surrendered his life to his Lord and Saviour Jesus. My guess is that when he led his team on mission he reminded them of the sacrifices of their Lord and their hope of resurrection.

Wordforlife would like to honour the memory of Bae Hyung-kyu. Please pray for his family. Please pray for his team who are still in captivity. Please remember and be challenged by a man who followed his Lord Jesus through crucifixion to resurrection. Please believe that the ministry of Jesus continues through the faithfulness of His people.

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10: 39 (NIV)

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