by ‘J’, a China co-worker from Australia

It all began when as a teenager I read a book about Tibet that I believed had been written by a Tibetan Buddhist monk. I suddenly found that thoughts of both the land and its people dominated my thinking. Even though at times they abated slightly, they would return with even greater intensity. The Lord had effectively placed a hook in my heart and began to tug on it. Ironically, I was to find out later that the author of that book was not a Tibetan monk but a British plumber who had never been to Tibet! Yet from this the Lord instilled in me a passion to see the dear people who lived on the “roof of the world” hear His lovely Name proclaimed. This passion to see the Tibetans come to Christ burned within me in a manner like that described in Jeremiah 20:9 - “But if I say, ‘I will not mention Him or speak anymore of His Name,’ His Word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones, I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

For many years I wondered how it would ever be possible for this dream to come to pass. I carried on with my education and the normal daily routine of life. It was only later that I realised that everything that I had learnt, including hobbies that I had pursued, would be used by the Lord when I finally reached “The Promised Land”. Increasingly I would pray for the Tibetans and encourage others to do so, as well as liaise with those already working among the Tibetans. I read extensively on the people and their culture and even began to study one of the Tibetan dialects. I was also privileged to go on a short-term trip with AM-CCSM to Tibet. As soon as the plane touched down, I felt that I had arrived “home”. It was hard to leave again but the Lord still had preparatory work to do both in and through me. It was not until after the third of these short trips that He released me to move to this country. I immediately resigned from my position in a leading role in the scientific community and after some further training it was time for me to journey to “The Promised Land”.

As I flew into the city that would become my home for the next five years, the words of the song “These are the days of Elijah” resounded in my mind. It had taken me many years to cross into the Promised Land but I was finally here. As I had already been on several short-term trips to this country, though not to this particular province, I cannot say that I suffered any great degree of culture shock. Perhaps the greatest surprise was to find that this was predominantly a Han Chinese and Hui Muslim city with only a small percentage of Tibetans. However, at the university where I would study language there were a large number of Tibetan students and, as soon as you travel outside the city, many areas are mostly Tibetan. My first year was spent studying Mandarin and this was sufficient grounding for me to converse well enough with locals. After that I commenced studying the Tibetan dialect spoken in this province and some neighbouring provinces.

The research that I had done prior to moving here was good preparation but there is nothing like being immersed in the culture to change one’s perspective from a purely academic one to a practical perspective. As I waited on the Lord, He spoke clearly to me that I was not to mention the Name of Jesus to my local friends unless they first asked me about Jesus. I wondered how I would ever be able to share the Good News with them and thought maybe I was not hearing clearly. Then I went to a conference in Thailand where an ex-Buddhist monk who was now a Thai Pastor spoke. He said the same thing, which was a wonderful confirmation. I can say that without exception my local friends have all asked me sooner or later a question that has opened the door for dialogue about Jesus and my faith. Everything in this culture is relationship based, unlike our individualistic Western culture. Therefore, until you have established a good relationship with a local, you have not earned the right to speak into their lives about spiritual matters. Hudson Taylor once said, “To make converts in Tibet is similar to going into a cave and trying to rob a lioness of her cubs.” Actually, for Tibetans to come to Christ they first must see love in action. Thus it is essential to “live out” the Gospel in one’s everyday life without verbally proclaiming it until asked to do so.
To this end I have found that my secular training in medical science has opened many doors. I have had the opportunity to teach university students about health issues. When I travel to students’ home towns and stay with their families, it is not long before any of their relatives, and in fact anyone in the village, with medical complaints are brought to see me. If their problem is one that is within my area of expertise, I offer assistance. Otherwise I suggest the appropriate tests for them to have and, if they come to the city, I help them and introduce them to one of the hospital doctors.
Many Tibetans from the countryside are unable to speak Mandarin, so a visit to a city hospital is an overwhelming ordeal for them. There is a visible difference in the attitude of many (though not all) hospital staff to Tibetans when they approach staff by themselves compared to when I am with them. Therefore, part of my ministry is to help them negotiate the hospital system. Due to the generosity of some overseas donors I am able to give them some quality medication from overseas. The lack of skill of many doctors at village, township and even county level hospitals combined with the cost of healthcare makes seeking medical attention hazardous and leads many, who are already very poor, down the road to illness-induced poverty. I have had the privilege of helping many Tibetans who could not afford healthcare to receive appropriate treatment.

I could recount many stories of desperate medical need that would make even the hardest heart weep. However, let me mention just one. This was a 16-month old boy who was a relative of one of my friends. In my last night in his village they brought the boy to me and I was appalled to see that he had an indirect inguinal hernia. He had suffered from this since he was one-month old. In the West we would normally have such a child in surgery within a week of diagnosis because of the risk of strangulation of the bowel. The family had already seen village, township and county level doctors who had all given them unsound medical advice and inappropriate medication. Fortunately, between my own finances and some money donated by a visiting AM-CCSM intercession team the boy was able to have surgery and is now doing well.

The Tibetans’ greatest need is salvation. They are bound by Tibetan Buddhism in a cycle of fear and hopelessness in their efforts to gain merit for a better reincarnation. However, the labourers in this vineyard are still few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He might send more labourers. Workers with not only the passion to see these dear people won to Christ but with the patience to build relationships and to reach these people using their heart language. This is not easy. A Tibetan saying is that, “Every valley has a different dialect,” and this is compounded by the fact that written and spoken Tibetan are different. Pray too for the small number of new believers that they would be set free from the fear that paralyses so many from sharing their new faith. Tibetans often believe that to be Tibetan is to be a Tibetan Buddhist. Therefore the Tibetan Christians’ families and friends often ostracise them, believing that they have turned their backs on their heritage.

I am privileged to be living my dream in “The Promised Land”. The Lord may have promised this land to you too, or some other place. Whatever you do, I urge you not to allow the cares of this world to make you stop short of entering into “The Promised Land” that the Lord has set before you. You will never be truly fulfilled until you are doing what the Lord has called you to do. Has He called you to come and lay down your life for the Tibetan people? Are you willing to be a channel of His love to reach these dear people who are lost in utter darkness? Isaiah 6:8 says: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’”