"And they went forth"
A gospel journey
Two Danny's brought together
In Mark 6:7-13, the Lord charges His disciples not to take anything for their gospel journey. As I was praying over these verses, I did not know if I could really trust the Lord in such a way. Not many days afterward, I met a brother named Daniel Boone through a mutual friend. By God's sovereign arrangement, his car had broken down in Chicago. As we were fellowshipping over coffee, Danny told me of his recent gospel trip. He and a group of others had gone to the Superbowl, and then they were dropped off two by two to preach the gospel at different cities in Florida. This was such a match to what I have been considering recently from Mark 6 that I immediately proposed a gospel trip to him. We had only met a couple of hours earlier, but we were already considering how we were going to spend one week together.
After Danny got back to Ohio, we began preparing ourselves for the trip. We started to fellowship and pray over the phone. We enjoyed Mark 6 together and were inspired to be radical for Christ, just as stated in the Bible. We picked the week of March 28 and chose to go down Interstate 55 from Chicago to Peoria as our route.
Shedding and going:
The exciting day finally arrived. After having a big lunch at my home, we started to shed all the unnecessary stuff. "He charged them not to take anything for the journey except only a staff: no bread, no bag, no money in their belt; But to have sandals tied on; and said, Do not put on two tunics" (Mark 6:8-9). This was a easy trip to pack for. We decided to take only what we were wearing, including our winter coats, and our Bibles, hymnals and my car as our spiritual "staff." My wife sent us off with the encouraging words "Our heavenly Father will take care of you better than I."
We left Chicago at three o'clock on that Monday afternoon. Our first stop was Lockport, Illinois. The first person we ran into was Fernando, a seeking young Christian. He had recently moved from Cicero to disassociate himself from a gang. We had very encouraging fellowship with him. Not only so, he offered to let us stay at his home that night. Since we had just gotten started in our gospel trip, we felt to go preach the gospel and to come back later that night. After a long and enjoyable gospel outing that day, we arrived at his house around 10:30 p.m. Fernando didn't answer the door, however, so we slept uncomfortably in my car, waking up many times to turn the car on and off for heat.
Trial
The next morning, we went to a nearby McDonald's to wash up. I grabbed some salt packets to brush my teeth with my finger. I was proud of my resourcefulness but was nervous about being in there without any money. We had some sense of how homeless people must feel.
In my time with the Lord, I tried not to complain, but it was difficult to hold down my reasonings. I wondered why the Lord didn't feed us like the birds of the air. Ironically, in my daily reading, I had reached Numbers 21 where the children of Israel were complaining to God about having no food and no water. So was I a complaining Israelite, or a bird that needed some food? At least, water was free in America.
Initially, we visited Joliet Penitentiary, looking (unsuccessfully) for a brother who works there. From there we moved on to Lewis University. Students there expressed their negative feelings about organized religion. They were, however, very open to talk about making God real in their lives. We were encouraged by many good conversations. However, we could not deny our growling stomachs and a sense of discouragement. After resting a bit, we decided to continue our journey down Interstate 55.
Proving His Faithfulness
Around 3 pm Tuesday afternoon, we stopped at Coal City. Even though we were tired, we were clear about Paul's words "that if anyone does not want to work, neither should he eat" (2 Thes. 3:10). Therefore we started our door knocking at a farm house next to a dirt road. We met two young men who had grown up in a Christian home. They may have been saved, but they made it clear to us that they were not interested in further fellowship. However they did let us know that their grandma, "who practically lives at the church," may be interested in talking to us.
We looked for her 'church,' but were unsuccessful. So we continued our bread-winning work, door to door. At one of the doors, we met a Christian lady who knew Barb, the radical grandma. We got directions from her and found Barb and other older sisters cleaning the hall. We offered to help, but they seemed to be wary of two grungy young men. Barb, however, was very eager to fellowship, but did not sense our need. Another sister sensed something peculiar about young men eager to help clean and asked if we were hungry. What a welcome word! To our surprise, they had plenty of leftover chicken, refried beans (Barb's recipe), fruit salad, etc., from a funeral the night before. Thus it was at 3:45 on Tuesday that we had our first God-provided meal. We gulped down our food with much thankfulness. We also appreciated Barb's prayer for our gospel journey. God's family is indeed wonderful.
We were so strengthened and encouraged that we marched right into apartments and trailer homes. For us it was no longer bread winning but winning hearts for God. No one can tell us that Americans are closed to the gospel. People are seeking to know God.
Meeting Likeminded Souls
When it got dark, we decided to continue down I-55 to Pontiac. The name was attractive enough. After resting a bit in an empty parking lot, we drove on a main road to look for anything significant. We saw a 'Bible church' with some cars in its parking lot, so we decided to venture in. There were some men practicing music, and others planning an upcoming event. These were not things that we could just jump right in and help with. So, directed by of one of the men, we headed for the Bible study upstairs….which we found was for high school girls. Normally we would not join such a group - it just didn't seem appropriate for two men to join a group of high school girls. But when the girls insisted that we join them, we decided to forget about how we looked. We really enjoyed their fellowship. They were very accepting of us and were truly seeking to know God in His word.
At the end of the Bible study, as we were exchanging email addresses, one of the girls, Abbey, remarked that her parents were tent-gospel preachers. How often do you get to meet a tent-gospel preacher? We were definitely up for that! Her house was nearby. In fact, it was a house we had noticed while visiting in our door knocking. It was different from any other house on that road, for it had a conspicuous cross-shaped window in its front door. That night, we met Abbey's parents, Bill and Jane. They warmly welcomed us into their home. We found out that Bill was once a pastor, but to be true to the gospel and his calling, he felt to quit his job and join a group of traveling gospel preachers. They traveled to different countries and cities to present the gospel. Now, however, Bill and his family are on their own with their tent-gospel ministry. The family lived very simply, trusting the Lord. Sometimes Bill finds work to support their gospel burden. (Once he got together some money and rented a store-front on Easter weekend and then dressed it up like a 'church,' and then preached the gospel to those who came.) The entire family is given to live such a life. They are a fearless and buoyant band who venture into the worst parts of towns to bring the gospel to prostitutes, drug addicts, the poor, etc. They are reaching people who would not normally come to a building called "church."
We heard many wonderful stories of their adventures and their testimony of living by faith. If they were just stories, it would have been like the Prodigal Son coming home to receive the best robe with an empty stomach. But Jane would not stop bringing food as we fellowshipped. Thus it was around 10 pm when we received our second meal of the day. I normally skip breakfast anyway, and the meals came in about three hours later than usual. I must say, the pizza and those miniature egg rolls surely were good.
To our relief, as the night grew late, Bill and Jane offered to put us up for the night. The first thing I asked for was a shower, which was much needed. We slept in their trailer home parked in their yard. To us, it was better than any five-star hotel. The promises of the Bible were starting to come alive to us: "Wherever you enter into a house, there remain until you depart from that place." Our Lord of the harvest was preparing the best itinerary for us, taking care of our lodging accommodations. Laying in our beds, Danny and I were beside ourselves. We praised the Lord from our hearts. I found out that Danny prayed earlier that we would run into likeminded people who would take us in. With God, beggars can be choosey. That night, we slept comfortably in His bosom.
Heart turned to the Lord
On Wednesday morning, I could not but come to the Lord in repentance. I was just overcome by His care for us. I repented of all my murmurings and distrust of Him and re-consecrated my life to Him.
Empowered by His faithfulness
That Wednesday morning we had a very nice breakfast and fellowship with the family and Roger, a fellow co-laborer in Christ. We had very heartfelt prayers for one another. Without our asking, they gave us $90 for the journey. This was especially touching since it was certainly not out of an abundance that they offered. They extended their hospitality to us as long as we needed it. Thanking them, we declined their offer because our adventure was only one week long and our Lord had much more in store for us.
Danny and I agreed that this money would be used as that day's manna. We did not want it to "grow worms," and we expected the Lord to supply us by day by day. The first thing we did was to go to Walmart to buy some necessities: two toothbrushes for 44¢ each; toothpaste for 88¢, a bag of disposable razors for $3.97; and a bag of white tube sox for $3.97. Then we used $20 for to fill the gas tank. The remaining $53 we used for groceries at Aldi's which we divided into ten bags to give to the poor. We set out for the poorest part of the town, which was a trailer park.
The first people we encountered were Santos and Tish. They gladly invited us into their home. We joyfully fellowshipped for awhile, and Santos opened his heart to receive the Lord.
Afterwards, we met many others who were also eager and open. Santos, Danny, and I talked about having a good American-Korean BBQ there in near future.
Around four in the afternoon, we stopped at Burger King for lunch. We had about three dollars remaining to our name. We felt good, as though we had handled our money as wise stewards.
Scared to Death
That evening, we arrived at Bloomington and preached the gospel at Illinois State University. As we were going to our car to rest, we noticed a rowdy outdoor fraternity party. I couldn't believe that they were having a party on a weekday night. When we got to our car, we decided to pray a bit. I prayed a general prayer, and Danny started to pray something about no fraternity kid dying that night. I could not help but be bothered in my spirit. I told the Lord and Danny that I was weak and that I was unwilling to preach the gospel to them. I did not want to die. When Danny heard my cowardly confession, he felt that we must preach the gospel to them.
As we were approaching the fraternity party with desperate prayers, we saw two students observing the party from their porch. We preached to them a sober gospel about not wasting their lives. One of them was very attentive. Afterwards, we jumped right into the party area and started to preach the gospel to small groups of people. One girl was very offended by the fact that we were preaching the gospel to her when she was having a good time. She let us know that she already was saved and she did not need the gospel. But Danny challenged her by quoting Revelation 3:16: "Because you are lukewarm…I am about to spew you out of my mouth." She retorted by saying, "I know I am saved because I already received Jesus into my heart." But Danny, filled in spirit, did not let her go. "Do you not think that you are lukewarm? Because if you are, Jesus will spew you out of His mouth." The girl went away sorrowfully, but I believe it was a healthy word she heard.
Our Bickering
Danny and I were great together. However, on the third day, we started to notice "imperfections" in each other's gospel. Danny's was a hard-nosed "sell all and follow the Lord" gospel. Mine was a much gentler approach. We started to debate, and it got so bad that I felt like quitting, giving up and going back home. By the Lord's mercy, we had enough sense to realize that what we were doing was wrong. We calmed down, talked some and prayed. The Lord was really good to restore our hearts together. We had one more bout like that, but the Lord was faithful to bind us even more tightly because of it. It was a great lesson for us. As we struggle for God's purpose, though we may fight we cannot be derailed. We must come to Christ so that we can fulfill His purpose together. This was our salvation and a real glory to Him.
Life to my Mortal Car
On Saturday morning, in Peoria, I noticed my gas gauge showed a quarter tank of gas. My car can go about 300-350 miles on a full tank. Hence, 170 miles on a quarter tank seemed impossible. However, I had a sensation I was not the one being tested. Rather, the Lord was putting Himself on the spot. We sang hymns and praised Him to turn our minds away from our gas gauge. I have to admit, though, that I was very nervous. When we got to Joliet, the orange empty light turned on. I started to drive on the right lane just in case my car stopped. When we saw the Sears Tower from the southwest side of Chicago, we were on empty. Then when we exited at Irving Park, it was definitely empty. As our car cruised safely into the parking lot, we could not hold back our ecstasy. For a few minutes, we clapped to the Lord because He deserved it. We praised Him and thanked Him for all that He is and was to us. "Oh Lord, what is man, that You bring him to mind? Or the son of man, that You care for him?" (Heb. 2:6).
Before we left on the gospel trip, Danny and I enjoyed 1 Corinthians 9:7-14: "What soldier ever serves by his own wages?... 'You shall not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain.' Is it for oxen that God cares? Or does He say it altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written….So also the Lord directed those who announce the gospel to live from the gospel." I would like to tell the Lord, and I believe Danny echoes me, "Lord, I claim Your promise and command. I do want to announce the gospel all my life. I never want to entangle myself in the affairs of this life. What soldier ever gets a side job to support himself? Oh Lord, as You promised, I would like to exercise my faith to live from the gospel. May this be fulfilled in our lives!"
Daniel Kim
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I've really been challenged in the last year and a half to just take God at His word. I've declared that the book of Acts isn't just for the first century, yet in reality I haven't fully stepped out to live the radical, whole-hearted life that we all read about in the Bible. A few months before I met Dan Kim I was at a meeting in Ohio, and a brother brought up Luke 10, and said, "This is what real Christianity was like. Do you want it now?" In my zeal I said, "Yes!" But in my heart I had doubts. I asked God to make me a real follower and willing to go. After Dan and I decided on this trip I was real excited but had a lot to deal with because of work, and to be gone seven days when I was broke meant a lot. God helped me to trust Him, that He had opened this door. The day before we left I got the time off work, and a check for just the amount to get to Chicago and back.
Being around Dan was a huge encouragement. The prayer and fellowship and just honesty gave me a sense of us actually being brothers and children of the same Father. I looked at Dan as an older brother and was encouraged as much just by growing in unity with him as to evangelize, and get our needs met. While proving God the Bible seemed to be very alive. Verses on the trying of your faith or rejoicing always were so very real. We constantly saw that by ministering to others, you yourself are ministered to. Such pouring out of yourself drains you, so we made many 'pit stops' to get refreshed by God. When you are in the battle you always need God. I found myself no longer asking for God to show me how much I need Him, but actually honestly pouring out my heart saying, "I don't know what I'm doing, and without You I can't do anything. My flesh is weak, but Your Spirit is willing." At times I felt like giving up, but I found that over and over His grace was sufficient. Dan commented on our having arguments; these were a real blessing to me. I learned a lesson I'd learned before but forgot, and it was that it's not about being right in all your doctrine or having one certain method or even being able to quote a bunch of Bible verses. Witnessing is about continually experiencing God's power operating in you, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory! Jesus is unpredictable, but never a man spake like Him! HE IS WORTHY!
A crazy challenge now, being done with this one week trip, is that the disciples in the Bible (that we say we believe) didn't take one week trips. They took a life-long journey on the same path as JESUS…a path of suffering. Let's get caught up with Him and do the same, for all power is given to Him and He is with us always (Matt. 28:18-20).
Dan Boone
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