Gladys Aylward's Journal
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| photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com |
I am reminded of a man who tried to run away from God. He bought a ticket to sail far away. During a storm the man was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. After three days the man changed his mind and decided to obey God. At that point,God had the fish spit him out on the shore and the man went where God told Him to go.
Oh, I could tell hundreds of stories like that. God loves the world so much He will do the very thing we don't expect to get our attention. And I am no exception.
One day, a doctor who took care of my medical problems and I left a Chinese village located deep in the mountains to tell other people about God. Dr. Huang and I prayed, asking God to bring people to our path to tell them the Gospel. Villagers from the last village said we wouldn't see anyone. That no one live further up the mountain trail past theri village. But God showed us many people along the way. After nine days, though, we didn't see anyone else walking the path.
At the end of the day we had both grown hungry and really wanted to sleep in a bed. The problem: no people, no homes, no villages. I couldn't understand. Someone had to live there. The doctor and I sat at the side of the road to pray. I prayed for food and a place to sleep. The doctor prayed for someone to come our way who needed to hear about God's love.
After praying we sat and waited, and waited, and waited. We sang praises to God that echoed wonderfully in the mountains and certainly made my voice sound much better than it was! To my surprise, as we finished a song the doctor looked behind us, stood, then ran toward the mountain path. He shouted, "Look, there is the man we prayed for!"
I didn't feel well enough to climb the rocks with the doctor, so I sat and waited for him to come back. Dr. Huang returned a few minutes later and said "Gladys, guess what? The man invited us to supper and will give us a place to sleep."
The food and bed sounded good, but I didn't look forward to the climb up the steep mountain path. The man seemed excited for us to visit. He and the doctor helped me climb to the top of the mountain. He led us to a temple where lamas (men who devote their lives to worshipping Buddah) lived.
When I figured out where we were going I whispered to the doctor, "You do realize he is taking us to a Lamasery."
"Yes, I do."
"And you did tell them I am a woman?"
"Yes, I did."
"But women aren't allowed here."
"Gladys, he and the others who lived in the temple wanted to hear the ones who sang the songs to God. That is us! We can't say no now that I've already said yes. Come, Gladys, I will help you."
I had to admit, I had never shared the Gospel in a Lamasery before. I've never stepped inside of one either. I felt nervous and awkward about telling lamas about Christ.
Can you imagine? A person like me who had told rioting prisoners, soldiers, men, women, children, government officials and anyone else who came my way about Christ felt nervous about sharing the Gospel. Well, I'm sorry to say...I did.
The only way I could say and do what God wanted me to do at the Lamasery would be if God Himself helped me.
Come back next week to see what God did at the Lamasery.
Gladys Aylward
The food and bed sounded good, but I didn't look forward to the climb up the steep mountain path. The man seemed excited for us to visit. He and the doctor helped me climb to the top of the mountain. He led us to a temple where lamas (men who devote their lives to worshipping Buddah) lived.
When I figured out where we were going I whispered to the doctor, "You do realize he is taking us to a Lamasery."
"Yes, I do."
"And you did tell them I am a woman?"
"Yes, I did."
"But women aren't allowed here."
"Gladys, he and the others who lived in the temple wanted to hear the ones who sang the songs to God. That is us! We can't say no now that I've already said yes. Come, Gladys, I will help you."
I had to admit, I had never shared the Gospel in a Lamasery before. I've never stepped inside of one either. I felt nervous and awkward about telling lamas about Christ.
Can you imagine? A person like me who had told rioting prisoners, soldiers, men, women, children, government officials and anyone else who came my way about Christ felt nervous about sharing the Gospel. Well, I'm sorry to say...I did.
The only way I could say and do what God wanted me to do at the Lamasery would be if God Himself helped me.
Come back next week to see what God did at the Lamasery.
Gladys Aylward
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