In the midst of all that has been happening at Legacy Church and in my life, another story has begun to unfold I want you to know about so you can pray for Kenny Zheng and me. My first workbook, Jesus On Leadership, has been translated into Chinese (by Kenny when I visited him in 2003) and is currently being printed by the Chinese Baptist Press in Hong Kong. As I was running earlier this year, I was prompted to go to Hong Kong and take the books to our outpost on the mainland, giving them the gift they gave me when I went there two years ago. I told Kenny about God’s prompting in my heart, and he said he would love to accompany me, but he didn’t know if he could get off work and that they were going on vacation there in June.
I sat on the idea for a while, when one day out of the blue, a long time friend and consultant with the BGCT (he was LDBC’s “Sunday School Consultant” back in the late ‘80s), Lavern Plett, sent me an email. He told me that he had been through a divorce after retirement and 40 years of marriage and was the Adult Discipleship Coordinator at the International Baptist Church of Hong Kong! I almost fell out of my chair and quickly told him what had been put on my heart, and we began to talk.
Not long afterward, unsolicited, I received an email from Charles Chu, the former director of the CBPress and who had helped me get the publishing process started. He is now Deputy Senior Pastor at Shatin Baptist Church in Hong Kong and part of his job is discipleship training and publishing. (He is also a D.Min. student at Truett Seminary at Baylor) He asked if the workbooks were published yet and wondered if he could get some. I told him that God’s promptings and begun to be plans, and he invited me to bring books to him and possibly lead a conference for them.
On Monday, July 3, I met Lavern, Harry Lucenay, pastor of Kowloon IBC of Hong Kong, and Matthew a mission worker in HK, (all who were in country and in the Metroplex at the same time for completely different reasons) at Café Brazil on Central, and we continued our conversation about the possibilities of my coming over to share the books and teach.
In the meantime, Kenny was accepted to the Ph.D. program in accounting at UTD, and had the first week in September open as he would not be working and just beginning his studies there. He now had the time to go with me.
NOTE: As with everything else over the last several months, I have not orchestrated anything (other than the initial work to get the translated piece printed). Each step has been clear and certain. However, Kenny and I do not have the $2k each to cover our travel, and we have both moved forward on faith that those funds will be provided.
As of today, here is what Kenny, Lavern and I have put together as we have followed God’s open doors:
Leave USA Thursday, August 31 Arrive Hong Kong Friday, September 1 (pick up books at CBP)
Saturday (Sept. 2)--currently open, some sightseeing!
Sunday morning—preach at HKIBC
Sunday evening—preach at KIBC
Monday morning at ICSchool with staff
On Monday evening or Tuesday morning we go by train to a city on the mainland for two days to take books to mission workers and teach there and then fly on to Kenny’s hometown to connect with our outpost there.
I will return to the US on September 8 via Beijing and San Fransico
Kenny and I have purchased our tickets and have received our visas. The books will be ready at the end of this month and the opportunities follow…
I will tell this story to the church on August 13 and invite them to pray for Kenny and me as part of our series on Acts in early August. I will also invite them to invest in the trip by providing books for those who would be interested in receiving them.
In the Story with you,
I sat on the idea for a while, when one day out of the blue, a long time friend and consultant with the BGCT (he was LDBC’s “Sunday School Consultant” back in the late ‘80s), Lavern Plett, sent me an email. He told me that he had been through a divorce after retirement and 40 years of marriage and was the Adult Discipleship Coordinator at the International Baptist Church of Hong Kong! I almost fell out of my chair and quickly told him what had been put on my heart, and we began to talk.
Not long afterward, unsolicited, I received an email from Charles Chu, the former director of the CBPress and who had helped me get the publishing process started. He is now Deputy Senior Pastor at Shatin Baptist Church in Hong Kong and part of his job is discipleship training and publishing. (He is also a D.Min. student at Truett Seminary at Baylor) He asked if the workbooks were published yet and wondered if he could get some. I told him that God’s promptings and begun to be plans, and he invited me to bring books to him and possibly lead a conference for them.
On Monday, July 3, I met Lavern, Harry Lucenay, pastor of Kowloon IBC of Hong Kong, and Matthew a mission worker in HK, (all who were in country and in the Metroplex at the same time for completely different reasons) at Café Brazil on Central, and we continued our conversation about the possibilities of my coming over to share the books and teach.
In the meantime, Kenny was accepted to the Ph.D. program in accounting at UTD, and had the first week in September open as he would not be working and just beginning his studies there. He now had the time to go with me.
NOTE: As with everything else over the last several months, I have not orchestrated anything (other than the initial work to get the translated piece printed). Each step has been clear and certain. However, Kenny and I do not have the $2k each to cover our travel, and we have both moved forward on faith that those funds will be provided.
As of today, here is what Kenny, Lavern and I have put together as we have followed God’s open doors:
Leave USA Thursday, August 31 Arrive Hong Kong Friday, September 1 (pick up books at CBP)
Saturday (Sept. 2)--currently open, some sightseeing!
Sunday morning—preach at HKIBC
Sunday evening—preach at KIBC
Monday morning at ICSchool with staff
On Monday evening or Tuesday morning we go by train to a city on the mainland for two days to take books to mission workers and teach there and then fly on to Kenny’s hometown to connect with our outpost there.
I will return to the US on September 8 via Beijing and San Fransico
Kenny and I have purchased our tickets and have received our visas. The books will be ready at the end of this month and the opportunities follow…
I will tell this story to the church on August 13 and invite them to pray for Kenny and me as part of our series on Acts in early August. I will also invite them to invest in the trip by providing books for those who would be interested in receiving them.
In the Story with you,