Preaching in the bush

On Tuesday, February 14, equipped with our newfound mode of transportation (imodoka = car), four of us in the Chinese group—Innocent, Blaise, Jean-Luc, and I—set out for parts further afield. We had some reported locations of Chinese people and were prepared to preach!

The first stop was at a rice growing business a couple of kilometers out of town. We found the house where the Chinese were staying, but the locals told us they weren't home. So we left a magazine and an invitation to pass on to them.

Next stop: a stone quarry. We drove on narrow dirt paths for quite a distance, competing with big trucks coming from the opposite direction and laden with gravel, until we reached what appeared to be an office where we did indeed find a middle-aged Chinese man. Of course, he said he worked seven days a week and had no time, but we did leave our invitation and some literature. He and his colleague are the only Chinese there, but the colleague was in China at that moment.

Then, we found this coffee exporting place, and next door was a Chinese lady who said there are six people in her family living in that house. She was very pleasant, listened to some scriptures read, and took some literature.

Finally, we learned about another Chinese person at a stone-processing area (probably related to the quarry mentioned earlier). We drove through rough dirt roads—this is, after all, out in the boonies—until we met a local man, who said he could show us the place. So we left Jean-Luc in the car and followed the man. Where we went thereafter was a bit more rigorous than I had expected. Take a look at the following videos:

OK, I've done hiking on steep cliffs and crossed fast-moving streams in my life before, but this was the first time doing it while preaching.

Well, this last stop was quite rewarding. We met an elderly Chinese man who was very receptive. Even though his time was limited, he did take about 20 minutes with us. One thing we made sure to do on this trip was exchange phone numbers, because who knows when we can make it out here the next time, or can even find the place again!

Returning the same way we came, we found Jean-Luc surrounded by over 100 kids in uniform who had just gotten out of school, watching Caleb videos. Driving away was a challenge with kids hanging all over the car, even chasing it a distance.

That was quite a preaching day!