“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
When we first moved into our house in Thailand, one of the first things we did was plant a banana plant. When it went into the ground, it wasn’t more than 4 feet tall. Two years later, it grew taller than our house, sprouted multiple shoots, and was looking great. But in two years, it never bore fruit. Typically, the type of banana we planted takes 6-12 months to fruit and ripen. Ours produced nothing.
Nine years ago, when I was in another country doing mission work, I met a university student. Richard was intelligent, loved to learn, and wanted to help people. That’s why he was getting his PhD in psychology. We invited him to our weekly Bible studies and to church. He became a regular attendee. He expressed great interest in the teachings of Jesus and in the Christian faith, but whenever we asked him if he believed and wanted to be baptized, he always said something like, “I love how Christianity helps people morally and gives them meaning in life, but if I get baptized or become a Christian, this will seriously affect my career in the future.” On one of my last visits with Richard, I asked him point-blank again if he wanted to be baptized. But he refused. It seemed that the seeds we’d sown were never going to produce fruit. After that, we lost contact for a few years.
Then, just last fall, out of the blue, Richard found my contact information and messaged me. He said he was visiting Thailand and wanted to know if we had any activities he could join while traveling in Chiang Mai. From the way he asked, I assumed he simply wanted to hang out again, as we had done in the past. To my shame, I had more or less given up on him coming to faith.
But when he came to Sunday worship, he told me some wonderful news. He said he was a Christian. He believes Jesus is not only a great teacher but is his Savior too. Since there’s no church in the city where he lives, every Sunday morning he catches an early train that takes him to a city where there is a church. It took nine years before the seed of faith sprouted in Richard’s heart. Eventually, however, by God’s grace it did bear fruit.
Dan Kingsbury, world missionary on the Asia-Oceania team and professor at Asia Lutheran Seminary
The same is true of our banana plant. After two years of waiting, it finally flowered and produced an enormous bundle of bananas. Right now, there are even two more bundles ready to be harvested.
God grant us faith to trust the power of his Word and courage to continue planting seeds of the gospel, even if we don’t see the fruits we desire.
Written by Dan Kingsbury, missionary on the Asia-Oceania Team
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