Divine Appointment

Occasionally there’s a concert in the stadium at the university near our house. Last night I learned from my friend Sarah that the Bee Gee’s were in concert (actually it was only Robin Gibb). Sarah & I decided to walk around the track outside the stadium to listen to the “spill over sounds???. Dressed in our jogging/walking clothes, we headed for the tack. We could hear pretty well, but thought we would climb the outside stairs of the coliseum to listen a little closer. We hung around and tried to identify songs – actually the disco fever craze was never really my thing – and much beyond Sarah’s youth, but it was fun to go investigate. We soon discovered God actually had a pre-ordained encounter for us. A man sitting on the steps struck up a conversation with us. He knew his Bee Gee trivia very well and informed us that one was deceased, and another no longer wanted to sing without him, so this was the other Bee Gee. Like I said, I don’t keep up, but it sure gave us material for conversation. Before long, we learned that his name was “Bond???. “Mr. Bond” he said with a grin. His English was Brit-English – because he was from Singapore. He is 60 yrs old, the owner of a factory, but since a tumor in his neck 3 years ago, he has relinquished his involvement but remains an investor. We also learned he is a Buddhist. Eventually, he asked us about us and he seemed touched that we would stand and listen to him tell us all about himself. With the concert serenading us in the warm summer night’s breeze, Sarah took opportunity to tell the reason we live in Taipei. First she answered his question, “No, I’m not a student, but we are both missionaries here to share the gospel of Jesus”. He immediately informed us that he respects everyone for their personal beliefs. Soon, I told him that I believe that God sent us to him & that we did not meet by accident, that this was a divine encounter. Sarcastically, he pointed to heaven and teased me for my evaluation. But God wouldn’t let Sarah and I go yet. She spoke about what makes Christianity different from religion – “we have a personal relationship with our God creator???. I shared that I believe God wants him to seek Him, so I challenged Mr. Bond to think about that. Sarah boldly asked (it had to be the Holy Spirit), “Mr. Bond, may we pray for you???? He said “yes???, but he seemed surprised as we stepped forward to where he sat on the steps and she said again “May we pray for you now???? He stood and we grabbed his hands and prayed for him. Sarah prayed for the tumor in his neck to no longer cause difficulty with his health and prayed that he would seek God and come to know him as personal Savior. After her “amen”, he started to speak, but I began to pray and he remained standing and holding our hands. I prayed that he would have the courage to seek the truth about God and that he would have numerous encounters that would reveal that God desires that Mr. Bond would seek Him. After our prayer – we challenged him to go home and tell his wife about our encounter and to be on the watch for the many ways that God is trying to get his attention. He was kind, and seemed to accept our challenge. As we parted ways, we continued to pray that one day we will see Mr. Bond again in heaven.

Planting seeds. Being obedient. Sometimes we get busy and walk past our divine encounters. Tonight we didn’t. Pray that we will be sensitive to the Lord’s Spirit to stop and talk, letting God use us.

Fran
8/25/05