Good Bye For Now

Mike Card called today with the sad news that our friend Denny Denson passed away. Those of you who listen to IN THE STUDIO with Michael Card probably feel as though you knew Denny, too, because he was one of our most frequent guests. As the pastor of a small church in Franklin, TN, Denny met Scott Roley, another pastor from the other side of town. They didn't like each other at all to begin with, but God reconciled those two men and they, in turn, were used of God to reconcile many others from different racial backgrounds. It culminated in the Empty Hands Fellowship (nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling) which is an amazing group of men in Franklin who are learning to love each other and love the community they live in. As much as we have tried to tell the story of the Empty Hands Fellowship on radio, it is still one of the greatest on-going and untold stories of God at work in America that I know of. I know Mike Card and Scott Roley, and many other men are deeply grieving the death of Denny tonight. But Denny would be the first one to remind us that the good bye is only temporary.

God At Work In Vietnam

The first time I met Vietnamese pastor Rev. Dinh Thien Tu, “Pastor Elisha”, was about 3 years ago when he came to meet Joe Stowell at Moody Bible Institute. I bumped into David Hunt and Pastor Elisha that day and they instantly showed me a map of Vietnam which indicated that the place where the Vietnamese church was growing the fastest was in the same place where the persecution since 1975 had been the greatest. THAT got my attention.

Then, in April of 2007, I got to go to Vietnam with David, who grew up as a missionary kid there, and see Pastor Elisha on his home turf. It's an amazing church in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) with over 2000 member churches all over the country and spreading into Laos and Cambodia. Miraculously in late 2007, the communist government of Vietnam officially recognized this underground church and gave it legal status. The church Pastor Elisha went to jail for following the communist takeover is now legally recognized and continues to grow without compromise, even printing Bibles with permission. A significant factor in this growth has been its children's evangelistic ministry. For more see Envoy Ministries.

Well, I spent all day Friday with Pastor Elisha and his family in Wheaton. They came to Chicago to attend their daughter's graduation from Moody (another miracle story). It was a full and rewarding day as we were invited to sit with the news editors of Christianity Today for an interview, escort Pastor Elisha to Tyndale Publishing where he spoke in an employee chapel, and finally to my studio where Joe Carlson produced a series of interviews on the topic of "A Theology of Suffering" for use on the Moody Broadcasting Network in the future.

This Vietnamese brother and his wife are choice servants of Christ. Someday, we'll know the full price they and countless others have paid on behalf the Gospel.

God At Work In India

When you do audio interviews, many times you never get to meet the person you are talking to face-to-face. Sometimes they are on the phone or on an ISDN studio line. However, yesterday, Ralph Borde came to my office so we could finally meet. Ralph has been a guest on "In The Studio With Michael Card" several times. He is a very gifted young man whom God has called to the ministry of church planting, orphan care, child development, and micro enterprise develpment in India. He gave up a good and promising career at Motorola in order to be obedient to the call.

Ralph has founded Charasia which late last December opened their second orphanage, Faith Children's Home. The amazing thing is that this home is specifically designed to rescue children directly out of the Red Light District. He told me yesterday that even girls as young as 3 are targeted and held in bondage for the purpose of sexual slavery.

To hear our latest interview with Ralph and Michael Card, go here and click on program #309, dated 03/01/08.

How can you not admire people like Ralph who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose?

Misery In Myanmar

I am so grateful to God that just before leaving Moody Broadcasting I got to know Dr. David Hunt as one of the many guests I interviewed. David grew up in Vietnam as a missionary kid and now is President of Envoy Ministries. Because of David, I now have had the privilege of traveling to Cuba, Vietnam, and China for a firsthand look at the Church in these countries. My global view and understanding of God at work in the world has increased significantly through our friendship.

The remarkable thing about David is the personal connections he has made in so many different countries. This week, there is no better example than when he made contact with a Burmese pastor who had made it out of the cyclone zone and into Bangkok, Thailand. Since the military rulers in Myanmar (Burma) will not allow and foreign visitors, even if they are bringing in relief supplies, many organizations and countries are frustrated. However, as David learned talking with this dear pastor, they will allow the churches of Myanmar to receive humanitarian aid for distribution-- and they have the approval of the Minister of Health to do so. David immediately started spreading the word to many Christian relief agencies that they could work with this trusted pastor to get much needed aid into the country. It is already making a difference tonight.

Envoy Ministries is sending cash and responding in other ways (purchasing chain saws and generators, for example). The church in Myanmar is also asking for a printing of THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY EVER TOLD as an evangelistic tool that they can use in addition to the humanitarian aid.

If you are looking for a place to send money-- online or otherwise--to assist Myanmar, I would urge you to consider Envoy Ministries at this critical time. David has pledged that 100% of what is received will be sent.