Have you heard the expression “Boots on the Ground?” Well our Live Dead Missionaries are the boots on the Silk Road. Here we’d like to take a moment and allow one of them to share a snapshot of their life with you. Some names and details have been changed, but this is a true story from this colorful, vibrant, and sometimes surprising region.

My husband, Justin, received a phone call late last evening from a farmer telling him that the soybeans in one of his fields were dying.  It was a piece of land that had looked really healthy.  Justin was so disappointed and I wondered if he would sleep that night as he was so frustrated by the news. He and his local partner planned to go right away in the morning – a two hour drive to the village.  I prayed for him as I went to sleep, realizing how frustrating it is to work so hard at planting and then have something fail.

The next morning they arrived at the field.  Justin immediately identified the problem as a mite issue on the crops.  The owner of the land became very frustrated as he had entrusted the care of the field to his son who had been negligent in finding the problem, a common problem that Justin had warned them about at the time of planting.  The father was so upset with his son and had remembered Justin warning them about the risk of mites and yet they failed to see it.  Justin tried to take some of the blame for not checking in sooner but instead the farmer affirmed him in his advising and was ready to do whatever Justin recommended.

Unfortunately, there will be some crop loss because of their negligence, but today Justin earned some respect and a voice.  It takes people awhile to learn to trust here but once they trust, they really trust.  When they respect someone, they listen.  Now Justin has a voice, not just in the field, but also in his life.

So the farmer jumped in Justin’s car for a ride to the city to get the chemical he needed to spray his crops.  For two hours, he listened.  Not about crops, mites or fields, but to stories and testimonies about Jesus.  Now he wants to read the Bible.

It’s really not about the crops.  There really is no loss.  We are praying for great gain.