I went on a ministry trip to Llasha, Tibet. If you were to go there, you would probably agree with me when I say, "Tibet is one of the most spiritually destitute countries in the world." I call Tibet destitute because the good news about Jesus has not yet penetrated there.
Tibetans have only the big Llama Temple built in the side of the mountain. Daily they prostrate themselves on the ground, toward the Temple. They bow down to a lifeless god, who is really no god at all. Young men sit on the ground in a circle chanting, making repetitious prayers to a dead god who is without ears to hear them.
What a cold, dark country Tibet is spiritually, and its climate is just as cold. When I witnessed the vanity of Tibetan worship, I asked God "What can I do to help these people?"
As I prayed, this thought went through my mind, "It would be wonderful if a mission could be built in Tibet to house a missionary, who would tell the Tibetans the good news of the true God who is alive, who loves them, who has ears to hear them, and has the power to answer their prayers."
Neither my ministry friends nor I had the money to do anything to help the Tibetans, but here is what God did to rescue them from spiritual blindness.
A member of the Tibetan government wanted his daughter to attend a university in the United States. He needed an American to underwrite her. The Lord put it on the heart of a friend of mine to sign the necessary papers allowing her to attend school in America. For this, I am most grateful to God and to my friend. God used my friend's graciousness to prepare the way for the mission to be built in Tibet.
First we needed land, but it was nearly impossible to buy any land in Tibet. It would take an act of God. And that's what happened. God took action. How? He worked through the Tibetan official whose daughter was granted permission to attend school in the United States. We didn't have to buy any land, a parcel in Llasha was gifted to us.
We still needed the money for the building. Everywhere I ministered in churches, I spoke of this need. Time passed. Years later, I returned to Tibet with Brother Bergman (Assistant Pastor at Aurora Tabernacle near Seattle, Washington). His wife went with us. We took hundreds of pounds of Bibles to distribute to the Tibetans. The Bergmans saw firsthand the spiritual disaster in Llasha.
When he returned home, Brother Bergman told others (in the United States and in Mexico) of the spiritual starvation in Tibet and of the desperate need for a mission in Llasha.
Some Chinese believers were in one of his meetings. Upon hearing of our adventures in Tibet, they realized the great need that existed in that country. They wrote a check for $25,000.00. But God did not stop there. He touched the hearts of believers from a church in Manchester, Connecticut, where I had ministered. They also gave a large amount.
We had enough to start the building, yet God kept touching checkbooks. A man walked into Brother Bergman's office and gave $10,000.00 so that we could finish the plumbing and electrical work. In mid-2001, Brother Bergman and Brother Graves (of Singapore) went to Tibet to oversee completion of the mission building.
Even before the building was complete, it was used "as is" to God's glory. Brother Graves recently told me he held meetings in Llasha. He said, "Tibetans and Chinese, have accepted Jesus as their Savior."
God gave us the land as a gift through the Tibetan government, and He provided the money for the building. Having a mission in Llasha, Tibet, is a miracle all the way. God performs miracles like this because He loves everyone, and wants them to know of His love for them.