God's Grace Through Generations

(Pictured here: Franklin and George Irwin, date unknown. Courtesy Bonnie Burnett.)

The Irwins began sharing the gospel and discipling new believers in Danang, teaching new believers to share their faith with others. Every Sunday after church, the believers routinely went out to the countryside villages around Danang to tell people the good news about Jesus.

One day, a man walked into the city looking for the church, declaring that he wanted to follow this Jesus he had heard about and be baptized. The Irwins gladly welcomed and baptized him. However, the people in his village tried to stop him. “Why are you doing this?” they cried. “You are going to bring hardship on our village! The spirits won’t like that you have followed a different god!”

The man replied, “You don’t understand. This God LOVES us SO much!”

After a few years of faithfully following the Lord, the man went blind. The other villagers pointed at him and said, “SEE! We TOLD you so!”

The man said, “I’m blind, it’s true. But you don’t understand. This God is with me and He loves me SO much!”

Each week, the man walked to Danang to worship with the Vietnamese believers. The walk took him an entire day. He walked to town Saturday, worshipped on Sunday, and then walked home on Monday. Even after he went blind, he faithfully attended church every week.

And God blessed him with a gift. Anything he planted, flourished. If he planted vegetables, they sprouted everywhere. If he planted fruit, the trees were laden. The other villagers asked him to come and plant whatever they were putting into the ground, knowing that it would thrive if he did.

Then, one Sunday, the blind man didn’t show up for church. Some of the believers went to his village to inquire after him. His family said, “He was sitting in the other room one day and we heard him talking. He said, ‘Lord, is it time for me to come home now?’ and then we heard a thump. When we ran into the other room, he had died.”

We don’t know for sure the impact of this man’s life on his village, but today the churches in this area are some of the strongest in Vietnam!

Story 1 Summary: One hundred years ago, the Alliance Family sent missionaries like the Irwins into countries with no witness for Christ, and from the beginning He was calling people to Himself.

STORY 2: In 1976, Frank & Marie’s daughter, Helen, and her husband, Dave Douglas were reassigned to the Philippines. They worked with Ron & June McKinnon among the southern Blaan tribe. Their ministry took them into mountain villages made of bamboo homes on stilts. In one village, Maan, the chief declared, “Our people need a religion. If you will teach us a religion in our language, we will follow it!” Ron called Rev. Ansang, a Filipino pastor, to help him visit these villages and preach to them every week. After about 3 months he challenged them, “I have told you all about Jesus and His way. Now it’s up to you. Do you want to follow the old way or the new way?” In village after village the people declared, “We want the new way.”

But how do you disciple that many believers at once? The Lord gave Ron the idea to start The Lay Preacher’s Institute. Each village chose a few people as representatives to come into the city for two weeks at a time and study the Bible with Ron, Dave and Rev. Ansang. They learned how to live out what they studied, then returned home to teach all they had learned to the rest of the village. In this way, the Blaan Church grew from 4 churches to 30 in just four years. By the time Dave & Helen retired, the Blaan tribe had over 100 churches. Today the number is over 180!

Many years later, Helen Douglas met a woman from California who asked her, “Do you know anything about the Blaan people?” She told Helen, “A missionary mentioned them once in church and the Lord laid a great burden for them on my heart. I have been praying for them every day for 20 years!” With great joy Mrs. Douglas told her of the thousands that had come to Christ.  

Story 2 Summary: At least one woman prayed. And though she didn’t have any news for 20 years or know of anyone working there, she kept lifting up what God had laid on her heart. When we stand before Him in glory we will see thousands of Filipinos standing there because of her faithfulness. Throughout the years, God has answered the prayers of Alliance people (particularly our Alliance women) to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Himself.

STORY 3: Dave and Helen’s daughter, Bonnie, is a 3rd generation missionary. She and her husband, Derek Burnett have served among the Buddhists in Thailand for 22 years. About three years ago, the Lord moved them to lead a team sharing the gospel in the predominantly Muslim South. One of their teammates tell this story…

Fatima (name changed) came to our games night. She stood out from the others because she had many friends. She didn’t come to meet people. Rather, she came to our event because she was so curious about Christianity. She had never met a Christian in her entire life, and when she learned there were Christians on campus, she wanted to find out more.

She ended up coming to our home where she asked so many good questions. “Do Christians have to pray 5 times a day? Do you fast? Do you read the Bible?” We began reading the book of Mark with her and she was so intrigued. She even came to church with us!

When she was about to graduate and move home, we took a chance and watched the JESUS Film with her. We prayed so hard! We know some scenes – the crucifixion, Christ’s death and resurrection – are very different from what many Muslims have been taught. We prayed that she would not be offended.

At the end of the movie we asked her what she thought about the life of Jesus. She said, “I now know that Isa Al Masih, the Messiah, has come. But my family, my community, my people are still waiting for the Messiah. They are waiting for the Al Masih.”

Story 3 Summary: Our passion is to go to the least-reached peoples of the earth; places like Southern Thailand, where they have little access Jesus. For over 100 years He has worked through our prayers, through our giving and through our willingness to go, but the task is not finished yet. May His grace continue to use us mightily through the next generations, until the day of His return.