Anyone for Chai?
I was traveling in South Asia last month. We had a twelve-hour drive broken up with stops for chai — tea made with buffalo milk, spices, ginger, and lots of sugar all boiled up together.
We were finishing up when DJ said give me a few minutes. He goes over to the owner and announces, “I’m a follower of Yeeshu Maseeh (Jesus Christ). We pray for people and we teach the Bible. Can I share my story with you?”
He shares his story and prays for the owner’s family. The owner is intrigued and wants to know more so DJ pulls out a microSD card and gives it to the owner to load on his phone. Then he shows him how to use it. He can listen to the Bible stories and watch the Jesus film with his family.
DJ promises to call the next week and see how he is doing and answer any questions. He tells him, “Watch the film with your family, listen to some of the lessons, then we’ll talk.”
As they speak there were five men and boys standing around and listening. He asks the owner about his family, his village, father, mother— everything. His village is near, so next time he’s on the road DJ can visit his village and meet his family.
The whole interaction took less than twenty minutes. DJ wasn’t looking for an easy convert but an open door into a household as an open door to a whole community. He’d given the owner something to think about and something to do. DJ will follow up with a phone call and if the owner is open, a visit to meet his family.
I watch this scene unfold and the first thing I notice is DJ, rescued by God when he was a teenager from the tyranny of Hinduism and domestic violence. Devoted to the gospel, convinced of its saving power, ready over a cup of chai to tell his story and invite someone to learn more. Yes, he’s a leader and should know what to do, but he’s the leader of thousands of ordinary people who are doing this every day.
That doesn’t describe many Christian leaders and believers I know in the West.
Watching on the whole time is Gary, the seminary-trained Westerner, he came to South Asia twenty years ago sto find leaders like DJ. He prayed, “Lord can’t you trust me with more than just one guy?” No, but to that one guy, God entrusted a movement of disciples, leaders and churches.
In a movement leaders are not known for their ministry, their preaching, or their oversight of others, they are known for the workers and pioneers they launch.
Another thing I noticed was DJ didn’t wait until he’d “earned the right to speak”, The risen Lord had already given him all the authority he needed. The Bible has a word for it — “boldness”. Not brashness, not rudeness but free and uninhibited speech. That’s another difference I notice with leaders and believers back home.
Someone will read this and say, “It’s obvious he’s an evangelist, not a shepherd.” No, he’s a shepherd who, like Jesus, left the 99 to go after the one. That’s what it takes to see a movement of God that will sweep regions of the world numbered in billions of people just like that chai shop owner, his family and community.
