Sacrifice Or Treasure

Adam 0:05

When God calls you to be a missionary, you at the beginning we think, oh, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna sacrifice for God. We ain't sacrificing nothing. God is allowing us to understand Him more. It's not it's not a sacrifice, it's it's a blessing, it's treasure, it's amazing.

Mark 0:25

Welcome to Kingdom Without Borders, where we share stories of God's work among the nations and hear firsthand how the gospel is transforming lives around the world. Today, we're traveling to the island of Taiwan through my conversation with missionary Adam Walls. For nearly seven years, Adam and his wife Ashley have been serving in Taiwan as church planting missionaries with a heart not simply to reach people with the gospel, but to disciple and train Taiwanese believers to carry the work forward. In this conversation, you're going to hear what that kind of discipleship actually looks like. But you'll also hear about the work that God has done in Adam along the way, from the challenge of learning Mandarin Chinese and navigating culture shock to walking through one of the most painful seasons their family has ever experienced. Yet through it all, Adam has learned something that I think every follower of Christ needs to hear. Following Jesus may cost us our comfort, but what we gain in knowing him is infinitely greater than anything we could ever give up. So, I invite you to sit down and join me for my conversation with Adam Walls as we hear another story of God's work in his kingdom without borders.

Meet The Walz Family In Taiwan

Mark 1:41

Adam, for someone who's listening who has never had an opportunity to meet you and your wife Ashley, would you take a moment to introduce us to your family and tell us a little about where God has you serving and what ministry looks like for you there?

Adam 1:54

Yes, sir. Uh well, we are the Walls family. My name is Adam, my wife Ashley. We have three children, Anna, Micah, and Mariah. When my wife and I first got married, my we were in children's evangelism. We did evangelism specialized in children's ministry. I would go all across the United States and other parts of the world telling boys and girls about Jesus quiet, uh Jesus Christ using um illusions and puppetry and stuff like that. And I had a blast doing it. Then the Lord burdened our hearts to be become missionaries. And so as we followed him, the doors were opened. We are now missionaries in the country of Taiwan, have been there for the past six, almost, almost seven years now, and God has been doing a great work there.

Mark 2:41

That's

Discipleship That Shares Real Life

Mark 2:42

awesome. Uh, you described yourselves as being church planting missionaries with a particular emphasis on training nationals. Uh, what does that really look like uh with boots on the ground for someone that maybe is unfamiliar with some of those uh um phrases or or words that are used to describe your ministry?

Adam 3:02

Yes, sir. So what we try to do uh by begging the Lord to help us and the guiding of the Holy Spirit is we will meet people with the intention of discipleship. We we focused very hard on studying what Jesus did with his 12 disciples. It was not a just a book curriculum where they opened up the book of they opened up a disciple book once a week and they would they'd sit around a table with coffee for an hour. Uh they did life together. And so did Paul. Paul followed that ministry, and what Paul did is what we are trying to, we are trying to mimic as well. He would go from place to place training nationals because the uh, I mean, just to be blunt and honest, the nationals can do it a whole lot better than you can when they're in their own context, they're in their own culture, they're in their own language. And so what we do, uh with as you explained, boots on the ground, we will uh meet with people, and they will our home was always open, our door was always open. Uh one of the young men that is now at the church plant, we're in the states right now. Uh his English name is Vision. When I first met Vision, Vision was going to be my language school teacher. And uh language school was four hours a day, every single day, and it was just a lot of paperwork, book work, talking back and forth. And so uh during that time, Vision would come to my house and we'd hang out together, we'd we'd play games together, he would show me around what time when these people would do. We'd we'd go to markets and we'd uh we we did everything together. And so it got to the point where we would meet together about eight in the morning, and he wouldn't go home until, oh goodness sakes, there there are several times when we we'd get back at 11 at night, hang out until about 12, and then he'd go home. And that was that was the typical day where he's always with me. Uh, and my wife did the same thing. She always had ladies with her. And so she's inviting people, girls, into her home with our children, teaching them uh basically just you be with me and watch what we do, watch wh how we act. And that's a mercy's sakes, that was that took a long time to get used to. That's not a typical American thing either. We like our sure, yeah.

Mark 5:34

Right.

Adam 5:35

And when you have people with you all the time, it it challenges you uh to even growing up, I've I've been uh I'm a pastor's kid, so I've grown up in a church life my entire life, and I thank the Lord for that. Um so I I could tell you all the right answers. I can tell you, oh yeah, you're supposed to disciple. Oh yeah, you're supposed to you're supposed to live a life that um that is what's the word I'm looking for? It's the same as what you're saying. You live in the city. Consistent consistent, yes, consistent with what you're saying. So it's not just a Sunday Christian, but you're a Monday through you're a Sunday through Saturday, Sunday through Sunday Christian.

Mark 6:19

Sure.

Adam 6:19

Discipleship having people in your home is going to push that to its limits. Because normal people uh bicker with their their spouses sometimes. And when people are with you, they're watching how you how you handle that. Uh normal people have to discipline their children and they're they're gonna watch how their children push buttons and how they make you mad. And when you have people in your house all the time, they're watching how you handle that situation. It is sometimes a very stressful thing when you begin leaning on your own strength. And so the Lord has taught us in this time that true discipleship, the way that Jesus did it, the way that Paul did it, it was it's a very difficult thing, but it's a blessing. Oh my goodness, it's a blessing. Because the Lord begins starting to, not in a not in a mean way, but he starts to tear apart every little nook and cranny of your life until you eventually realize just how deprived and nasty and sinful we truly are. And he begins working on that. And it's a it's a an amazing thing when you allow the Holy Spirit to begin working in those areas and teaching you more of who Jesus truly is. Uh, and so because of that hardship of discipling with people always in our house, always with us, uh pushing us to our limits, it we are closer to Christ because of it, and we we're truly grateful for it.

Mark 7:48

That's what I was gonna ask. So it sounds like as an outflow or an uh outcome of being so heavily involved in discipline one-on-one discipleship, uh, it you're not that you are changing really as much as the disciplee is changing, if you will.

Adam 8:06

I'd say more so. I mean, goodness sakes. Most people will realize that when you start uh when you start teaching, like if you're at a if you're if you're teaching a junior church or a Sunday school class or if you're just teaching, the teacher usually gets more out of it than the than the person you're receiving. And I'd say the same thing for discipleship. We we are we have changed a lot uh simply because of this method in it in a good way. That's good to

How God Redirected Them To Missions

Adam 8:31

hear.

Mark 8:31

Um take us back to uh before you get to Taiwan. How did God start working in your heart towards missions? You had mentioned, I think, um, some missions trips or something you had done, maybe as a teenager or college student. Um, what was God doing in your heart to prepare you for full-time missionary service?

Adam 8:51

Yes, sir. So back to when I mentioned that I was in traveling evangelism that specialized in children's ministry. The ministry that I worked with, the gentleman that was he was my Paul. I was his Timothy. His name is Steve Harney with Cool Kids Ministries. And back in that time, uh we would uh up until then, we had stayed in the States and we'd go all across the United States telling people about uh doing VBSs and camps and and preaching the gospel. Well, one uh year, uh Brother Steve got an invitation to come to the country of Ukraine. We were actually raising money that year through penny offerings to be able to build a church, a feeding center, and a school. And so while we were doing that, that uh missions uh uh the missionary there invited us to come and see what the money was raised for. And so we were excited about that. We got to go and actually do a camp there. And up until then, I had, I mean, I'd already been giving to missions. I think I was maybe 18, 19 years old. So I'd been I'd been giving to missions faithfully. The Lord I was very blessed to have parents to taught me how to give to missions. And um so I knew there was a need, but there's something different about knowing it with your head knowledge and then seeing it with your eyes. Sure. When we got to the Ukraine, I was blown away that I didn't see churches like you see in America, where you just down the road that you'll you'll pass two or three uh on the same road. And in Ukraine, I saw nothing. And I saw people hungry for the gospel, hungry for God's word. And even though I had a hard time, they were speaking Ukrainian, so I had a hard time understanding them. Uh you through the translator, just going around, my eyes were open to see a world that had not even heard once of Jesus Christ, let alone there we have the wonderful blessing of hearing about Jesus over and over and over again here in the States. It wasn't long after that that we got to go to Haiti. And when I went to Haiti, oh mercy's sake, oh goodness. Uh, I was watching children eating out of the garbage to get their meal that day. Um once again, no hardly any churches. It's the world deprived of Jesus, and my heart was burdened. And then right after Haiti, about two weeks later, we went to Taiwan. And when I got to Taiwan, the book of Acts just came to life. I'm walking the streets and thinking of how Paul's talking about all these different temples of all these different gods. Oh yeah. And here it is. I mean, in Taiwan, there's tons of temples, tons of gods. In fact, where we live right now in Taiwan, uh, our apartment, we are on the 13th floor, and when you look out of our window, there's this ginormous statue, the size of the size of if you put two uh houses on top of each other, it's a huge statue of one of their gods. And he's just looking directly at our house. And he's the oh, it's that's common though. You you see that all the time. And these they have gods for everything. And my heart was broken. And so I would ask people, have you heard about Jesus? Oh, yeah, he's he's a god, one of many, one of many. And uh the Lord began to burden my. So by this time, I wasn't even I wasn't married yet. In fact, we were talking about getting married. In fact, right before I left for Taiwan, uh, we left on Monday. I asked my wife to marry me that Sunday, and I figured it worked out perfectly because if her dad was mad here, I mean, I'm out of the country anyway. What do you do? Yeah, exactly. So I wasn't worried. Up until then, I told my wife, sweetheart, this is children's ministry, is what I'm gonna do the rest of my life. I hope you're if if you're not ready, if you don't want to do that, then tell me now, because this is what God has called me to do. But then it was during that trip and the trips previous that the Lord had really beginning burdening my heart. And when I came back from that trip, uh God had begun He He really started making it clear there's other people in the world that have not heard once, and I want you to go to them. And so uh I came back, my wife and I got married, and the next year we were invited to go back again. Now I was extremely excited about it. I could not wait.

Mark 13:33

My wife was So you're still doing, are you still doing the children's ministry in between? Yes, okay.

Adam 13:38

We're still we're this is still a full-time job. This is what we did.

Mark 13:41

Um, in fact, because So you're going to Taiwan to do children's ministry work.

Adam 13:46

Yes, that was it. I was in children's ministry. Nothing happened. Uh and because I was still a little nervous, I didn't know, Lord, is this what you really want me to do? Is this what I mean? I don't, I don't, I didn't understand. I'm I'm still a I was still just a small kid.

Mark 14:00

Uh did anyone besides Ashley know about your your interest in missions at this point? She didn't even know.

Adam 14:06

I I was just aware. Yes. Okay. I just tripped this. I tripped I just tripped the most beautiful girl in the world to marry me. And okay, I was at least telling her we're gonna stay in the States, don't worry.

Mark 14:18

This is so she's tagging along for this mission strip.

Adam 14:20

So she thinks that we're just doing a small missions trip. Uh but so that time I was thinking, Lord, if this really is what you want, then would you would you work in my wife's heart? Because I I want to, I want us to truly be a team. If if this is something that you want us to do, then I know you've brought us together. And you're not gonna separate our desires. You're gonna give us the one will, one goal. Uh and so I began to pray about that. Well, the Lord doesn't work the same way that we would like him to sometimes. Uh that trip, brother Steve, we were still with him, he got miserably sick, and then my wife got miserably sick.

Mark 15:01

Oh my.

Adam 15:02

They're just dying to go home. They they do not want to be there any longer. Well, I got miserable too, but not the same way. Because I, my eyes once again are open to children, uh, and not just children, but people hungry for God's word, and no one that I knew was was going. I mean, I've not even heard of Taiwan up until that point. It's just a dinky little island. One other reason I was miserable about it is because my wife was ready to go home. She didn't want anything to do with that country anymore. She was tired. And I was thinking, Lord, you're not making this easy, because it was that time the Lord made it clear to me, Adam, it's it's time that you uh accept what I want you to do. And so we got back, and I'm still terrified to talk to my wife. We were just getting over jet lags. She started feeling better. I told my wife, sweetheart, I think the Lord wants us to be missionaries to the country of Taiwan. And it was her response that told me for sure. I mean, I'd already knew it, but I knew that I had married one of the most godly women I've ever met in my entire life. And she was the girl for me. She said, I'm not saying no, but would you give me time to pray about it so God will give me that desire too? And we did. We began to pray about it together as a married couple for a year. Uh, I told the Lord, I'm willing, I want to, I will go, but please change my wife's heart before I just drag her along. And it was a year later that we were still doing children's ministry, and one day she looked at me and she said, It's time. Let's go. Let's do what we need to do. And that's how we got to where we're at now.

Mark 16:48

That's a pretty impressive story. And it's really neat to see how God was working in your heart. Um, and even through I guess it would be fair to say that your fear to let other people know maybe what God was impressing, he was still doing a work. Um, he didn't let you get away from it. Let me put it that way. Yes, I pretty much escaped that pull. And then, you know, to see that he also gave the same desire to your wife is a beautiful picture, a reminder to us that God um who can orchestrate our paths and our steps perfectly for his glory and for our good. Yes, sir.

Mandarin Mistakes And Awkward Moments

Mark 17:28

Um you said that you had quite a few stories about language blunders, and you even mentioned yourself about uh language school. Of course, um in Taiwan they speak Mandarin Chinese, is that correct?

Adam 17:40

Yes, sir.

Mark 17:41

Do you have a story you could share with us?

Adam 17:44

One of the things that uh when I first got to Taiwan and learning the language, I had been in language school for maybe two months. And I mean, two months you think, oh, well, at least you can order coffee. No, this is Mandarin Chinese. You're you're barely saying uh what, where, why. You're barely saying those words correctly. So uh during language school, you're always encouraged to take take what you can, push yourself, go out, order something, buy something, have fun with the language. Well, I'd always wanted a fish tank. And so I thought, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use this to motivate me to go and learn the language. So I'm gonna I'm gonna learn certain things that I need to get a fish tank, I need the fish, and all these things. Sure. So those are the words that I'm working on. And I'm going to the store and talking to people, trying to talk to people. And so I I had bought everything that I wanted, had it set up, and I finally I I read online that if you get a couple small shrimp to put in your fish tank, then they will take care of the greenery inside. So I go and I I pick out the shrimp that I want. I tell them I would say that. That's it. And how many? 10, and that's it. Well, finally, I need to, I don't know what shrimp eat. I mean, I don't know anything about that. So I need to ask that question, what do these eat? What do shrimp eat? But I I mean that's the longest sentence I would have ever said up until that point. So I hold up the bag of shrimp that the lady just gave me. And instead of saying, What do these eat? in Chinese, I said, Can I eat these? And the face that I got as some Taiwanese person looking at this crazy white foreigner, thinking, What is what do you people do in your country? So she looked at me and she said, No, you can't eat those. She switched to English. Like, she she she spoke fine English. That was the time she decided to show me. Like, oh, thanks. Uh that's I realized what I said, yeah, that was that was one blunder that I messed up. And then they get they get different from there. Uh I have cussed from the pulpit, not meaning to. Sure. And you know, you have those people that are just they're sitting there and they're slightly starting to daze off. I had everybody's attention after that. I didn't know that I didn't know I had their attention or why I had their attention. I thought, man, this sermon must be good. And it wasn't until afterwards that the young man I was talking about, vision, he's like, Yeah, did you tell you cussed during your preaching? That's why everybody started paying really close attention. Well, praise the Lord. He used that somehow.

Mark 20:27

So it's funny.

Adam 20:28

I've done it's funny, I've done all those mess ups.

Mark 20:32

So, do you find then that um while obviously Mandarin Chinese would be the heart language of the people, are there quite a few people that speak English, or is it really just kind of shot in the dark, like you said, like the storekeeper was able to tell you in English to not eat the shrimp? Is that common or is that less common?

Adam 20:51

It is it's a it's a somewhat common. So anyone, if you reach or you meet anyone by the age of around 30 and below, their English is going to be okay. They're going to understand you. They may not feel confident enough to speak it because in in Taiwan, when they're going to school, one of their big things that they have to learn is English. And so they their reading is phenomenal. They can read English no problem at all. They can understand it because the teacher's always speaking English, but they are very insecure about speaking it themselves. So most people won't speak it to you, but they'll understand what you're trying to say if it's about within the age of 30 and younger. Up above that, it's a shot in the dark. Most of the time, people aren't going to understand what you're saying.

Culture Shock Through A Family Crisis

Mark 21:40

You mentioned a little bit about uh culture shock and you know, kind of uh the experience of of living in a foreign country. Um, is there anything you want to share with us about that? Or maybe even like, you know, uh what was that at what point did the excitement of being a missionary in Taiwan wear off? Uh The culture shock, how some of those things come together.

Adam 22:03

When we finally started understanding, I mean, we had read books on it. The missions agency that we uh have come with that helped us prepare for missions is a blessing, Vision Baptist missions. And they they would push over and over and over again and have us read books on culture shock. And culture shock is something that somebody cannot understand until you've just gone through it. And culture shock normally doesn't hit until about six months in. So you're not going to experience true culture shock until after the honeymoon wears off. Yes, it's just gone. Yeah. So it was around that time. My been about been there about six months, maybe a little over, maybe a little longer than that. My uncle, by that time, praise God, my uncle's a missionary there, and he's been very kind to us. We were under his ministry learning the language. And he would occasionally ask, How are you guys doing? Are you feeling it yet? Uh do you do you need anything? What's are you all right? And I'm like, Well, you're fine, what's going on? Is also around that time, my wife and I found out that she was pregnant. And we were very excited about that. Um, we had been up until this point, we had only had Anna, our firstborn, and uh our other two children were not there yet. So we were excited uh to have more children. We were excited to to grow our little family, and we were excited to be able to have, we were gonna have the baby in Taiwan. Uh it was so it was around that time, still excited. Um, and then my wife started coming to me and she said, you know, I've been having some complications. I'm I'm hurting, and it's a different hurt. It's not a normal early pregnancy hurt. We thought, let's just go figure out what's going on, let's go to the doctor. Well, there's a problem. You can't understand anybody, and they can't understand you. Everybody in the doctor's older than 30. Their English is amazing. And so you're trying to break the, or you're trying to to talk to them about what's going on. And so finally, the the first doctor that she went to see said, You're all right. It's just, it's just regular pregnancy feelings. Everybody has problems in pregnancy. They're thinking it's her first kid. So they send her back and say, just rest a little bit. Well, she comes back and rests. And we're trying to trust that the doctor knows what they're talking about and still trying to learn the language and understand culture. And uh, they didn't hardly do any tests, they just listened to her and they said, just do this. Well, finally, she started bleeding very, very bad. And so we rushed through the hospital, and uh my uncle finally comes with us to this one, and they tell her that she has a ectopic pregnancy, which is when the the baby gets stuck in the tube. And uh by that time there was a heartbeat, but the heart, the heartbeat had stopped. And they are telling my wife and us in different languages, different culture, everything, that if we don't have surgery on your wife right now, she's going to, she could die. So that was an interesting time. They immediately take her into surgery. I'm sitting there with my uncle, and I'm I'm going through a my first true culture shock moment. Why couldn't these people catch this earlier? Why am I in this country? Why do people not do things right here in this in this country? Why uh this wouldn't have happened in America. These are all culture shock questions. Uh, if I if we were in my country, then this wouldn't have happened. If so that it went from anger towards the Taiwanese people and then questioning God Himself, Lord, why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing this to my family? What don't don't do this to her? Take uh bother me, challenge me, hurt me. Please don't touch my wife. And then as I'm as I'm there praying, and I wouldn't say terribly angry with God, but questioning God, what's going on? This is this is terrifying. And then in another thing in Taiwan, that's culture. My wife is still sedated. There, they're still she's on the operating table. They call me in. And there's my wife still on the table asleep. Her uh stomach is wide open, they've got her cut open. I see everything. And they just they just want to show me that they've done the job right. And I almost, I mean, I didn't know what do you do? Like, I don't show me this. I don't want to see this. This isn't my job. I don't, I wouldn't be able to tell you if it did it right or wrong anyway. Oh my soul. And that was so I just okay, yeah. I walked out. Sure. And uh that was my first true culture shock moment where I just at that moment, now I'm gonna I I beg the Lord to forgive me every day, but true culture shock is when you just hate the people. And at that moment, I didn't care if any of them went to hell. I was done. And that's terrible. It really is. And God has worked on my heart and I've begged him to forgive me, but that's culture shock. You're just you're angry. You're just angry. Um, I know now that that's just what they do. They, they're doing the best they could, trying to show up, show me that they're trying to take care of my wife, that they're fixing the problem, that it's not being left out or left alone. But at that moment, I didn't care. And I couldn't do anything to protect my wife. I couldn't speak for her. I couldn't, I couldn't do anything. And so it was during that time that the Lord had to teach me as well that I need to trust him in an even stronger way than I've ever done before. And that hasn't changed. Uh people, my uncle still goes through culture shock, and he's been there for over uh 12 years. So I I still go, we still go through culture shock. Sure. Every once in a while, you just you have to you have to ask yourself, why am I angry with these people? They haven't done anything to me. They're very, they're still sweet, they're still here, they're still caring. That's just culture shock. One day you go outside and you're mad at the world, you're mad at everybody, and you have to learn to abide in Christ. Um, and that that really does help. But most people don't understand culture shock. That's not something that you can you can understand until you've just gone through it.

Mark 28:45

Sure, you have to live there. I I totally um get it. I when I was in high school, my family lived in Europe for several years. And I think until you live in a situation like that, you don't realize that that people in other parts of the world carry on their lives and they think differently, they do things differently. Not because the way that you do things and thought and were raised are necessarily right, but just because you it's your culture. Right. Uh it's just it's the frame of reference in which you live. Yep. And whenever you are facing something that's so deeply ingrained inside of you, and now you're in a place where you're the odd man out and everyone else is doing it, it definitely can bring feelings, I'm sure, of frustration. Absolutely. I would think even probably fear, um, like you said, anger, uh, just all of those things building up. And it's a great reminder that in those moments, uh, you would have to run back to Christ because uh the reason that you're that you're living in Taiwan isn't because it was this great um vacation spot, right? You're there because God called you, God called you to minister to these people. And you know, I think this is kind of a silly uh correlation and it definitely pales in comparison. But and I understand God is not human in the sense that he's above us and thinks above us, but imagine the culture shock, if you will, of Jesus coming to a world filled with sin. And you know, the fact that he saw us, the Bible tells us that he saw us and he was moved with compassion when he saw the when he saw the multitudes. And what a great reminder to us that sometimes in our life God brings situations and circumstances that force us in in our humanness, if you will, um which we're completely human, but forces us in our humanness to realize that we are completely incapable uh to do this thing that he's called us to do, whatever it is, wherever we are, um and that he is more than able. That experience with your wife and in the hospital and that ectopic pregnancy, did it change the way that you began to relate to the people around you? Once you got over that initial uh frustration and shock, you said you mentioned, I think, that God began doing a work. Uh what was it that he was doing in your heart through that?

Adam 31:16

He was so that's where the Lord began to teach me that uh the American way isn't necessarily the right way or the wrong way. Uh it's just God Himself. Yes, it is a way. We I've that we in America, one of our big things that I I believe truly is um a wrong heart and a wrong attitude, even in our local churches, just simply because of culture, is that if it's not the American way, and we wouldn't say it that way, but it's but we we live it out. If it's not the American way, it's not right. But God is the designer of all countries, of all different people. God Himself likes differences. Um and there are things that are culturally different that are not sin. And so there are things that the Asian people, the the Chinese and the Taiwanese people will do that are they're not wrong. They're not biblically wrong. Uh, it's just who they are, it's what they do. Yes, yes, sir. And so that story helped me. By that time, I had not yet met vision. And later, vision was going to push my buttons in so many different directions because he thinks, he acts, he walks, he breathes differently. Because he's Taiwanese. Because he's Taiwanese. And that story was going to catapult me into an understanding that would help uh with that relationship. Because I truly believe that if it wasn't for that story, then me and Vision's relationship would not have lasted as long as it did because we're gonna, we would butt heads terribly. Uh there would be things that I did that he didn't understand. And he doesn't, he doesn't have an understanding like that. He doesn't understand in the sense of I understand that there's cultural differences. And so there'd be things that I did that he's he would just get mad at and walk out sometimes, and I don't even know what happened. And so it it took an extra amount of grace that I wouldn't have had because I didn't understand the situation before, but now I do. Right. Here I am. I need to learn to be patient with him because I I've been through that. I understand a little bit more, just a little bit more than he understands now of cultural differences. And so God, God did use that. And and I mean we serve an amazing God who can take anything that we think is terrible and turn it into a blessing or a an extremely good thing. Uh so there, I mean, there'd be times, honestly, that me and Vision would just butt heads and rival and fight. And then the Lord had to remind me of the situation. You guys aren't fighting for anything other than cultural differences. Neither of you are right, neither of you are wrong. So get over it, humble yourself and follow me. And I mean, it was a lot of humbling of myself.

Mark 34:29

That's I was gonna say, but there's a there's a lot of humility having to be learned in this process as well. Yes, sir, tons of it. When you say that, it makes me think about the responsibility again. Um, I would assume that in a situation like this, you're gonna have to go back again and again and again to why are we in Taiwan, right? It's not about me being comfortable. I'm not saying comfort's wrong, it's not sinful. Um, but ultimately it isn't about that. It's obviously the gospel. Absolutely and and this um relationship with the vision that God has used really to prepare, I think it it appears, at least from what I can tell, that kind of the next step in your ministry there as you continue to disciple him, Lord willing to take over and run on his own.

Vision’s Story From Religion To Faith

Adam 35:21

Yes, sir.

Mark 35:21

Um, in the in the in order that you guys can can replicate what you're doing now elsewhere. Um, you told me that vision came into your life as your um language instructor, correct? Yes, sir. Okay, where was vision spiritually when you first met him?

Adam 35:40

So when uh when I was going through language school, I went through eight language school teachers. And it was not because uh they just, you know, you get one, you get another. It was because all of them quit on me saying, you'll never learn this language. And so I'd rather go do anything else. I mean, it was that was a blessing too.

Mark 36:01

Encouraging.

Adam 36:02

Oh my goodness. My first language school teacher was one of the young men that my uncle was training as a pastor. So he had not yet surrendered into full-time pastorate yet. He was just working at the church. His name's Josh. Uh, I love Josh to death. So he was my first language school teacher, and he was with me for maybe five, possibly six months. Finally, Josh comes to me one day during language school and he says, I've never done anything this hard in my entire life. And he says, So if word for word, he says, if I'm gonna suffer like this, I might as well do it for Jesus. I'm gonna become a full-time pastor. Wow. He told me he's done and he's gonna start, he's gonna start uh he's gonna start training for being a full-time pastor. Uh so a blessing in disguise, I guess you could say. Uh, and so I needed to start learning to find a different language school teacher. Well, my uncle tried to help me find a couple more. None of them lasted. Finally, I found my own, and this is the guy before vision. He, his name's Levi. English name is Levi. Levi was with me for about uh seven, eight months, and I enjoyed my relationship with him. He he was a good teacher, but in Taiwan, the men are required to go to military school. They have to go to military. And so he was called up. He had to go. So I said, Can you help me find a language school teacher? He had a friend that would just move to the city we were in in Gal Shil, and that was Vision. And so Levi told me, Well, this guy, by that time, I'd been reading the Bible with Leo with Levi too. Uh, we had discussed Christianity, uh, Jesus, the cross every day. He had still not become a Christian, but he would probably he probably knew more about the Bible than so-called Christians in Taiwan. And so he said, Levi, word for word, he told me, this guy thinks he's a Christian. He's not a Christian, based on what we had read from the Bible. Okay. So he said, I'll call and see if he'll he'll be your language school teacher. So he calls Vision. And I'm listening to it over the phone. Uh, by this time, my language is decent enough to understand what he's saying. And so Levi says, Hey, I've got this foreigner here. He needs a language school teacher. And would you be willing to teach him? And Vision said, Yeah, I need a job right now. That'd be that'd be great. Levi said, Well, I need to warn you, this guy is gonna try to make you become a Christian. All he does is talk about Jesus. And Vision over the phone, I heard, well, that's okay, yeah, that's great. I'm already a Christian, so that's that's fine. It doesn't bother me. And Levi said, You're not a Christian compared to what this guy in his Bible says. He's going to try to tell you about Jesus, and you're not gonna like it. And he's like, Yeah, fine. I'm already a Christian. That's great, fine. So the next day, vision comes, and we get to meet each other, and he agrees to be my language school teacher. So we start meeting every day for language, and uh, I get to know vision a little bit. Well, he tells me he's a Christian, that he he's been to church. His father was Catholic. He went to a he went to a church since he was a kid. Um, he knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus died on the cross for his sins. He uh he knew all that stuff. Okay. Well, it was Wednesday night. And I said, Well, don't you come to church with me tonight? And he said, No, you know, I'm I'm really tired. I I gotta, I'm gonna go play Minecraft. Uh I asked him, What do you think Jesus would think about one of his followers not wanting to be with him and reading the Bible, studying and just playing video games? He's like, Well, Jesus is fine with that. Like, okay, I didn't push it. I didn't say, oh, okay. For months we would do this and I would invite him to church and he would tell me no. One day I said, So you know what? What's your favorite Bible verse? He said, Well, I don't have a favorite Bible verse. I said, Really? A Christian that doesn't because he told me after that, he's he said, I don't really read the Bible. And I said, Really? You know, that's odd because the Bible tells us that Christians have a hunger for God's word. And if you don't have a favorite Bible verse, if you don't even read the Bible, there might be something wrong. And he'll tell you in his testimony now that there was I mean, I've already I've been trying, I'm thinking strategically, I'm a failure at it, but how to reach him with the gospel. Little did I realize that the Lord would use that simple question to start getting him to think. Well, we would continue with Bible or with language school. By that time, like I said, we we do language school forward hours a day every day. The last hour was simply reading the Bible. I couldn't do anything else. All I did was read the, I wanted them to read the Bible. I wanted to learn how to read the Bible. Sure. And so I let the Bible start teaching, and I was just gonna stop trying to do it myself. So we would read a passage and I could learn, I learned the phrase, what does this mean? What does this mean? What does this mean? And he would try to explain it to me. I have no idea if he was explaining it right or wrong. I didn't care. The point was I was gonna let God's word start breaking his heart and start convicting him. Four months from the time that we begin language school teacher together, vision turned to me one day and he said, I'm not saved. And I said, Really? Well, what do you think you should do about that? And he said, I think I need to get saved. What should I do? I said, Well, you've read the Bible with me long enough. What do you think you should do? And he said, I'm going home. He just left. He went home. I said, Okay, well, maybe I did it wrong. Maybe I didn't know. That would have expected, right? Yeah, maybe I should have led him in a prayer, maybe I should have done something. Well, anyway, the the next day he comes to class and he said, I got saved. I asked God to forgive me of my sins and I want to follow him. What do I do next? And I said, Well, that's that's great, vision. Uh, it's time that you need to get baptized. And so the a couple weeks later, I baptized him in the ocean. Um, and it wasn't long after that, maybe a month or two, uh, we had, I was getting ready to finish language school. And we were already talking about possibly going to this the city he grew up in, which is Taijong, which is where we are now. Okay. And I told him, I'd like to go here. Can you take me since you already know the area?

Mark 42:26

So he wasn't living in his hometown.

Adam 42:28

No, he was living in Gaussian, where we were at is about a about a three-hour drive south, or one about an hour train right. Yeah. So we both went up together and we met his mom. She's driving us around, and we're in the back of the car, and I'm listening to him. By this time, I can, I'm still picking out every other word, but I'm listening to them both speaking Chinese and his mom saying, You better watch out for these Christian people and all this. And Vision told her, I'm gonna be a pastor. I want to be a pastor. And I'm like, This is the first time I've ever heard it. I'm like, What? You're gonna do what? Uh he said, Yeah, I want to be, I want to be talking to his mom. I want to be a pastor, I want to preach the gospel, I want to tell people here about Jesus. And so little did I realize God was working him on that. So it was at that time that when we were driving, when we were taking a train back, he said, Will you train me to become a pastor to teach my people about what Jesus wants them to

Letting Nationals Lead And Trusting God

Adam 43:24

know?

Mark 43:24

That's awesome. Um, so you're back in the States right now, so now you're kind of watching, right, from thousands of miles away uh what's taking place. Um, what is it like to see what God is doing uh without you there right now?

Adam 43:42

It's a humbling thing. If you read the book of Philippians, I've been going over uh since then, the Lord has brought more people than just vision into our life, and I'm excited about it. Uh, if anybody listening to this podcast would like to see the the people that I've Been talking about see their faces, then you can look at our look go to our Facebook page and uh or find me on Facebook, and you can I I share pictures of them all the time.

Mark 44:08

They're doing sure, they're doing a great job. Uh and we can link to that by the way in the show notes. Okay.

Adam 44:14

Uh so we have a it's just it's a small little church. Uh we've got six members that are Taiwanese, and they have become family. And when when I when I'm mentioned is when Paul is talking, so if you've ever if you've anybody has ever read the book of Philippians, Paul is in prison, he's been beaten, he's been, mercy, he's he's handcuffed to prison guards all day long. And yet somehow this weirdo is still talking about joy. Joy and in what this church is doing. That's I understand that. I understand that more so now. I I thought I understood it before, but this is what I mean. When God calls you to be a missionary, you at the beginning we think, oh, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna sacrifice for God. We ain't sacrificing nothing. Uh God is allowing us to understand Him more. It's not it's not a sacrifice, it's it's a blessing, it's treasure, it's amazing. And that's that's what it's become. It's not a sacrifice. It's I get to understand Jesus and understand the Bible in a whole new way. Um here, vision, he he's only been saved for four years. He's leading a church. Uh, he's not, we haven't laid hands on him yet. He's still he's still a baby Christian. But I when I say baby Christian, I mean he can, I'd put him up against most American, even pastors, to be honest. That boy knows his Bible. He loves God's word. He has studied. We have the part of that discipleship is he's with me for 12, 14 hours a day. We're pouring into God's word. We're uh he's not a novice in a sense of knowing God's word. And God has truly blessed in that way. I thought, like I mentioned, uh you mentioned how we're back in the States right now. We weren't supposed to be here. I didn't want to be here, to be honest. This is this is completely God doing things that's completely out of my control. I couldn't go back right now if I wanted to for health reasons. So I didn't expect to tell Vision goodbye yet. We it was planned. I mean, our original furlough was supposed to start next year anyway. So, in our back of my mind, in the back of my mind, I would even tell Vision, Vision, I'm preparing you for this. I'm gonna be gone for a while, and I need you, you're you're gonna do it. But don't ever trust your own strength. Always let it the strength come from the Holy Spirit. So he knew it was coming. We just both didn't know it was coming this soon. And so when I finally left, and praise God, we have technology nowadays, I told Vision, don't worry about it. I'll be proud of you if you just keep the building there, don't burn it down. And if people are if there's even one person left when I get back, praise God. Well, silly me and my little faith, there's more people coming now than when I was there. Because the nationals do it better. And God has truly humbled me and not a bad way. I mean, I'm I'm tickled to death. No, yeah. It's what I've been trying to, we've been my wife and I have been trying to do is pour into them. And it let me mention that as well. If it wasn't for my wife, none of this would happen. I mean, goodness sakes, in the morning. My uh, my wife is the reason there's a ministry there. She's kept me my head above water, she's encouraged me when I've been down. My wife has been uh, she's truly the biggest blessing outside of my salvation that the Lord has ever given me. So my wife and I both have poured hours into vision, and the church there is doing a great job, and the Lord is teaching them, and they've got visitors all the time. I just needed to step out of the way. And the Lord reminding me that it was never me to begin with. It was, he did not need me to start a church, he allowed me to watch it happen, and it was the greatest blessing in the world. That's awesome.

Mark 48:14

Do you think uh there's something missionaries need to learn, have to learn about eventually becoming less necessary?

Adam 48:23

I think a big thing that the Lord has been teaching me through that whole time is I guess the greatest story in the Bible that helped me summarize it was John the Baptist. John the Baptist says, No man can have any ministry except the Lord give it to him. And when the Lord decides to take it back because it was never ours to begin with, our proper and our right way of seeing that should be, he must increase, I must decrease. Um that is the proper, the correct response when God says, Let me show you who's really in charge anyway. And but that's not a bad thing because if you read that verse, he must increase, I must decrease, for the longest time, and I still dare to say most people, when they read that, think of that phrase, that story as a sad thing. I'm humbling myself, I'm sad, it's not as great anymore. It's that's going downhill. But if you read the verse right before that, John says, I am my joy is fulfilled. I am overflown with joy. When Jesus increases and we decrease, to a Christian, a true born-again believer whose eyes are fixated on Jesus, there's nothing more joyful than that. He fulfills our joy when that happens, when we decrease and he increases. Never once should we ever try to do it in our own strength. So one of the greatest passages that I still absolutely love to preach, teach, because it was the closest to my heart during that time, is Luke chapter 11, when the disciples ask Jesus, teach us to pray. It's a famous passage, most people would know it, but Luke ends his passage a little differently than Matthew. So in Matthew Gospel, when Jesus is teaching them, uh, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. He's going through all these things. And then Luke, he he goes even more into it. And at the end of it all, the end of this prayer, Jesus says, So he says, You being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will the Lord give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? In prayer, the biggest thing that God wants us to ask for is the strength of the Holy Spirit to do anything, to breathe. I can't do a blessed thing without the Holy Spirit's strength to do it in me. I am the weakest, most terrified person you have ever met. I'm a coward at heart. I'm I'd rather be hiding in my house with locked doors, no Taiwanese people inside. I I can't do the easiest. I mean, I can't speak. I can't even speak. But the Holy Spirit gives me the strength to do everything. And praise God. It is because of that, is because of that passage that the Lord has taught me that uh it's not me that does it. It's always been him. And so coming here, letting go, watching, trusting that God does the same thing with vision and the church there. It's just been a blessing.

What Taiwan Teaches About Church Family

Mark 51:35

We often think of missionaries as being people who go overseas to teach others, right? But what have the Taiwanese believers taught you? Oh, mercy. Um community.

Adam 51:48

So the I've learned a lot more about my Bible simply because the Bible was written originally to an Eastern context people group, not a Western individualistic people group. I've learned so much by the Taiwanese people of what the Bible truly means by family relationship. And when I mean by family, I mean the biggest thing is the church. So here in America, still to this day, no matter how much people will say, oh yes, the church is a family, we don't, we don't understand that. We don't. We get together on Sundays, maybe Wednesdays. Very rarely will we invite people from our church to our home uh to do life with us. We we just don't do life with each other. We don't do discipleship. Uh, but the Bible is screaming that in an Eastern context that the church is a family. And when it means family, it is so vision. When he got saved and he began training for the ministry, his mom looked at him and said, You're no longer my son. You you have you've given up our Taiwanese ways, you're you're becoming a white American, so you're no longer my son. The church became his family, his mom, his dad, his brothers, his sisters. Uh, there's another young man in our church, Leo, and he has a family that says that they're Christians. Same context of which vision came from. But his family says, You're getting too wrapped up in this Christian thing, this Jesus thing. You're you're at church way too much. You need to work, you need to earn money. So his family has taught kind of written him off. The church became his family. Uh, another lady in our church, Tracy, her family wants nothing to do with her. Her kids are hardly around her. They're grown up now, but they still want nothing to do with her. Her church is her family. What Taiwanese people have taught me is that in America, there's we we don't know one thing about truly suffering for Jesus, like most biblical contexts where they're losing family members. And that's what the church was supposed to be. Uh you are you are becoming the father, the mother, the brother, the sister, the aunt, the uncle, that they're losing because of their because they're following Jesus. Um it's a very big community thing. And we just we don't understand that in the Western world. We don't understand community like like an Eastern world does. So that's one big thing I've learned from being in Taiwan, from watching them. Another thing, I'll just point out one passage that comes to mind that blew me away when I finally understood it. So the prodigal son. This is the best way I can explain the difference between Western and Eastern context. When I started teaching, because I'm the master, you know, I'm I I know God's word, I'm the man of God that has showed up in Taiwan. And so I start teaching the prodigal son. Well, my Western eyes focus on one character, the prodigal son. That's that's the when everybody here when you when you preach it, that's just who you focus on. So finally, this West, this this prodigal son, his eyes are open one day, and like, man, this is what am I doing? My my father's home has this, that, and the other, and I'm over here eating pigs flop. So he humbles himself, goes back to the home. Do you realize Eastern eyes don't even pay attention to him? That's just a little blurt in that story. Uh, the main character has always been, always will be, the father. The father in an eastern context. So that is a shame, honor, shame culture. We don't understand honor shame culture in America. Uh, what that boy did shamed his father so much that when the Taiwanese people read that story, and the boy comes back and the father embraces him, everybody's focus is on the dad. What are you doing? What kind of a father would allow such a terrible person to come back? Our Western eyes are the way that we view things, of course, he's a good dad. He's gonna accept him, but that's not an Eastern culture. That's not who these people this story was originally intended for. Sure. These this dad has just been slapped spit in the face. And in original story, that's not how that story would go. That father would be like, What are you doing? You get out here. If anything, uh, it would have been a blessing for him to take him back as a servant. And that's what he's trying to go back for. Right. But the father, not he he runs, which is not a thing that they did, and he embraces them and he he won't even let them get his feel out. He he says, put clothes on them, and my son has come home. That's where their eyes focus on. And that's it, that's the difference between Eastern honor shame culture eyes and and our western eyes. That's just a big difference that helped me understand that even the way we read the Bible is sometimes different and as to how it was originally intended.

Mark 57:03

Yeah, our cultural context really does um affect so much, even without, even when we think we're not I'm I'm not gonna let this be an issue, or I'm not gonna, it's just it's part of who we are. Yep. And uh yeah, what a what a beautiful picture um to see a father that's willing to bear the shame of of his son's bad choices so that he can have a relationship with him. If there isn't anything more beautiful than the picture of the gospel right there, you know, it's uh it's always a remarkable thing when I think about all that Jesus gave up and and what he got in return, you know. It's like it was it was a terrible exchange for him. But man, we are we are blessed beyond measure, yeah, that he would take our robes of filth and sin and give us his robes of righteousness. Um, Adam, we're kind of wrapping this up. After six years of missionary life there in Taiwan, is there something that you wish churches in America understood better about missions?

Adam 58:12

I I think I harped on it a little bit and I'll mention it again. Yes, being a missionary sometimes is hard. It's difficult. Uh I would not go back to the deputation times unless the Lord drugged me there. It wasn't fun in a sense of because it's it's awkward for everybody. It's awkward for the pastor, it's awkward for the missionary. I understand that. Here you are feeling like you're begging for money. And here the pastor has heard he's had that call already five times that day. And the pastor doesn't necessarily want to say no, but he he can't say yes. And the and the missionary, it's just an awkward feeling. So you got awkward times. But then when you get to the field, it just increases. The difficulties increase. I mean, that going back to deputation in the sense of that would be a piece of cake. Deputation was nothing compared to what you're doing in the field. But I can't emphasize enough that it is not a sacrifice to follow Jesus. If you would be so blessed as the Lord saying, Come with me to this country, when the rich young ruler leaves Jesus because Jesus says, Sell all of your goods, give it to the poor, and come and follow me. The rich man leaves because he had many riches and he was sad. The writer Luke tells us what um big mouth Peter has to say. Peter, I just love Peter because Peter gives me a lot of hope that I might be something for Jesus one day.

Mark 59:51

Uh you're not a lost cause.

Adam 59:54

Yeah, good. Praise the Lord for Peter to help encourage us. Uh Peter wants to open his mouth. Like, Jesus, we've left everything for you. I mean, he's he's just trying to like, look at look at me, Peter. Look at me, Jesus. I did something for you. And then Jesus says, when I first read it, he says, There is no man that hath not left father, mother, wife, children, everything that will not receive manifold more in this life and in the life to come. And when I first thought, when I first read that, I think, oh, wow, Jesus just being, he's encouraging. Like, good job, Peter. You did a good job. You know what, you know what Jesus is actually saying? Peter, you ain't done nothing. You ain't gave nothing. Because there's nothing that you won't give me that I'm not going to blast it out of the water with how much I give you back in this world and the world to come. It's not a comparison. It's nothing, it's not a tap ourselves on the shoulder saying, we did a good job. I'm giving Jesus this. I'm giving him nothing compared to what he is going to give me. And if I could encourage anybody thinking about missions, pastors listening to this, potential missionaries listening to this, it's that, yes, you're going to go through a hard time. But all of those hard times are just to teach you who Jesus is more. So embrace it. Um and never look at it as, man, I'm giving up so much. Always look at it with the view of Jesus, the way Jesus looked at it is how much am I getting in return? I mean, it's not even a comparison.

Advice For Future Missionaries And Prayer

Mark 1:01:30

What a great reminder and challenge to us. You know, I you had mentioned just a brief moment ago, but I hope that there are people. My prayer is that there are people that will be listening to this who maybe are struggling with uh considering if God might have them to serve cross-culturally, but maybe fear keeps winning or there's something that's preventing them from going all in. Is there any advice that you would give that person? Absolutely.

Adam 1:01:57

Find um begin now, start now. So the Lord's not gonna call you. Um, if you think, well, the Lord's calling me in the missions, but you're not doing anything where you're at now at your local church, that he's not calling you because he's not gonna call you to, he's not gonna tell you to take the ginormous step before you've taken the smaller step. Sure. If you think that the, and let me reword that, because the Lord might be burdening your heart to do it. The way you put that to the test is start where you're at. So go to your local pastor now. Say, Pastor, what do you need me to do around the church? What can I begin doing? How can I can't first and before anything else, ask your pastor, can you start discipling me? Can I be discipled? But in whatever way that pastor is willing to open him up himself up to you. Start getting poured into by your pastor, by your, by, by men of the church that know God's word. Umak up every second you possibly can. Make yourself available to them. If they only have a certain amount of time and you you work your schedule around for them. You, you, you jump in where you can, uh, that's convenient for them. Uh the next thing I would say is once you're you're being poured into yourself, begin pouring into others. Uh, start a Bible study. Goodness, start a Bible study. There are there are millions of people around us that are not willing to step foot into a church, but they would be willing to sit down for coffee and read a Bible. They have questions. That's gonna push you to your to your limits as well, because you're gonna find out people have questions, you don't have answers, which is why I said first, have a discipleship with your pastor, because oh, Pastor, uh, I was I made a fool of myself. I didn't know this answer to this question. First, Pastor, how when I get asked a question that I don't know how to answer, how should I answer that? Then how do I answer this question that they just asked me? So you've got a lot to talk about when you're doing stuff, when you're serving. You don't have a lot to talk about when you're not doing anything. You're just there taking a book knowledge.

Mark 1:04:03

Yeah.

Adam 1:04:04

So get involved. Start serving. Uh, be your right-hand man to your pastor. And as the Lord begins to give you more opportunities, he will make it abundantly clear if he's calling you into missions. Believe it or not, even the Bible tells us this that if you're called into missions, most of the time, other people in the church know it before you do. The pastor will know it before you do, other people in the church will know it before you do. Uh, the first time Paul and Barnabas are called into ministry, uh, this is a miraculous thing that took place. But the Bible says that he spoke to the church. He didn't speak to Paul and Barnabas, he spoke to the church, and the church sent him out. So it's the same way. Uh, your church will know before you do, most of the time.

Mark 1:04:50

That's a great picture reminder for us that when God calls, he um not only in our own lives gives confidence, but even in believers around us, confidence that he's called us to do that work. Um, as we kind of wrap things up today and thinking about you and your family and the work that you're doing in Taiwan, is there anything specifically that we could be praying for in your ministry? Yes, please.

Adam 1:05:17

Uh, I would beg everybody to continue to pray for the work in Taiwan, pray for vision. Um, pray for our church. Here's the things that I'd ask you to pray for in this in that sense. Pray for the protection of God's protection over the church, over vision. There are spiritual darknesses, spiritual wars that we do not understand that they're fighting every single day. Pray for encouragement in the Lord for them. Pray for joy. Pray that they have joy in serving Jesus. And I one of the biggest things I would ask that they would pray for with vision and the church is that continue to pray that the Lord would. Be so gracious as to teach them how much Christ loved them. Because it is Christ's love that motivates us to go further, to do more. And if we just Paul said in Romans 16, 15 or 16, uh, to understand the the width and height and depth uh of God's love. That's what his prayer was. And his prayer for that simply is because if we don't understand God's love for us, then we're gonna get drugged down very quickly. But understanding God's love is has to has you have to have prayer. Because once again, our sinful fleshly hearts and minds can't understand that love. But if we pray for others to understand that love, uh they're gonna do a work. The next thing that I would ask everybody to pray for is our three kids. Now they're still young right now, Anna's six, Micah's three, Mariah's uh one. But my heart is that our children will come to know Jesus one day. That uh our greatest, I don't know how to say it, I don't want to say fear, but I would be broken. If I dedicated my life to Taiwan and people in Taiwan got saved, but my children didn't, I would be broken. So please pray for the salvation of my children. That's one big thing that that weighs heavy on our hearts every single day.

Mark 1:07:25

What a perfect ending uh to this conversation, and what a beautiful picture of your heart cry for your own children. Um and I will tell you that one of the most important things as a parent. We're our our our oldest is 21, um, our youngest biological child is 14, we're foster parents, we have a a baby in our home right now. But uh Adam, just from me to you, uh your example for your children is gonna make all the difference in um in helping them understand the father, um, and helping them understand uh his love for them. And um I I will pray that you and Ashley will model that before your children, um, that when the time comes and the Spirit of God begins to draw them to himself, that they will respond because they will respond because they've seen a mom and a dad that have responded appropriately. That's really, really important. Um, I am closing out this podcast by asking every guest the same question. So here's the final question. Um, Adam, from where you stand today, uh, what have you learned about God's kingdom that you could never have learned if you would have stayed at home? That's a great question. Um there is joy in giving up comforts.

Adam 1:09:03

That uh you mentioned that comforts aren't sin, and they're they're not. But when I just mentioned the rich young ruler, it was his comforts, it was his riches that kept him from understanding the true blessing, the true riches of Jesus. You're not gonna understand that unless you get up and serve the king. Um so the greatest thing that I've learned in that in that sense is um be willing to give up the comforts and and you'll never regret it. Never.

Mark 1:09:35

That's a good word for us, Adam. I appreciate it and thank you so much for taking time to sit down. I this has been a huge encouragement to me. I cannot wait to share this with others, and uh I hope that it will encourage other believers. Maybe there'll be some young people that'll hear it that are you know considering missions in the future. I hope to pray there are some old folks that hear it that will be encouraged as well to keep staying faithful to what God's called them to do. Thanks, Van, for your time. Hope you have a great rest of the day.

Adam 1:10:08

Thank you, Pastor.

Mark 1:10:09

Yes, sir. Take care, brother.

Adam 1:10:10

God bless.

Joy On The Other Side Of Surrender

Mark 1:10:16

What a great reminder from Adam. There is joy on the other side of surrender. Following Christ may mean giving up comforts, changing our plans, or going places we never imagined we would go. But as Adam reminded us today, when we surrender those things to Christ, we discover that what he gives us in return is infinitely greater. We get to know him more deeply, see his faithfulness more clearly, and sometimes even watch him accomplish things we never could have accomplished ourselves. And I love the picture we heard today of that little church in Taiwan, continuing to move forward. Adam and Ashley may be thousands of miles away, but the gospel hasn't stopped. The church hasn't stopped, and God's work hasn't stopped. That's what the kingdom of God looks like. His work has never depended upon any one missionary. Would you take a moment this week to pray for Adam and Ashley, their children, and the believers in Taiwan? Pray especially for Vision and the Church, that God would protect and encourage them, give them joy as they serve Christ and help them understand more deeply just how much Christ loves them. You can learn more about the Walls family and their ministry in Taiwan at reachingTaiwan.com. We'll also include that link along with other ways that you can connect with them in the show notes. If this conversation has encouraged you, would you share it with someone else? Maybe there's someone in your church who's considering missions, a young person wondering what God might do with their life, or simply another believer who needs the reminder that following Jesus is always worth it. Until next time, keep praying for God's work among the nations. Keep looking for where he might use you. And remember, his kingdom has no borders.