FROM THE HEART OF ERIC FUNG-Obedience plus Perseverance equals Reward

As I approach my 32nd year in ministry and 26 years in AO, I have so much to thank God for with the countless blessings and even for the challenges and difficulties I faced in ministry. I can still thank Him for the strength and the right attitude to weather through. Remembering His promise in Roman 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I have experienced almost everything. Four times I escaped death, once in Sri Lanka, once near the Tibetan border and twice in Cambodia. On one occasion I almost drowned in the river of Sarawak on the way to train 45 Penan church planters. I have gone without food for two days in the jungle of Nepal near the Tibetan border. While preaching in an underground church in Vietnam, I had to flee for my live when the police raided the House church. The list goes on and on but I really thank God that I am still excited in serving Him.

The journey of a missionary or Foot Soldier is a long arduous journey that requires focus to endure the hardships but at the end, the reward is better than silver or gold. Life for them is fraught with challenges and even great risk to themselves. There are often anxious moments when they were caught by the authorities for preaching or when religious extremists threatened their lives and the lives of their loved ones, sometimes they end up viciously and brutally attacked. Being shouted at, chased off and having verbal abuse hurled at them has been a daily affair. Although faced with such challenges, they have never complained and neither do they demand for a higher love gift or salary despite living in very basic conditions.

God in His mercies and grace saw the works of the Foot Soldiers and their determination to preach the Gospel has protected them from death and He has blessed them with great encouragement through hundreds if not thousands being saved, miracles in healing and several hundred churches planted. To the Foot Soldiers these rewards are immeasurable.

Having said that, I am also reminded that the spiritual forces out there is forceful and determined to undermine what the Foot Soldiers are doing. As every soul is ushered into the Kingdom of God, the population in the Kingdom of darkness decreases. With this in mind I urge you to stand with us and uphold these Foot Soldiers in prayers on a daily basis.

Romans 10:13-15 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 

In AO we are the trainers and have commissioned the Foot Soldiers as preachers but we need senders who are prepared to support them financially and pray for them. Please join us to take the Gospel to the outer most parts of the world, even high up in the mountains as seen in our cover page, so that the Holy Spirit can do the work of conviction resulting in thousands being saved.

Their greatest reward and joy is to witness God’s powerful presence among them through the miracles that they have seen. One which I considered awesome was of a young girl, age 10 in Sri Lanka, who was left to die after the doctors had given up hope on her surviving from a terminal illness. One of our foot soldiers passing through the village was informed of the girl’s condition. He visited the girl and talked to her parents about Jesus and prayed for her before he left. A week later on his way back from an evangelistic meeting at another village, the foot soldier decided to visit the girl. The house was empty and the foot soldier had thought the worst had come to pass. But the neighbours told him a marvellous story of how the girl was miraculously healed by a doctor named Jesus, and that she is now an active and playful child. Testimonies like this make every challenge or hardship worthwhile.

We praise God for the many of you who have been faithful in supporting these Foot Soldiers, some since I joined AO. My prayer and hope is that in these last days before Jesus returns, let us join our hands and heart to give a concerted push to proclaim the Year of the Lord’s favour and to see thousands upon thousands ushered into the Kingdom of God.

May God bless you as you sow into His Kingdom!