Praying in China…
Stephan Montgomery
A little over a year ago, God began to bring to my attention a passion He’d put in my heart to go to China. At the time, I was on my way to YWAM (Youth With A Mission), to take part in their 5 month Discipleship Training School, in Herrnhut, Germany. During the training school, I was to be in Herrnhut for three months and in a country in the 10/40 window the other two months. I remember thinking before I left that it would be “cool” if God led me to China for the two-month outreach, but I just placed it in His hands.
I had been in Herrnhut a couple weeks when I learned that one of the three countries God led our school to go to was China. I was in awe of God’s leading. A team of six students (including myself) was chosen to make our way to Western China. In prayer time leading up to the trip, God put on our hearts that “we walk with Him hand in hand”, and that everything else would flow through that. He was asking for our intimacy with Him and our trust in His leading. Obedience to this word became the lifeline of my time in China, and brought my overflow of life for ministry.
Every morning, our team met for prayer and worship in our hotel room for one to two hours to seek the Father’s heart. During those times, God led us to many of our daily objectives, such as where to pray and worship throughout the cities of China. Personally, being in China, a communist country, where Christianity is illegal, and being away from family and friends was a challenge, but I sought hard after God and He met me in powerful, life changing way. He showed me that Jesus is truly all I need and He’s more than enough; that surrendering my life, family, well-being, and all I am from my hands to God’s hands, and letting His heart take over my heart leads to deep freedom and peace.
I remember times when my teammates were asleep in the hotel and I had a burden in my spirit to pray and seek God. I had to go into the bathroom, shut the door and pray. Those were some powerful, soul-sustaining times of prayer in that bathroom. God continued to sweetly develop a deeper intimacy between us and I began to realize that it is our greatest calling as humans to be His sons and daughters. He wants us to be intimate with Him.
Jesus did everything that the Father showed Him; we are to follow this example of intimacy. It’s out of a place of seeking and listening to the Father’s heart that the ministry He has called us to takes place. Life and ministry, I believe, should come out of a place of rest in the Spirit of God, letting Him flow out of us. The Holy Spirit gave me a picture of this as our group was in a Tibetan Buddhist part of a city. God placed a burden on my heart to pray for strongholds to be broken over the area. Our group moved into intercession for the city in that way. While we were praying, I sensed the presence of God and it was as if I could see myself sitting in the Father God’s lap, with Him holding me and we had so much joy together.
As I was with Him, various needs of people were being brought before us and the Lord would speak to me to do something in relation toward the person in need. They would be instantly healed or set free. The whole time I was in the lap of the Lord God, I was in laughter because of the joy and peace I had with Him.
One of the greatest testimonies I can share from the experience is the salvation of an 18-year-old Chinese girl who, before we met, never heard the gospel truth of Jesus. I was walking alone down a crowded shopping street in China and I asked the Lord for an opportunity to meet someone I could become friends with, so I could share the gospel with them. A few minutes later, I walked into a Converse shoe store and met my friend “L”. He was 19 years-old, spoke pretty good English, and we connected instantly.
The next night we hung out and continued to get together that week. He brought 6 of his friends to hang out with our group and that’s when we met “S”. She was “L”’s close friend. “L” was already a Christian, because 2 years prior someone gave him a Bible, he read it and gave his life to Jesus. “L” and I decided a group of us would meet at Starbucks the following week, to have a Bible study. The next Sunday, at the Bible study, one of my German friends, myself, and “L” presented the gospel to “S” and she gave her life to Jesus.
It’s a real blessing that I’ve been able to stay in contact with “L” and “S”, hearing updates of how their walk with the Lord is progressing and being able to encourage them in their relationships with Jesus. My desire is to continue falling in love with Jesus, letting Him lead me to minister in love to this generation in America and in the nations of the world.
Blessings,
Stephen Montgomery
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September 9, 2010