“How could I be a leader?” Si Ba Lu said. We knew him as someone who was quiet and shy and content to serve behind the scenes. For years, he had attended church faithfully and also worked in a local factory.
They affirmed him as a leader, but he deflected their praise, saying, “I am too shy, too inexperienced in ministry, and I don’t speak well.”
However, the pastors of the church took note of Si Ba Lu’s humility and passion to disciple others. They affirmed him as a leader, but he deflected their praise, saying, “I am too shy, too inexperienced in ministry, and I don’t speak well.”
Then, one day, I was asked to speak at the church where Si Ba Lu attended. I preached from the story in the Gospels about Jesus feeding the five thousand from the lunch that a little boy offered to Jesus. Among other things that morning, I said to the congregation, “It’s not about the size of the gift, but about into whose hands you offer your gift.”
After the sermon, Si Ba Lu ran up to me with one of the pastors in tow. “I feel like I’m ready to answer the call of God,” he said to us. “I want to give what I have into the hands of God, even if I don’t think it’s a lot.”
Soon after, Si Ba Lu entered Bible training and became an intern at the church. He served in practical ways—cleaning, cooking, and picking people up for church on his motorcycle.
The following year, God called Si Ba Lu to begin a weekly meeting at a housing complex for migrant workers. It was located about forty-five minutes away from where he was living, so he decided to move into a local room where people could gather.
This year, I visited Si Ba Lu there and sat with him in his room, a tiny space where now more than forty people gather regularly to listen to him tell stories from the Bible about Jesus. It was so encouraging for me to see how God was blessing Si Ba Lu’s faithfulness.
More recently, I was also in attendance at the first Christmas outreach event in this area that Si Ba Lu helped to host. It was a great party with a lot of good food, presents, dances, and testimonies. A well-known pastor was invited to share the Good News, but the guests were very resistant to the Gospel that night. I saw people staring down into their laps, or even walking away. We were disappointed—there just wasn’t the engagement we had prayed for.
As his voice became stronger, he preached the Gospel, giving testimony about how God had delivered him from sickness, from injury, and from addiction.
However, a little later in the evening, something changed. I saw Si Ba Lu get up and walk to the microphone. In his simple, quiet way, he began telling the people what God had done in his life. As his voice became stronger, he preached the Gospel, giving testimony about how God had delivered him from sickness, from injury, and from addiction. He spoke about how Jesus had given him hope, and how he was able to speak in front of people now when before he had been terrified. People listened, their hearts were engaged, and they responded.
As Si Ba Lu invited people to receive the message of Christ’s love and sacrifice, over half of the crowd surged to their feet! They wanted what Si Ba Lu had. That night, close to seventy people surrendered their hearts to Jesus.
GIVE
Invest in young church leaders like Si Ba Lu by contributing to a unique training course called Missional Leadership Training (MLT), an eighteen-module course that is being used to train local leaders to serve and equip the global church to live on mission. On behalf of the International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB), the training is being developed through a partnership between Multiply and the Mennonite Brethren Seminary. Currently being translated into ten languages, MLT has three main areas of training: Discipleship Foundations, Ministry Equipping, and Leadership Development.
To give, go to multiply.net/mlt
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