CHAPTER TWO

TOO HUNGRY FOR WORDS

Travel with me back to the underground house-church scene I described in chapter 1. On my first day with these believers, they simply asked me to lead a Bible study. “Please meet us tomorrow at two o’clock in the afternoon.”

So I put some thoughts together for a short Bible study and went to the designated location, where about twenty house-church leaders were waiting. I don’t remember when we started, but I do remember that eight hours later we were still going strong. We would study one passage, and then they would ask about another. This would lead to another topic, then to another, and by the end of the day, our conversations had ranged from dreams and visions to tongues and the Trinity.

It was late in the evening, and they wanted to continue studying, but they needed to get back to their homes. So they asked the two main church leaders and me, “Can we meet again tomorrow?”

I said, “I would be glad to. Shall we meet at the same time?”

They responded, “No, we want to start early in the morning.”

I said, “Okay. How long would you like to study?”

They replied, “All day.”

Thus began a process in which, over the next ten days, for eight to twelve hours a day, we would gather to study God’s Word. They were hungry.

On the second day I introduced these relatively new believers to the story of Nehemiah. I gave them the background and history of this Bible book and showed them in Nehemiah 8 the importance of God’s Word. Afterward we took a short break, and I saw the leaders talking intently about something in small groups. A few minutes later one of them approached me. “We have never learned any of this truth before, and we want to learn more,” she said. Then she dropped the bomb. “Would you be willing to teach us about all the books of the Old Testament while you are here?”

I laughed. Smiling, I said, “All the Old Testament? That would take a long time.”

By this time others were joining in the conversation, and they said, “We will do whatever it takes. Most of us are farmers, and we work all day, but we will leave our fields unattended for the next couple of weeks if we can learn the Old Testament.”

So that’s what we did. The next day I walked them through an overview of Old Testament history. Then we started in Genesis, and in the days that followed, we plowed through the high-lights and main themes of every Old Testament book. Imagine teaching the Song of Songs to a group of Asian believers, many of whom have never read the book before, and just praying that they don’t ask any questions!

On the next-to-last day, we finished in Malachi. I had twelve more hours to teach, and I had no clue what to say. Once you’ve taught Habakkuk, what else is there to cover?

So the last day I started teaching on a random subject. But within an hour I was interrupted by one of the leaders. “We have a problem,” he said.

Worried that I had said something wrong, I responded, “What is the matter?”

He replied, “You have taught us the Old Testament, but you have not taught us the New Testament.”

I smiled, but he was serious.

“We would like to learn the New Testament today,” he said.

As other leaders across the room nodded, I had no choice. For the next eleven hours, we walked briskly from Matthew to Revelation.

Just imagine going to a worship gathering in one of those house churches. Not an all-day training in the Word. Just a normal three-hour worship service late in the evening. The Asian believer who is taking you gives you the instructions. “Put on dark pants and a jacket with a hood on it. We will put you in the back of our car and drive you into the village. Please keep your hood on and your face down.”

When you arrive in the village under the cover of night, another Asian believer meets you at the door of the car. “Follow me,” he says.

With your hood over your head, you crawl out of the car, keeping your face toward the ground. You begin to walk with your eyes fixed on the feet of the man in front of you as he leads you down a long and winding path with a small flashlight. You hear more and more footsteps around you as you progress down the trail. Then finally you round the corner and walk into a small room.

Despite its size, sixty believers have crammed into it. They are all ages, from precious little girls to seventy-year-old men. They are sitting either on the floor or on small stools, lined shoulder to shoulder, huddled together with their Bibles in their laps. The roof is low, and one light bulb dangles from the middle of the ceiling as the sole source of illumination.

No sound system.

No band.

No guitar.

No entertainment.

No cushioned chairs.

No heated or air-conditioned building.

Nothing but the people of God and the Word of God.

And strangely, that’s enough.

God’s Word is enough for millions of believers who gather in house churches just like this one. His Word is enough for millions of other believers who huddle in African jungles, South American rain forests, and Middle Eastern cities.

But is his Word enough for us?