It was a regular day this morning when I got to the train station on my way to work. I was walking towards the platform when I saw something that turned my day unusually regular. In the platform was a tall and lean man wrapped in a light orange robe. As I got nearer, my eyes were drawn to his feet. He was barefoot and on his right foot was a huge cut of a not-so-fresh wound but with some blood still showing. I felt my defenses weaken and my heart fainting.
I was very curious about him that I immediately forgot his feet and watched him in my peripheral vision. Now that he's closer I was even more surprised by him. "A western monk? I thought Buddhist monks are supposed to be Asians."
The train came and we sat across each other. I got occupied in thinking of Buddhism and why this man is walking barefoot around the city. I decided that he must be a pilgrim trying to fulfill some Buddhist vows to save his soul. Then it struck me. This man needs the Gospel.
How I suddenly wished that I've gotten over my flesh earlier and thought not of his wounded feet. How I wished I sat beside him and chatted with him even for a few minutes of our train ride together. It was too late for that but I know I can give him the Gospel in some other way. I quickly rummaged through my bag for something; a tract, a sticker or a card that has the Gospel or a Bible verse in it. There wasn't. I felt so helpless that I cannot give him anything.
I frantically thought of what I must give. I asked God to show me what I must give this man and to my excitement He answered right away. I remembered that I have a copy of Do Hard Things with me and it has the Gospel on its last pages.
It felt weird giving him Do Hard Things as I got off the train. How on earth is Do Hard Things relative to a western Buddhist monk in a pilgrimage excluding himself from the world? I may not know the exact answer now but I do know that it has the Gospel in it and God will be the one to work in his heart.
I'd like to invite you to pray for this man. That he'll read through the book and hear the Gospel in the end. Don't just stop praying with this man but for all Buddhists in the world.
You know he was a hare krishna, right? If you had stopped to talk to him, he would be trying to convert you as hard as you hope to convert him.
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