Meng Pu's story

"I no need many food, I no need money. I need talk to people, 'God is good, Jesus love you,'" Meng Pu said this with a strong and passionate tone of voice, waving his hands and shaking his head. Translation, for those who aren't sure of his broken English: "I don't need much food or money. I need to tell people the gospel." Wow. What a perspective.

For two hours today, I sat with Meng Pu, and using a sketchpad and pencil and his 200 English-word vocabulary, he told me his God story. I'm hoping he will let me record him speaking sometime, and then translate and write it down. For now, I'm going to write a brief summary of it, but I warn you it won't capture the richness of the story, the way he expressed it. If you ever have the opportunity, ask him to tell you the story.

Thirteen years ago in Burma, Meng Pu was a heavy drinker, and it nearly killed him. But God came to him and told him to stop drinking, ask the Holy Spirit to come in and get rid of all the evil inside, and surrender his life to the work of God. So he did. He became a Christian and has not drunk since, though he now has a pacemaker because of damage done to his heart even then. When the Holy Spirit came in, his whole family fasted and prayed, and he went out and travelled over all of the Chin state for six years, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons. Every time a miracle occurred, people asked him to stay and tell them about Jesus, and everywhere he went, people became Christians. And they paid him with fish.

I'm still working out the details of how he came to America, but he said that life in Burma was very dangerous and his family was scared. Now they live in a house and have next to nothing, and yet they are so thankful to be here. Meng Pu continues to preach the gospel among his people here in the states, and he would like to share it with Americans too. I call him our "Burmese missionary," whom God brought to share his love with my people in a fresher, deeper way.

He really did surrender his life to God - it shows in the way he doesn't cling to or cherish anything but the truth of the gospel.