Sydney Subway God-Story
I had recently moved abroad for my work as an engineer, and I’m trying to intentionally live as a Global Marketplace Multiplier. In the process, I have been seeking for a church in my new home in Sydney, Australia. I had only been here a few weeks, and since I had moved during the Christmas holiday, I was feeling quite lonely (especially as a massive extrovert). God had been constant in answering prayer before I got here, and constant in meeting my needs here, but the gracious God we serve, knows even the needs we don’t realize we have, and that’s what this story is about in the end.
God provided when I met a guy here on my first day who just happened to also play soccer, which is a huge passion of mine. After just a few weeks he invited to me dinner at his place with one of his friends who is a pastor because he knew I was a Christian. The Lord knew, better than myself, how much I missed casual, believing community, and how much I had needed it after being away from home for near on a month.
Not long after, I was on my way to visit church for the first time on a Sunday morning. I was on my phone talking to one of my friends in Christ back home on the phone. As we were winding down our conversation, I was boarding the train to get where I needed to go in Sydney. I sat down, began saying something close to a goodbye, and I placed my Bible in my lap.
Just as I did all this, a young woman I’ll call Caiji sits down next to me as we board. She immediately interrupted my goodbye talk to my friend to ask what the book is on my lap. Well, if that isn’t an opportunity, I don’t know what is. My brother in Christ on the phone heard this question, and says, “Sounds like you have more important things to talk about” and immediately hung up on the other side of the line.
This opportunity launched me into brief 15-minute conversation with Caiji about the Bible on my lap. It turns out Caiji, who is from China, last visited a church here in Sydney a few years ago and she had been considering going back but hadn’t done so yet. She asked me what I was up to that morning, and I said I was going to church!
Then Caiji asked if she could join me and go right then and there. Of course, I gave an enthusiastic “Yes!” Even in this moment, just weeks after arriving, the Lord continued to answer my prayers of wanting to be intentional to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ here. A great confirmation of my move here all alone to live and work with people I had never met, literally halfway around the world.
However, there’s more to the story that even these great blessings. Little did I know that the Lord was being much more intentional in answering Caiji’s needs even than my own. As we arrive at church that morning, I come to find that it is an entirely Chinese immigrant church. (Did I mention that Caiji is Chinese?) Sure, it would have been a lovely morning for me to experience, but maybe not likely to be my long-term church home here. But God was using it because Caiji felt straight at home in that church with people from her context and culture who knew her heart language.
Since then, I’ve been able to hear reports that Caiji has gone back to that church. She and I have exchanged texts in recent weeks, and plan to meet up again soon. From what I gather, she is still seeking our Lord in terms of knowing Him as her Savior, but please pray for Caiji, that the Gospel would take root in her heart, and that the church she goes to, or anyone else who comes in contact with her, myself included, might continue to display the love and Word of Christ to her. Pray for more opportunities for the gospel to go out on the train or wherever the Lord may place us as believers.
How gracious a God we serve that He answers my needs to bless others!
*Names and identifying information have been changed in this article for public use