He could see, from the window next to the main door, a group of youth playing poker.  It seemed they ignored Sunny, who was standing at the door knocking.  Or possibly they were too engrossed in their game and music.

"What's that," Sunny thought.  "Why aren't they prepared?" "Why don't they open the door?" "Don't they know that I'm coming?"

Sunny hesitated.  Trying to decide whether he should continue knocking.  It was not very pleasant to be left outside the flat, especially as there were passersby using the corridor.  Standing outside too long might even arouse suspicion from the neighborhood.

It was after the recent Church Board meeting that Sunny was assigned the duty of conducting a weekly Bible Study with a group of truth-seekers.  The idea of coming here was initiated by a brother who lived with them.  Looking through the window again, he could see them still playing, but not the brother - Lee.  Something about their attitude - indifferent, unapproachable – brought Sunny      to a point of indecision.  "Gosh!" He exclaimed. "Do they want a Bible Study or not?"

After a brief moment of thinking, he decided to hang around for a while longer.  When he was a boy, his parents took him to the Sunday School of the church in Malaysia.  Later, he was trained in the YTTC.  On many occasions he experienced the constraint of God's love in his life.  Even in the darkest times, God guided him to struggle against all odds and survived.

Now, God was using him in a way to spread the gospel.  He had been preaching to many of his friends.  He also witnessed the divine presence in all that he had done.

Sunny suddenly thought how blessed he was to be brought up and to remain in the church.  He understood that he had no choice.  It was his responsibility to share the Gospel of Salvation with others - that life without Christ is doomed.  He felt that he owed these difficult youngsters the grace of God that he had freely received.

He took courage and stepped forward.  "I must knock until they open the door", he mumbled to himself.  Within a minute, his persistence paid off.  Lee, who had just woken up, invited him to come in.  Meanwhile, a youth, Kenny, was standing behind him.  He was not with the group.  To his surprise, Sunny learned that he would only be studying the Bible with Kenny, apart from Lee in one of the bedrooms.

Making their way to the back of the flat, the eyes of the visitor and some of the boys in the group met for the first time.  They gave Sunny a very unfriendly look.  Worse still, the rest did not even bother to look up, though many of them were Christians.

Before he came, Sunny was told to talk about some doctrinal issues.  But now sitting on a bed, he realized that Kenny was a Buddhist, who had no knowledge of Christianity at all.  Feeling a bit lost, Sunny flipped through his Bible page after page to look for a relevant message.

He wondered what he should say to him.  From his experience of preaching, he always prayed silently to God for guidance.  Without exception, he did likewise this time as well.  He had begun to formulate a plan.  At the same time, Sunny knew that he could put Kenny off if he was too quick to launch into the subject of religion.

Having learned from Lee before the Bible Study, what Kenny was studying, Sunny started by relating to his educational background.  The conversation somehow was led to the subject of God - as Sunny remembered taking a course of Religious Study in school.

Sunny decided to end after he had explained who God was.  He did not obey his urge to go on talking, a practice that he was well aware of, which was necessary, in establishing a good relationship with a stranger.  The discussion was short but fruitful.

The first thing that came to his mind after returning home was to pray for Kenny.  Then he realized that he should get another brother, probably Peter, to go with him the next time.  At least he would have someone to give him support.  Pondering over the Bible Study, he felt a surge of thanksgiving towards God for Lee, who had taken the initiative and effort to arrange the meeting in such an unfriendly environment.  It was, Sunny thought, remarkably encouraging what this silent worker had done.

The Bible Study took place in that cramped bedroom week after week.  Hostile reaction was imminent.  They protested against the weekly worship; either by slamming the doors or turning their music on at full blast.  A powerful spiritual battle had begun to play itself out, with one man being "pulled" by the group in the house not to believe in the gospel and three others from the true church pleading with him to listen.  Thank God, the battle was won by the concerted effort of His soldiers, who were relying on Him throughout.  The fruit of laboring for God was evidently clear - Kenny decided to get baptized after three months.  His conversion according to him, was the result of God's gracious calling. It was also partly driven by the concern of Peter, who had been helping with his study.  As a private tutor, Peter had often gone around teaching.  But he gave Kenny free tuition.

In the weeks after the conversion, all four men continued with their family worship.  Surprisingly, the same group of cold and unfriendly youngsters had changed and eventually decided to join the Bible Study.  Their intention was partly to study God's word, for they had observed the obvious transformation in the life of Kenny.  Partly too, they hoped to receive free tuition from Peter.

On one hand, the pressure on Peter grew intense, as he had to spend a great deal of time helping them at the expense of his own income.  On the other hand, he knew that this was a golden opportunity to propagate the gospel.  Sometimes, he wondered how long he could hold on.

For what seemed a very long time, Peter persisted.  Slowly, an inexplicable bond grew amongst the soldiers of God and the recipients of tuition.  Soon Peter's goal of thorough preaching was realized.  "Jesus is God" was soundly explained over many weeks, and they were invited to attend the year-end spiritual convocation as well.

The calling of God was miraculous.  Three out of five received the Holy Spirit.  On the day of baptism all of them were redeemed by the atoning blood of Jesus.  Amen!

This is a true story.

References

I Cor 9:16; 2 Tim 4:1f; Phil 1:15f;  2 Cor 4:1 ff; I Thess 2:1-5