Walking the streets of Barquisimeto

We set out at 7:30am this morning to walk the "Calle 31" street to observe and understand the local culture. This is the Chinatown of Barquisimeto where many peddlers hawk their vegetables, meat, fish for sale. It is a very busy place. Also, many Chinese would come down from neighboring small towns on Saturdays to buy their weekly groceries. Reminded me of us Austinites going over to Houston to eat our dim-sum and buy our groceries before My Thanh existed! Brother Keung's family (wife Yin-Mei and their two teenage sons, Allen and Tommy) prayed with us as we set out expectantly to observe the busyness of the activities and distribute tracts to the locals. We split into 2 groups, one led by Dr Wan and the other by Pastor Stanley. Dr Wan's group consists of Toby, Leo, Alison, Vicente, Allen, Tommy and Mei while Pastor Stanley's group consists of You-Kin, Edith, Bro. Keung and myself.











Our group took one side of the street and went into several shops owned by Chinese immigrants. Edith did a marvellous job showing me especially how to strike a casual conversation leading into asking if the person knows about the local church and about the Good News. I learned so much from her boldness and enthusiasm in sharing the gospel. The one thing I treasured most is that she treated the tracts as something so precious and only give it out only if the person promised to read it. Although being the smallest physically, she is a giant in the Lord. She is my Heronias! Pastor Stanley and I talked to a young man who doesn't go to church but we encouraged him to go and listen to God's words. Like many 2nd generation locals, they only speak Cantonese but cannot read/write Chinese. Spanish is their preferred choice of language. I managed to hang out a little longer explaining to the young man about the importance of salvation and how the gospel can be the strength of our lives. I don't know how this will all turn out for the young man, and just like many of the Chinese here, they are so busy working (life isn't easy) and have little time for anything else. We just sow seeds and know that God will work in the hearts of these people in His due time. On the streets there, I paused to reflect how Jesus would see each of them as they hurried away in their busy lives. Jesus must have felt the compassion for these people and I caught a glimpse of His compassion for the lost souls. There are so many out there. More than 10,000 Chinese in Barquisimeto with only one Chinese church whose attendance hovers around 40-50 (maybe?). I wished that many of our ACC brothers and sisters could come and share in the work. For indeed, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.


We ended up eating dim-sum in a local restaurant. Food was indeed yummy. I treasured the time the team shared later about their individual experience on the streets of Barquisimeto. A treasure that is ours to be kept.






-Kenny