Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/444908
HUGO BRAVO were to happen, it was part of His plan, and He would redeem anything that oc- curred," he said. 'Praying for understanding' Avery's month in India was physically chal- lenging. The local cuisine also left much to be desired. "Every meal was rice, even for breakfast," he said. Ministering in long- sleeved shirts and pants only made the heat worse. "I think they don't consider you as much of a man if you wear shorts," he said. "If we wanted to be respected and to be listened to, we had to wear pants." Despite the physical hardships, he traveled to surrounding villages and went door-to-door, asking the local residents if they needed prayer. "We didn't always understand what they wanted, but we prayed nonetheless. Sometimes they just pointed to a part of their body, and we prayed for God to heal or remove the pain," Avery said. In India, "Johan," as is Jon's name translated in the Indian language of Telegu, witnessed the healing power of prayer and of love. "One day, one of our contacts grabbed me and another member of the group and took us to see a man who was lying in bed, paralyzed from the neck down. They asked us to pray for this man, and as we did, his legs began to straighten. By the time we were done, he was lying completely flat on the bed, and had started to move his legs. I had seen some healings, but nothing to that extent. When we were done, our contact just said, 'Ok, next house!' and took us out of there as quickly as he brought us in." "I was in shock, yet no one in the village dwelled on the fact that this had happened. It was because no one was surprised it happened," Avery said. "Their faith is just so much stronger than anything we can imagine. They just rely so much on God." Equally important work By the time Avery's trip came to an end, he had been a field worker, an architect, a healer, a teacher, and a counselor, all in the name of God. But it was at his last stop of Draganesti, Romania where he learned the importance of even the most menial tasks. "Most of my time was spent on my hands and knees, cleaning and scrubbing the floors of a church. It was definitely hard to go from doing all these wonderful jobs for the last 10 months, and then literally be brought back down from a spiritual high. It was very hum- bling. But it was God's way of telling me, 'This work isn't above you. It's just as important as all the other work you did.'" 'Everybody is a missionary' God's plan for Avery wasn't quite finished when he returned to America. One of the most important lessons that he learned was to never put God in a box, or con- strict what you think He can do for you. "In other countries, they rely solely on God. In that reliance, He does so much more for their lives. Why do we put our own limits on Him?" Avery asked. God's plan continues today. Avery has used this experience to tell everyone that we can all be missionaries in our own way, without having to take a plane to a for- eign land. "Everybody is a missionary for the Lord whenever they show love to any- one, whether it be to a homeless person or to a rich guy in a limo. Everyone needs Jesus and is worthy of the same love." Highlights • Nepal: 'In a village, we talked to people about Jesus. One woman, in tears, asked us, 'What can we do for Jesus?'" • Thailand: 'The men did mostly manual labor, but the women went to the cities to minister to other local women.' • Cambodia: 'I taught English to kids for the first time.' • India: 'Through a translator, I asked a man, "Why do you pray? Is it because you believe your gods aren't truly gods?" He just looked at me with sadness.'" • Vietnam: 'As it is a communist country, ministering was prohib- ited. So we worked in a coffee shop, telling people what we believed. Other times, at a local English club gathering, we used Bible stories to teach English.' 13 www.saconnects.org