My Dream

Ross Paterson, AM-CCSM International Director. Posted on 1 June 2009.

Recently, whilst ministering in Singapore, after a long and hard day's work, I sat down to watch a game of football on TV - afternoon games in the UK are actually evening programmes in Asia, given the time difference. Manchester United were playing. (I have to be honest and open and say that I am not a Manchester United supporter!) In the 92nd minute of the game (in other words, in time added on) a young 17-year old Italian player who had never played for MU before scored the winning goal. Being Italian, he expressed exactly what he felt... celebrations which included kissing the camera and a number of other similar actions!

He set me thinking. What was his dream as a 17-year old? Surely, it was to score a goal in the 92nd minute and win an important game for Manchester United. Did he achieve his dream? Absolutely - a schoolboy's story could not have written it better! Will his dream satisfy him? No. It will be a happy memory, but next Saturday will bring new challenges... Will he play again? Will he ever do that again? Will he be forgotten in a year's time as a one-flash wonder?

And that, obviously, led me on to other thoughts concerning believers in Jesus Christ. What is our dream? How do we define that? Do we achieve it, or even part of it? And, does it satisfy when we do achieve it?

Today (as I write these words) it is exactly forty years since I came to Asia as a missionary to serve the Lord Jesus, and to serve the Chinese Church. Why did I do that? What was my dream, as a young man, if not a 17-year old? It was simply to do the will of God, to obey His call on my life. Where did that dream come from? It came from the Lord bringing to me in a hospital bed His mandate concerning world mission, and concerning China, and from my obeying it. I was studying at Cambridge at the time when God spoke to me. Do I regret that change in direction, that complete turnaround in my life? Not at all. God's choice is always best.

Simply put, God spoke into my life when I had no mission background or experience whatsoever, and called me to serve the Church and people of China. For forty years I have been doing that. Have I achieved my dream? Yes. God has done simply amazing things, largely in joining with me brothers and sisters of wonderful quality. He has done great things through them. As you read these pages, you will find out about some of them, but there are many other untold stories.

Does that dream satisfy? Absolutely! We can honestly say we are a bunch of ordinary people who have made a real difference to the church and people of China.

Will it satisfy next week and the week after? Yes, it will. But it will also encourage us to press on.

As I consider these facts, forty years later, I still have a dream. It is to see a new generation rise up and accept the challenge of China and its people. China has changed much in these forty years. When I came out to Taiwan in 1969, it was almost impossible to enter China, which was locked under the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution. Forty years later, at least some areas of China are a part of a vibrant modern nation, an economic powerhouse with increasing geopolitical significance.

But two things have not changed. One is God's call to His people to give their lives for the Gospel in this great nation. The other is the massive need in every strata of Chinese society to find life and rest in Jesus. I dream of seeing many understand that and responding to the challenge that the Lord gave me forty years ago.

Read these pages, please, and see if you might be a part of the answer to my dream!