Not to mention, the visitor is clearly foreign, which in the past has meant that relief supplies could be forthcoming. As a person living in poverty, you know this power-dynamic very well, and it calls for you to be welcoming and agreeable.

So they come into your home and the American tells his personal story of life in the United States and what God means to him. He talks about “God” and “love” and “sin”.

Honestly, I don’t know what gospel message Francis Chan was sharing that day, but if you are a Buddhist, like 90% of people in Myanmar, you understand that God is everything and nothing. The sun is god. The moon is god. There are many “gods”. So just which god are we talking about here?

Even worse, under Buddhism, for a god to “love the world” would be shameful and strange. Love implies attachment. According to Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, attachment to things causes sin. Buddhist religion teaches you to detach, not attach or love, in order to escape reincarnation and enter Nirvana. So whoever this god is that is being described as “loving”, to a Burmese Buddhist, he is full of unholy passion and therefore must be a sinner.

Either way, you’re not going to get your head around these foreign concepts in a single conversation. What many Westerners don’t realize is, this is completely different from sharing Christ in a Judeo-Christian context where concepts like God and love have a shared meaning.

So, you listen politely to a confusing description of a god that is a sinner, and lots of other things that make little sense in your context, and finally the American visitor asks if you would like to be saved in order to experience God’s love.

Clearly you are supposed to say Yes. In this region, relationships trump everything. Good relationships with those in power could mean the difference between survival and suffering. This is the reality of ministry in a poor setting. So, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by saying, Yes. It’s the smart move.

You are then directed to close your eyes and bow your head and repeat some phrases. Afterwards everyone is very excited and happy. You are pleased to be able to invest in this relationship. It holds even more promise than your relationship with the local minister who is poorer and less powerful. Big smiles and photo opportunities! It’s a win-win situation all around.