TRAVEL THE ROAD

Greetings in the name of Jesus! Our past two months in China have been
quite an adventure. Shortly after we wrote the December newsletter about the
mysterious sky burials, we set out on a mission to find out if the practice
still existed, and if so, we planned to minister to those in attendance. After
a week of constant travel to remote locations, and endless dead-ends, on the
20th of December we confirmed the fact that the practice of the sky burial does
exist to this day. This is our recount of what we witnessed and the blessed
assurance that the Gospel is never too far from anyone.
Out on a distant hill in a Tibetan village our search for the sky burial
came to its culmination as we came upon a set of prayer flags and strange rock
formations. No one was with us on the mountain and an eerie feel came over us.
The dead calm was frightening. We first saw clothes scattered all over the
hillside, then we spotted a human skull, then as we got nearer to the rocks,
dozens of skulls, spinal columns, rib cages, skull caps, legs, arms and every
other body part void of skin. Then before we knew it we were in the middle of
hundreds of bones, with no one around. We looked to the hill side 100 ft away
and saw at least 80 vultures sitting and waiting. They were at least 4 ft high
each one of them. A Tibeta n man and woman were approaching us slowly. As we
encountered them they communicated to us that they were coming to the hill to
rub the womans hand upon the rocks where the sky burials take place hoping for
a healing. In broken language we asked them if they would like us to pray for
her. They accepted and we laid hands on her. After a time of ministering with
the couple, Will and I left, and came back the next morning at day break. Two
monks about 100 yards away walked parallel to us to the sky burial grounds. 40
minutes later a white truck came up the hillside with 4 men in it. They exited
the vehicle and carried a white bag over to the rocky area. They dumped the
bag, and out of it feel a deceased naked, elderly woman, shaved head, and frozen
stiff. Theytied her neck to a one foot stake and cut into her back. The Monks
started chanting mantras, and the other men screamed a horrible scream toward
the vultures looking upon the dead body. The hill side of vultures began to
stir. The men cut a piece from the womans back toward the sky and screamed
(scream was like a vulture scream). Then in a fury, like demons, 50 vultures
swooped down from the hill screaming and yelling. They torn into the body and
within seconds, bowls, body parts and blood were everywhere. It was horrible.
Within ten minutes only the spinal column and skull were left. Two men then
entered the feeding frenzy and started cutting the big bits of the body apart.
They smashed the spine on the rocks for the vultures to eat and then took the
brain to a small rock shaped like a bowl. They smashed it with their hatchet
butts and the brains were offered to the vultures like an offering to a
God.Then as the rage slowed, the monks looked on then left with the other men
and we were once again alone on this death hill. We returned to town after
praying on the hillside, and praise be to God we were led to a Tibetan man whom
we shared the gospel with in detail. His name is Kaslang, and he could speak
English very well. He told us he was disillusioned with Tibetan Buddhism,
because he had seen so many hypocrisies. He was very happy to hear us tell of
Jesus, and how he has redeemed us from Sin. It was refreshing for him to hear
about grace and mercy because the Buddhist believes that one must attain
salvation on his own works. Praise be to God that Jesus came to give us new life and that
righteousness is not of our own works, but by faith in Him Ephesians 2:8-9,For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Please pray for Kaslang, and
that the team that is going to do follow up work will have a great harvest in
that place.
Our next expeditions will bring us to Mongolia, and besides our time in the
Tibetan hills we have faced many challenges: -30 F temperatures in the extreme
north of China, blizzards on the North Korean border, and frozen nights in
villages, as well as police troubles in Beijing just recently. Thank you for all
your prayers and continuing support.

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Peace be with you,
Tim, Will and Mike

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