RPG Pastor

A few weeks ago, some coworkers and I visited a pastor who wanted to join our SCALE program.  Our SCALE program is for Christian business owners who want to expand their existing businesses.  We also open it to adults who are past the 25 year old cut off limit for our STARTUP program.  We decided to do some pre-field visits to see what these potential SCALE students already had in operation.

One of these students was a man who I like to refer to as RPG pastor.  We had tea with him in his church building to discuss his business and his plans to expand.  In his church, the front was what you might call typical, a cross and a pulpit.  In the back corner where we met there were some pictures of this pastor in different parts of his history.

The picture that stood out most to me was one of him holding an RPG.  RPG is actually a Russian acronym and stands for: Ruchnoy Protivotankovyy Granatomyot; Americans have reengineered the word to mean Rocket Propelled Grenade.  Needless to say, it wasn’t something I expected to see displayed in a church.  If I was a member of his church, I think it’s safe to say I would be more apt to pay attention with a picture of that in the back of the church.  There was also a picture of him with some fellow soldiers in front of a military helicopter.  Alongside these pictures was one of him receiving his Masters of Divinity from a Bible college.

Talk about a life!  This guy had some incredible stories.  The most fascinating one was when his company had been slaughtered from 500 men or so down to 100.  The general told the remaining 100 they were to fight against 3,000 soldiers on the rebel side.  If they didn’t they were to commit suicide, they weren’t allowed to retreat.  His commanding officer told RPG pastor if his God would deliver the 100 soldiers from the enemy’s hand he would believe in Him.  So, naturally the RPG pastor spent that entire night praying to God for deliverance.  The next day when it was time for battle, they found the rebels had retreated to the border of Thailand. 

It reminded me instantly of Gideon and his 300 men in the Old Testament.  His commanding officer became a believer and asked the RPG pastor what he wanted.  He replied he didn’t want any money, just the opportunity to share Christ with the rest of the army.  He spent the next 5 years going around the country and preaching the gospel to his fellow soldiers.  Wow!!!

He later retired from the army and got his Masters of Divinity from a local Bible college.  After some time preaching at a church, he decided a particular neighborhood that was mostly unreached needed a church, so he planted one there.  He also started a moto-bike business. 

He bought a few moto-bikes and rents them out to people in the neighborhood who use them as taxis to get people around since no taxis go out that far typically.  He is able to use this business as a ministry as it provides job for non-believers in the neighborhood.  This provides a platform for the RPG pastor to share the gospel with his moto-bike drivers.

He also has a healing ministry in his church where people come to get healed.  He lays hands on locals and heals them.  He also prophesied for a coworker during the SCALE program when they were going over his business plans to expand.  The coworker said he knew exactly what this coworker was going through at the time.  Talk about a special connection to God!

This guy was so inspiring and by far my favorite pre-field site visit.  I will never forget his stories and his strong desire to share the gospel in whatever means possible.  Whether that means preaching the gospel to fellow soldiers around the country for 5 years, planting a church, or renting out motorbikes and using that opportunity to witness to nonbelieving motorbike taxi riders, this guy is clearly on fire for God.  This has been one of the best tastes of the kingdom being expanded I’ve experienced here.  Thanks be to God for allowing me to meet the RPG pastor and be inspired by him.