In the book Rusty Hinges, 20th-century missionary Frank Doggett Learner recounted his experience at the Thangka Unveiling Festival at Kumbum Monastery:
“Coming nearer, you observe that the people who emerge from beneath the painted canvas are sick and diseased. It is with a sad heart that I explain to you that these poor sick folk believe that any physical ailment may be cured by passing beneath the Buddha from one side to the other. So it is that the maimed and the blind gather together on this great day, and as they crawl painfully and laboriously under the painted canvas, they hope to be cured of their diseases when they emerge on the other side. As we watch the pathetic sight, our minds go back to the time of our Lord, and we remember he joy of the infirm, the lam, the leper, the mentally afflicted and the dying, who at His touch were made perfectly whole. And here are these sick and suffering ones seeking relief by wriggling on all fours under a d piece of embroidery! A wave of helpless pity sweeps over us! ‘Lord, how long?’”*
That question—“Lord, how long?”—strikes the heart. Was he asking, “How long must they crawl?” or “How long until they meet You?” Either way, it was a cry born of compassion and longing.
Carl F. H. Henry, one of the founders of Fuller Theological Seminary, once wrote,
“The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”
How long will it be before the sons and daughters of God reach the Tibetan people with this good news? May everyone seeking healing beneath the thangka one day touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and find wholeness in Him.
*Frank Doggett Learner, Rusty Hinges: A Story of Closed Doors Beginning to Open in North-East Tibet (London: The China Inland Mission, 1934), 98.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we long for every significant moment in the lives of the Tibetan people to be bound together with You. In the past, Learner recorded the first stirrings of the gospel entering Tibet. Today, we pray for those doors to open again. Send believers—businesspeople, travelers, and workers—into the marketplaces and festivals of Tibet, to bear witness to Your light in every valley and village. Raise up many who will respond, “Here am I, send me.” Especially call and equip strong, mature young missionaries—unafraid of hardship, deeply familiar with Tibetan culture and language—to plant communities of love for You across the plateau, like branches of a fruitful vine rooted in Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
