JOURNEYS
Distributing His Word through Faith
Faith led William B. Ballinger through three strokes and cancer to continue His good work on the field of Thailand
- William B. Ballinger // November 20, 2009
William Ballinger led many Chinese to know Christ during his missionary years. Pictured here is a young man named Soud who accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. ©
William Ballinger and Angel, an interpreter, give a sermon at a Thai church. ©
William Ballinger prayed with people of Thailand to accept Jesus Christ. ©
You can feel the energy one foot into the main district of Pattaya Beach, where tourists of all different countries come to experience one of most pleasure-filled nightlife scenes the world over. In my more youthful days, before walking with Christ, when I was a member of America’s naval service, seeking adventure above all else, I would have dived head first into the revelry. But a little older, a little wiser, and saved by Jesus Christ, my role at amidst this scene was to plant the seeds of the gospel by distributing Chinese-language Bibles to the endless amount of tourists that passed.
Never thought it was possible…for God to use someone in such an old—I am 68—and feeble—have had three strokes and survived cancer—state of life. But He did, along with my wife, Nelta, 63. We spent three years in Thailand, from 2006-2009, distributing the Lord’s Word to a people group that could not openly receive His message in their own country.
Through the work that we were doing and the teams that came to Thailand each year (approximately 52 per year) to assist us, we saw more than 375,000 Bibles and Jesus tracts distributed to the Chinese people. Through research from within China, we know that each Bible reaches at least 10 people, so God established a way to reach almost four million Chinese in just our tour alone. God worked through us and those teams to plant the seeds that someday will be harvested.
* * *
Nelta and I are both firm believers that God will open any door when He has plans for your life. Life in Thailand and the ministry that we were to cultivate there seemed to grow so naturally. After our plane trip (35 hours), we were met by friends who little by little got us established. We were able to get a house, rent a truck, and start language school all within the first three weeks.
In terms of the ministry, we were able to do our distributions in numerous areas, despite the government frequently watching our moves and intentions. You can’t imagine the feelings and blessings you receive when you witness to a lost Chinese and have them accept Christ, or when a Chinese Christian runs up to you to get a Bible, telling their story of how they have been part of the underground church movement for months or even years and worshipped without a Bible. Each tear, each smile, every time you gave another person the book of life, brought you joy and blessings in ways that you can only experience by doing it yourself.
Seeing the reality of God working in and for a nation not only increases your own faith, but gives you hope for the future. You know that you are a part of a movement that is slowly bringing the largest nation in the world (1.3 billion people) to the Lord.
All of our efforts and hard work were done to glorify God. We give Him all the credit for what He was able to do through us in Thailand.
* * *
My journey to become a missionary began at our church’s Global Impact Conference banquet in 2003. Such a moment was only possible after taking an initial first step with the Lord, which began late in life, already after a full military career that was 26 years plus. The major influence for such a change was my wife Nelta, who helped me fight my battles and showed me that the best way was to give it and give in to God.
I’ll admit, I have led my life in two separate stages. I was raised in the church by very religious parents (I’m an only child), baptized at the age of 7…basically have always at least known God…but following Him has been a different matter. I enlisted in the military at age 16 (with my parents permission) and began a phase of my life that was anything but Christian. It was as if I sat God on a shelf and said that I would use Him as I needed Him.
During my military career, many times from 1956 until I retired in 1983, God was there for me, through the Vietnam conflict, three broken marriages, terrorist attack in Puerto Rico, my first stroke and many other events when I should not have been allowed to survive. All of my duty stations with the exception of Instructor duty from 1967-1970 was either overseas or shipboard, in often dangerous situations, but He carried me through whether I was completely faithful to Him or not.
Yet still, even with God so close, the devil took of hold my life within that military journey I was on. I became an alcoholic. Alcoholism never got to the point where it negatively affected my career, but it did make me feel completely lost by the end of it.
God gave me grace and a new hope in the form of Nelta, whom I met shortly after retiring. She not only loved me, but was the inspiration for getting me sober, helping me to return to church and again finding the person that I knew that I could be. Over the course of our marriage—October 11, 2009 was our 24th Anniversary—she has stood by me through several rehabs (I have been sober now 20 years), another three strokes and cancer. She was always there and so was my Savior, the Lord Jesus.
Our journey in faith led us to that God inspired moment of receiving just the right word to lead us to become missionaries. We met a missionary couple that was serving in Thailand with the Southern Cross Project to Chinese tourist that visited their city. Our Sunday School class sponsored them for our churches first Global Impact Conference. It was during the banquet that God really touched me about missions. The program included the “Children of the World Choir.” During their performance, my eyes locked onto the eyes of a 7 year-old African boy and we never broke this contact through four songs. At the end of the performance, I looked down at the table and I had written on a napkin “Lord, take my hands, take my feet, take me where you want me to go.”
I was shaken by this experience. At my age, with my health issues (which were many) and the fact that I had spent over 24 years overseas, I could not imagine going on a mission trip anywhere. But after that reception, Nelta and I prayed until early the next morning and I remember saying: “We have never made a trip because we didn’t have the money, or the time, or it was too far and we couldn’t afford it.” But, that night I looked at my wife and asked her, “Can we afford NOT to go?”
That was in late October of 2003. Within two days, I had bought our tickets to Thailand to work with these missionaries for a period of two months. In January of 2004, we made our first mission trip and it was unreal. Even though my wife got very sick during this trip and had to be hospitalized for three days, I had already begun to feel God calling me to serve Him.
Due to family problems and my wife having to care for her sister who had been in a very serious accident in December of 2004 (Nelta is a retired nurse), I made my second trip to Thailand in January of 2005, and while there I prayed that God would show my wife the same call that I had.
Upon my return in February, I met her at the airport and told her that I needed to talk with her about something, all she said was “No you don’t.” That very month we started our applications process to become Missionaries through the IMB Masters Program (for senior citizens).
In January of 2006, just two years after our first short-term trip, we started official training and were commissioned Missionaries on March 2nd, arriving on the field on March 8th. We were so blessed to have received our assignment to the very area that we first started, Thailand. For the next three years, we served with Southern Cross and saw blessings, salvations, and churches established, and prayers answered in a way that can’t be seen or fully appreciated without actually being there. We traveled throughout Asia and ended our assignment by spending a week in China with Missionaries that we had gone through training with.
Though we are no longer on the field, Nelta and I continue to pray without ceasing for the salvation of the Chinese and for the laborers in Thailand. We also plan to take a team (10 people) back to Thailand in August 2010 and, God willing, every year thereafter.
Though Christianity is not able to be openly practiced in China, we are confident that Christ is working in and moving within that country, and we just pray that we will be able to live long enough to see a good majority of the 1.3 billion Chinese come to know our Lord. It’s up to all of us—no matter the age—to answer the call before us.
The Lord works in mysterious ways…and He certainly worked through me in a way I never expected.