Ben Boasts about his Sufferings as an MK

¹⁶ I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. ¹⁷ In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. ¹⁸ Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. ¹⁹ You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! ²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. ²¹ To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. ²² Did they grow up in a foreign country? So did I. Are they MKs? So am I. Are they they descendants of church planters? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have been on more deputations trips, lived in more houses, taken more trains and flown on more air planes than any of them²⁴ Five hundred times I received from my parents the four spanks minus one with a rice paddle. ²⁵ Three times I was dragged out of church screaming, once I was ganged up on by ruffians , once had "inarizushi" spit on me, three times I was delayed in airports. ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from crazy drivers, in danger from yakuza, in danger of missing the train, in danger from BB guns, in danger from pagans; in danger in the US, in danger in Japan, in danger on boats in hurricanes; and in danger from my "friends". ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often had jet-lag, I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without fastfood; I have been cold without central heat and hot without central air. ²⁸ Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the church plants. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am lying. ³² In Tokyo the governor under Emperor Hirohito had the imperial guard arrest me for shooting BB guns on neighborhood roof tops. ³³ I was escorted in shame and handed over to the hands of my father.