Southeast Asia Dec 27, 2013 Update

Southeast Asia Update 2

Days 9 & 10 - two very busy days filled with meetings with university students and "M's."  The goal was to meet with strategic students who seemed to be serious seekers.  Sometimes it is frustrating when we feel like an individual is close to deciding to follow Jesus and yet they resist His call.  We have to remind ourselves that it is God's responsibility to draw people to Himself but we are to be obedient to sow the seeds, till the soil, and water.  Of course it is human nature to want to collect the harvest as well but we are confident we were obedient to His call on our lives.

Day 11 - two team members left for different destinations, one to visit family and to witness in a city to the south and another north to an East Asian country to reconnect with university students.  And finally, the remaining five team members to return home to the States.

What a joy it has been to complete this part of the journey with these individuals who left home to become united in one goal, to bring glory to God.  As always, lifelong friendships were established as we served together in this faraway country.  Our devotions were sweet times of fellowship and encouragement.  To God be the glory for great things He has done!

Days 12 - 16 -  it was so wonderful to reunite with 7 students who had attended our church during their three month stay in America.  It is always surprising and pleasing to see what strong bonds can be developed over such a short period of time.  Two of the students were saved and baptized through our church and it was an opportunity to disciple them and encourage them in the faith.

We had church every day and enjoyed singing, reading God's word, and praying together.  It was really the first time we could be alone for concentrated periods of time and I believe God was at work in the hearts and minds of these young university students.

Again, when the invitation was given, each person passed on the opportunity to make a profession of faith.  There were different reasons given for delaying a decision but I strongly believe God softened their hearts and one day soon they will place their trust and faith in Jesus.  There were many tears shared and relationships deepened that will produce fruit one day soon.

We also were able to meet many other university students for brief introductions to the Gospel.  Some were friends of the 7 I had already met but some were simply curious about the foreigner on their campus.  One young man asked if he could give us a tour of this major city on the east coast.  He was a wonderful guide but also very enjoyable with whom to spend a day.

Please pray for the students in this East Asian country as well the S.E. Asian country that we just left.  These are the future leaders of their country and can have a tremendous impact on kingdom work.

Southeast Asia Dec 2013-Jan 2014

Southeast Asia Dec 2013-Jan 2014 Journey  

Day 1 & 2 - travel days.

Day 3 - this was quite a first day in this Capitol city!  We met with university students during the day as well as in the evening at a local coffee house.  A pastor from another city came in to meet with us about possibly serving with one of our fellowships.

It was a great day with many significant conversations, especially between our students and the students from some of the local universities.  We then departed on an overnight train to a location in the north to connect with our adopted, unreached people group (UPG).

There were 4 beds in each cabin and there were 7 on our team.  As only God could orchestrate, we met a young lady who was extremely excited to meet us and invited us to visit her home on the way back to the Capitol.

Day 4 - we arrived around 6 a.m. and then departed to a location even more north.  It was misty and cold when we arrived and of course the hotel had no heat.

Our interpreter/guide met us to schedule our activities for the 3 days and 2 nights.  It is always imperative that we incorporate some sightseeing into our schedule to justify our tourist status.  Our team was able to see some of the sights in this resort town and reconnected with a family that owns a local restaurant.  Hopefully this will be a ministry point in the future.

Day 5 - our guide led the team on a several hour backpacking walk to the village where we would stay with our family of peace for two days.  It was great to see the family again and continue to build on the relationships already started.

Some of the team visited with other family members who lived nearby.  The families are all so hospitable and we had more green tea than we can remember.

This was already a full day but we were invited to visit some families higher up on the mountain.  We just didn't realize how much farther on the mountain they lived!  It seemed as though we hiked miles straight up, on narrow and muddy trails, before we arrived at the homes of the villagers.

The mood was fairly somber because of the death of a 13 year-old boy who was bitten by a wild dog.  We were able to pray over this Christian family (from a different tribe) and offer our condolences.  The dog had bitten all five members of the family and they needed medical attention.  Our team decided to join together to offer a hand of mercy in providing the money to help them receive the medical care they needed.

Day 6 - this day was planned to spend as much time with the family with whom we were staying.  Our one team member, who spoke the language, engaged many of the family members in spiritual conversations and read to them from the Bible in their language.

Next we visited with the family of the young lady who we met on the train.  Her parents prepared a feast for the family and were most gracious hosts.  The young lady, indicated she had a friend who was a Christian, and wanted to know about Jesus.  We promised to connect her with Americans, in the city in which she worked, who could talk with her more about Jesus.  We also promised to provide her a Bible for when she returned home.

Finally it was time for a return, overnight train ride back to our initial location.

Day 7 - this was another busy day where we spent time with students (who served as tour guides) that we had met the day before.  Again, there were great conversations and our students have fallen in love with these open and engaging young people.

We also spent time talking with and encouraging a young couple and a woman who are serving as missionaries in this city.  It is always exciting to hear how God is working in the lives of the people from this country.

In the evening we gathered with many university students for another coffee house meeting.  We had some new students join us and one of our students gave her compelling testimony.  I believe it was very appropriate to the lives of many of the local students and requests were made to make time for follow up conversations.

Day 8 - off for another early, 2-hour trip to another city to join in a day of worship and fellowship with a local house church.  It was great to visit with this pastor and his congregation after a couple of years away. 

There were 8 who came forward and we had the joy of praying for them! Praise God for the work that only He can do.  One of these was a student I had met earlier in 2013 in one of our coffee house meetings when she was still in college.  I had given her a Bible at that time because she seemed to be very interested to know more about Jesus.

From Southeast Asia Team Leader