Bold risk-taking does not come naturally to Jin Yee*, so she relied on the Holy Spirit for courage to speak. She remembered the discipleship training she had attended a week before. In the training, they had read through Luke 10:1-16 and Matthew 9:35-10:16 — passages where Jesus instructs his followers on how to go out among the lost. They had also practiced what they would say to someone when moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. Finally, they had prayed for the opportunity and boldness to carry through with all they had learned.

The first woman Jin Yee prayed for wasn’t the person who had come to her mind during the training. But, recognizing the leading of the Holy Spirit, Jin Yee called the woman and asked if she could pray for God’s blessing on an upcoming medical procedure the woman was having. 

During the training, Jin Yee had felt called to pray for her work supervisor. Talking to her about Jesus was a bigger challenge for Jin Yee. The opportunity to talk did not come up naturally during the workday. Being faithful to the leading of the Holy Spirit, however, Jin Yee called her supervisor after hours. She expressed care for her and asked if she could pray in Jesus’ name over some difficulties in the woman’s life.

“I did it!” Jin Yee told Amy, the Beyond missions catalyst who had led the discipleship training. “I faced my fears and openly offered to pray for this woman, and she said ‘yes!’. Not only that, I did it again with the woman we prayed for last week, and she said ‘yes’ too! Now, I realize that this kind of conversation is not as hard as I’d imagined it was.”

Together, the women thanked God for His faithfulness and prayed for broader openings to have spiritual conversations with these women in the following weeks. In faith, they chose and practiced telling short stories from the Bible to share when those openings came.

The work of birthing and sustaining a Disciple Making Movement remains the work of the Holy Spirit. Both the sharer and the receiver of the message rely on his power and guidance.

*pseudonyms used

It was the night before ten of Alison’s* friends would come over to study what the Bible said about God’s heart for the lost. Her roommate, Karly, a Beyond field worker, had just finished making muffins and asked, “How are you feeling about leading the training?”  But Alison thought Karly’s team leader was coming to facilitate the training!  “Oh dear!” Alison said. “What are we going to do when these people show up in twelve hours?”  Even though Karly had only had four months of learning the local language, she was convinced they could do it without the guest “expert.” Alison could give the introduction, and Karly would lead the Scripture study herself. Feeling good about Karly’s plan, Alison turned to comfort her friend, “Don’t worry. You can speak English.”

The next day everyone arrived and began to meet, greet, and catch up in the local language. As Alison introduced the training in their native tongue, Karly started to think through all the questions she planned to ask . . .. “Who would like to read 2 Peter 3:9?”  “What can we learn about God’s heart from these verses?”  “Who does God want to be saved?” etc… “Can I do it in my new language?” Karly wondered. She knew it was worth a try.  “Give me words, Lord!” she prayed. “You are the Teacher.”

God came through for Karly, and Alison’s friends were able to learn about Jesus’ strategy in their native language. As they closed, Alison encouraged the group to pass it on. “Anyone can lead this training. See, Karly’s had only four months of language learning, and she can lead it!” Karly agreed, “It’s not about us. I love that God set me up to lead my first training through a miscommunication, long before I would have felt ready!”

When Ying Kai was a young student in Taiwan, he worked hard to pass an important exam that would enable him to get into a good middle school. He really wanted a new bicycle to ride 30 minutes to the new school, but doubted he would get it since his family was so poor. One day, however, as he passed his parents’ bedroom, he heard his father comment to his mother that he would buy a new bicycle for Ying. Ying was overjoyed. That night before bed, he asked his father for a new bicycle. But his father said “no!” Ying was perplexed but did not give up because he knew his father’s heart! As he persisted, his father finally said “yes.” The next day he had a new bicycle.

Ying says: “Because I knew my father’s heart, I never gave up. If I didn’t know his heart, I probably would have given up. So if we know our heavenly Father’s heart, we will have more confidence to do what He wants us to do.” 

God chooses you to save you and all those who belong to you. This is your heavenly Father’s heart. If you know his heart, then you will not give up asking Him for what is on His heart. The responsibility is yours – to witness to your own. Don’t give up! God will eventually save many of them.*

The Heart of the Father is the topic for Beyond’s first Nugget of 2020! Nuggets are free, online discipleship trainings led by experienced missions practitioners. This semester our Nugget training series will cover the essentials to building and sustaining a Church Planting Movement through a tool called “The Heart and Four Fields.” It’s easy to join. All you need is an internet connection, a device with audio and video capabilities, and a desire to participate. 

*excerpted from T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution by Steve Smith with Ying Kai

This year, some people are celebrating their first Christmas ever!  Many others, twenty centuries after the first Christmas, are still waiting!

In the 1950s, my parents saw in a new way the true joy of Christmas. A young Indonesian man had recently come to faith and was thrilled that “now, I can celebrate Jesus’ birth too” as he joined the all-day Christmas celebration held by a fledgling church in a previously unreached area.

About the same time, a 70+ year old Indonesian woman heard (via a tape recording in her own language) her first story ever about Jesus.  She turned to my dad with tears in her eyes and with sobs in her voice and said, “If what this man says is true, my whole life has been in vain!  Why did it take so long for someone to tell me this news?”

60+ years later, we continue to hear reports of essentially the same question asked by many in the Middle East, in Africa, in India, in China and in many other places: “If people have known of this Jesus for so long, why has it taken so long for someone to tell us?”

Have you noticed who God selected to hear His first Christmas announcement: ordinary – you might even say poor – people (the shepherds). And people from a distant land: (the Magi / Wise Men). The shepherds responded in faith by both hurrying to the new baby and by spreading this amazing story to all who would listen.  The Magi responded with such faith in God that they understood the meaning of the star, were willing to make a long journey, gave expensive gifts, and bowed in worship to Jesus.

Please help speed the Christmas message to the 2.3 billion who have never heard and are still waiting!  Join us in the joyful urgency of getting the news of Christmas to the poor and those in distant lands. We want to do this as soon as possible, so that hundreds of thousands (or more) will celebrate Christmas for the first time next year!

S. Kent Parks, Ph.D.
President & CEO