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“How do You Express Your Faith in America?”

Jul 6, 2019 | South East Asia, Stories

GOD USES A THIEF TO ANSWER PRAYER

*Thui was a Thai Buddhist when he got his job at an international school in Thailand. He began participating in a Bible study, and soon some believers told him he should remove all the idols from his house. He knew he should do it, but he was afraid of angering the spirits. Together they prayed, and Thui asked for God’s help. Not long after, thieves broke into Thui’s house, and, among other stuff, they stole the idols!! Thui feels that God helped him by answering their prayer in this unusual way.

QUESTIONS THAT OPEN DOORS TO SHEMA STATEMENTS

Once a week *Elena meets for English club at the local mosque. Sitting on the porch’s cool tile steps, the participants discuss current events in small groups. One day the discussion topic was about religion. Someone asked a perfect, door-opening question of Elena, “How do you express your faith in America?” Immediately, she thought of her ongoing Disciple Making Movement training where she had learned to use the great commandment as a “shema statement.” Elena responded, “Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is how we should all express our faith, and, of course, we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves.”

After further discussion on the topic, Elena invited them to study the Word of God for themselves. Two Muslim men, *Ardin and *Rukmat, showed interest in reading stories about the prophets, so Elena is handing them off to Gerald, a teammate she is coaching in Disciple Making Movements. Rather than challenging Ardin and Rukmat to believe as they do, Elena and Gerald are trusting the Holy Spirit to lead them into truth through their examination of the Word. Pray for lasting fruit from their studies.

AN ANGEL COMES TO THE AID OF A BIKER

*Khampan had lived a dissolute life using drugs in dirty places. He grew sick and lay for months, pale and unable to get up. Everyone thought he had AIDS. One day, however, Christians came to his neighborhood and told him Jesus could heal him. He believed and prayed with them. Immediately, Khampan knew he would get better. It took several months, but now he is fully healed, working full-time, and supporting himself and his mom. Recently he was riding his motorbike on a broad, high-speed road. A pickup forced him off the road into sharp rocks. He panicked and instinctively wanted to brake, but a voice said, “No! Give it gas!” He did. His front tire found a deep rut that launched him up and over the rocks. He landed on flat ground, both he and the motorbike unharmed! Khampan believes that, as God’s child, an angel protected him.

*pseudonyms used

ORDINARY PEOPLE MAKING DISCIPLES OF JESUS
Achara, a shy woman with a fourth-grade education, embraced Christianity two decades ago. Despite faithfully attending , read more …

“DO PEOPLE TURN INTO DEMONS WHEN THEY DIE?”
Heather quickly responded that she wanted them to gain a new understanding about two of their former Buddhist practices and, ultimately, to turn read more …

LEARN ABOUT OUT WORK IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
There are 235 million people in Southeast Asia. The region is complex, with numerous languages, ethnicities, and variations on religion … learn more

“Do People Turn into Demons When They Die?”

Jun 20, 2019 | South East Asia, Stories

Thankful to be riding an air-conditioned bus on what was proving to be a scorching day, Charis* and her teammate, Heather, were on their way to meet with some new believers in another village. Turning to Heather, Charis asked, “What are you hoping to see the Holy Spirit do in their lives this month?”

Heather quickly responded that she wanted them to gain a new understanding about two of their former Buddhist practices and, ultimately, to turn away from them. First, she wanted them to no longer “feed their parents’ spirit” and second, she hoped they would come to understand that people do not become demons when they die. The two women prayed together and proceeded to review the Bible stories they had prepared to speak into these essential issues.

On the second day, after reading the prepared passages (Acts 19, Hebrews 9), one older woman’s eyes suddenly grew wide with horror and she exclaimed, “If we don’t become demons when we die, and the spirit that comes to enjoy the offerings is a real demon, then we are just like the people in the Bible who worshipped God and worshipped demons! We have been doing that four times a year! We must stop and take everything down, how do we do that?” Heather and Charis noted that the other believers also showed signs of repentance and a willingness to follow the older woman’s declaration.

Later, Charis and Heather were able to model for the new believers how to take down their idols, and then to help them do it themselves. After seeing it modeled, the villagers expressed confidence in their ability to do it for new believers in the future.

Heather was clearly touched by the Holy Spirit’s prompt answer to prayer and in the villagers’ evident growth in the month since she had last seen them. Together Charis and Heather rejoice at the beauty of seeing how the Spirit works and grows His people in the way they need!

*pseudonyms

FINDING GOD’S PREPARED PEOPLE
Disciples in SE Asia have seen many people come to Christ in the past few years and have helped establish many new village house churches. A BEYOND worker who relates read more …

LIVING OUT LOUD
Grace* had recently returned to Southeast Asia when she was flagged down by a familiar face: Her house helper’s husband ran across a busy street to greet her. He insisted that read more …

LEARN ABOUT OUT WORK IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
There are 235 million people in Southeast Asia. The region is complex, with numerous languages, ethnicities, and variations on religion … learn more

From Persecuted to Welcomed

May 30, 2019 | Austronesia, Stories

*Ibu Mun had been a young single woman when she visited her family shortly after becoming a Christian. Her home village is in an area that is nearly 100 percent Muslim, and the whole community was cold to her as she made her way to her uncle’s house. People from this village were born Muslim and were expected to stay that way.

She longed for her mother to know the transforming power of Isa al Masih, Jesus Christ, but instead, Ibu Mun was cornered by her mother, aunt, and uncle as they interrogated her about her new faith. They told her she would have to marry a Muslim man and return to Islam. It seemed clear that they were going to force her to do just that. (Kidnapping young women and forcing them to marry is quite common here.)

Throughout the altercation, Isa al Masih proved to be her refuge and strength. Before she found an opportunity to slip away to the bus station, Ibu Mun was able to demonstrate the love of Christ to her mother though she received only insults and hatred.

Now, six years later, Ibu Mun is married to a godly man, and they have two young sons together. She has been discipled and trained to be a leader in Disciple Making Movements. Recently, that same village has welcomed her back, inviting her to set up a playgroup for 3 to 4-year-olds along with a DBS on the theme of Biblical parenting.

Seeing whole Muslim households interacting with the Word of God and even forming house fellowships is richly satisfying. More than that, Ibu Mun has seen, despite what man threatens, that one can be satisfied with Christ’s sufficiency. God alone is enough.

*pseudonym

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Want to Fix the Broken Patterns in Your Life?

May 15, 2019 | Stories

In the Muslim context where she lives and ministers, *Anna follows the cultural norm and rarely speaks directly to men. The Holy Spirit, however, sometimes orchestrates exceptions.

Angking, a SaSumBi man in his early twenties, was Anna’s server one day in the neighborhood restaurant. As he poured her cup of coffee, Anna shared that her husband would not be able to join her and that they were both followers of Isa al Masih (Jesus the Messiah), the straight and true way. *Angking did not hurry away at this news.

Instead, they began sharing information about their families. Angking shared about his siblings, and Anna described her precious grown children. In the course of their conversation, Anna asked, “Angking, in what ways would you like to emulate your father and in what ways would you like to be different?”

Angking shared an all too common scenario among his people. His father had “kidnapped” his mother, made her his bride, gotten her pregnant and then abandoned her with an easily acquired letter of divorce. Anna asked if he knew of a new way to be a SaSumBi man. Angking shook his head, and Anna proceeded to share faith in Christ, the only way to be made new.

Anna then asked if Angking, his family, and friends would like to get together with her husband, Evan, to discuss stories from the life of Moses, the Psalms, and the Gospels. “It is only when we meet up with (God’s) heart for mankind that our broken patterns can be transformed.”

Angking accepted this offer, and Evan has since met with Angking and one of his friends, leading them through the first Discovery Bible Study story.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will stir Angking and his household with the longings to know the only source of personal transformation and give him a desire to form an ongoing Discovery Group with Evan and a local partner.

*pseudonyms

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MIRACLES, DEMONIC EXORCISM
After prayer walking with a local partner, sowing gospel seeds with whoever was receptive Scott* asked the Lord … read more

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Moving From Evil Spirits to the Holy Spirit

May 2, 2019 | Stories

After the first visit to the village, Ryan and Jane felt there was a heavy blanket laying over the hearts and minds of the Muslims in the area. The villagers practice a type of folk Islam which embraces the animistic spirits over a given territory. “There is a strong Jin (spirit) in our area,” villagers told the couple. “That spirit is the one whom we trust to guide us in our Islamic devotion.”
Ryan and Jane continued to visit the area, endeavoring to bring the light of the gospel to its people. Though hopeful of finding a Person of Peace in an old woman believed to be the village shaman, no fruit came from any encounter with her. She met every peace-filled statement, every offer of care and prayer for her physical and spiritual needs with cantankerous and stubborn rejection.

The Lord, however, was preparing a bystander to become a Person of Peace, receptive to the gospel message. One of the woman’s adult sons and his family were drawn by the Holy Spirit and are discovering the reality of God and His Word. They meet together with one of Ryan and Jane’s national partners to read and study the Bible in a Discovery Bible Study.

Pray that this family would decide to follow Jesus. Pray that the Lord would use them to open up the entire village and its neighbors to a movement of the Holy Spirit. For when the Holy Spirit comes to them, he will guide them into all truth, bearing witness to Christ.

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