Stories | Beyond

From Darkness to Light

Jul 3, 2024 | South East Asia, Stories

Ami found herself wasting away due to her struggles with alcohol abuse. Her days were consumed by card games, smoking, and binge-drinking with friends, often leading to entire days lost in the haze of intoxication and gambling. Her thoughts were perpetually muddled. She neglected her home, garden, and family, resulting in frequent clashes with her husband.

One day, Achara, a woman from Ami’s village, told her about Jesus and gave her a printed copy of the Gospel of Mark. Intrigued, Ami eagerly devoured the Gospel. The more she read, the more her desire waned for the destructive cycle of drinking and gambling.

She said what she liked most about the Gospel of Mark was that she felt so much compassion for Jesus, and the more she read, the less she felt drawn to her bad lifestyle patterns. She cut ties with her old companions and abandoned the destructive habits. After becoming sober, Ami experienced a physical and emotional resurgence: gaining weight, revitalizing her health, and rediscovering her energy. She redirected her focus to her home, family, and nurturing her garden.

This transformation did not go unnoticed by her husband and daughter. Dao, Ami’s daughter, marveled at the positive changes. She remarked that their previously neglected home and kitchen now reflected order and care, thanks to Ami’s newfound commitment to Jesus.

Ami, now burdened for her family and their lack of knowledge about Jesus, fervently prayed for them. Despite initial hesitation, Dao began to trust in Jesus, inspired by her mother’s example and supported by their house church. Meanwhile, Ami’s husband Amree, initially fearful of reaction from the Buddhist community, boldly proclaimed his belief in Jesus.

As the family navigated this spiritual shift, Dao’s husband remained a point of concern. Pray that he too will see the light in Dao, Ami and Amree, and want that light as well.

*pseudonyms

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A Tiny Spark Can Set a Great Forest Fire

Jun 25, 2024 | Stories

The apostle John tells us that after following Jesus for a short while, Philip went to find his brother Nathanael to tell him that he and Andrew had found The One the prophets had written about. He said, His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth. Nathanael, like brothers everywhere, questioned his brother’s announcement with, Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth? Instead of arguing with him, Philip wisely invited Nathanael to come and see (John 1:43-49). How we wish we could extend to you the same invite. Great things are happening in India! Here is one example.

There was a Hindu family in K Village in North India. After eight or nine failed attempts at making a marriage match for their eldest son, they despaired of ever seeing him married. The disgrace of so many rejections clung to the mother like ivy on a tree. Like good, Hindu mothers everywhere, the mother in this family believed that marriages occurred at the pleasure of the gods. Why did her god not care for her? Why could he not see their plight?

Disheartened, the mother stopped worshiping at the local temple. She watched her eldest son become depressed, and then start to drink. Meanwhile, her second son, Mohit*, was despairing for his own future. How would he ever marry with this shame hanging over not just his brother, but the whole family?

One day, a friend of Mohit’s invited him to come with him to visit another village where a house church was meeting. Mohit had never taken part in a Bible study discussion before. At first, he was shy, but soon he grew bold to not only answer questions posed to the group, but also ask his own questions. He loved it. Mohit’s friend finally said, “You can speak boldly and you know many things and speak well. Why not join this group?”

Why not, indeed? Mohit returned the next week. He loved the give-and-take of the Discovery Study process. When he arrived home that night, he told his mother about that night’s discussion. She asked, him, “What are you doing? Where is this meeting? What do you do there?” Mohit told her all about it, confessed to really enjoying the discussions, and ended with, “You should go because many good things are there. Our whole family should go.”

And so they did. Mohit’s whole family attended the house church worship service with him. However, on their way home after the meeting, his mother seemed unfazed. No reaction. Had she enjoyed it? Was she offended? Mohit said, “Ma, we should call the leader to come pray for us. My friend says these are good people. I believe all our problems will go away [if they pray for us].”

Little did Mohit know, his mother was quiet during their walk home because she was thinking about an unmarried girl she’d seen at the meeting. After some time, Mohit’s mother and father admitted that they didn’t want to join the group, but they did want to meet with the leader. He visited them in their home, and then, yes, he helped them with the match. Seven months later, Mohit’s older brother married the girl from the meeting. Mohit’s mother exclaimed, “This is a good miracle!” Soon after the wedding, Mohit’s entire family were baptized!

Today Mohit’s mother is excited. She shares with anyone who will listen about Jesus and the changes He made in her family. She tells them, “You don’t have to put your faith in Jesus or believe, but you do have to hear these stories!” To date, Mohit’s mother has shared about Jesus in five other villages, seen 20 Discovery groups started, and has seen whole families baptized together.

In the grand scheme of things, the story of Mohit’s family is pretty small. What is one family compared to a population of 1.3 billion? I read recently that if 1 second is 1 second, 1 billion seconds is 30 years. That’s a huge difference! So, what is one family’s story worth?

Jesus’ brother, James, wrote about small things. He said, a tiny spark can set a great forest fire (James 3:5). Please join us in praying that families like Mohit’s will cause a “forest fire” of love and joy to sweep over the peoples of South Asia.

*pseudonym

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A Bold Witness

Jun 5, 2024 | East Asia, Stories

*Yeng is Khmer (most Khmers are Buddhist) who comes from a big family. Her husband, Pouch, is blind; her 97 years old mother-in-law and three grandsons all live with her. Yeng works hard to provide for the needs of her family. Every day she sells green leaves at the market to support her family. It is not much, but with the money that she earns from selling these leaves, she is able to provide meals for her family.

Recently, while Yeng was at the market a lady, who is also really poor, came by to visit. Yeng kindly shared some of her vegetables with her visitor. After the visitor left, the seller who sits near Yeng asked her why she would give food away for free like she had. She asked, “Are you a Christian?”

Immediately, Yeng said: “Yes, I believe in Jesus”. To which the seller replied: “you are like Jesus. You have a good heart; you are loving and kind to people”.

Yeng saw this statement as a great opportunity to share about what Jesus had done on the cross for all mankind. At the end of the conversation, the seller said: “I believe in Jesus too, but I don’t have a heart like yours. I’m so busy with my work, that sometimes I don’t feel close to God. My family does not believe in Jesus yet, and often they pray to our ancestors, and sometimes I do that too.”

“No, you cannot worship ancestors; they are not God you need to worship the ONE and TRUE God who is our Lord Jesus Christ only”, said Yeng. The chatted a little more and Yeng invited the seller to the house church that meets in her home. The seller promised that she would come when she had time. Pray for Yeng, that she would continue in her bold witness for the Lord and that she would remain an example of His love and kindness. Pray for Yeng’s friend, that she will seek Yeng out for more conversations about God.

*pseudonym

A Lesson in Compassion

May 29, 2024 | South Asia, Stories

Movement catalysts *Ethan and *Nicole were pondering together these profound words by Henri Nouwen: “Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

Suddenly, a phone call interrupted their reflection. Vishaan, a close friend, asked Ethan to accompany him in visiting his eunuch friends. Yes, eunuchs.

For many generations in the past, eunuchs served the Mughal rulers of India, playing pivotal roles in the Muslim courts. They provided protection for palace women, served as advisors to kings, and even acted as generals. However, after the British ousted the last Mughal ruler, eunuchs found themselves displaced. Palace life ceased. No longer valued and trusted, they found themselves thrust into a society which feared and ostracized them, considering them cursed.

Little has changed since. Nowadays in South Asia, eunuchs are mostly ignored (at best), and often feared and despised. Not every individual in a eunuch community is an actual eunuch; some are men living as women, while others suffer from genital deformities. Children born with such deformities are deemed cursed and are given to eunuch communities at early ages to live as outcasts.

Ethan admitted feeling uneasy about visiting the eunuch community, finding it strange to interact with people who look and sound like men but dress as women. Yet, he recognized that friendships with “outsiders” could also unsettle the eunuchs, given the abundance of abuse they endure compared to gestures of friendship. Trust does not come easily.

However, Vishaan had nurtured trust with them over time, which resulted in their requests for more visits, in which they asked him to discuss the Word and pray together. So, Ethan agreed to join Vishaan on a visit. He thought, “How could I say no?” It was hard to ignore an invitation from one of India’s most marginalized communities.

On Ethan’s third visit to a eunuch community with Vishaan, after a ninety-minute auto-rickshaw ride, they arrived at the outskirts of Delhi and entered the eunuchs’ home. They were warmly welcomed, and about ten ladies gathered. Vishaan led a prayer, followed by reading from the book of Isaiah about the Messiah. Ethan then shared the creation story in Hindi.

The eunuchs genuinely appreciated the Bible reading and the story of Adam and Eve. Some of the ladies were sick and requested prayer. Ethan suggested they should pray for one another in Jesus name, emphasizing that their own prayers (Ethan’s and Vishaan’s) did not hold any special power. God hears all prayers, and the power is in Jesus’ name.

Their presence seemed to uplift the spirits of the eunuchs, and Ethan hoped that they each found solace in their time together. The eunuchs graciously served a delicious meal, and Ethan and Vishaan returned home in time for Ethan’s children to arrive from school.

What a stark contrast: one city, one day, two vastly different worlds. They had spent the morning with people rejected, hated, feared, and cursed. Neither Ethan nor Vishaan had ever experienced such prejudice. Their families loved them, and they had never directly faced hatred. They seemed to have nothing in common with the eunuch community. And yet…

Why had they invited Vishaan? Because they desired the same thing we all do: to know we’re not alone, to experience compassion. They invited Ethan and Vishaan because they wanted to feel God’s touch and encounter His presence.

Remember how the angel instructed Mary to name her baby Immanuel, meaning God with us? Why was that significant? To empathize means to feel what others feel. Jesus displayed God’s compassion, crossing the divide between divinity and humanity. He entered into human pain, brokenness, fear, and confusion. Today, He calls us to do the same.

*pseudonyms

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Buddhist Woman Healed of Cancer

May 22, 2024 | South East Asia, Stories

*Somchai lived in the bustling city of Bangkok. Life for the 26-year-old seemed to be crumbling around her. She was separated from her husband and distanced from her daughter. Her abdominal pain had turned out to be the same type of intestinal cancer that had taken her mother’s life when Somchai was just a girl.

Frail and worn out from surgery and chemotherapy, Somchai clung to her Buddhist amulets, the last vestiges of hope in a world that offered little solace or peace. Depressed and hopeless, Somchai decided to go back to the quaint village where her mother had once lived before the allure of the big city called.

In this small village, Somchai fondly remembered the days she spent there with her mother. She even reunited with her Uncle *Sunan. Having returned from Bangkok a few years before himself, Sunan had come back with a mission to start a house church in his ancestral village. This vibrant community of new believers embraced Somchai, and after many months of fellowship and prayer with the house church, Somchai felt hopeful.

A few months later, surrounded by the prayers of her new church family, her uncle, and a movement catalyst, Somchai cast aside her Buddhist beliefs and confessed her faith in Christ. As she did, she felt a weight lift from her weary shoulders. She described it as feeling a rush, like something had left her body. She felt slightly nauseous and clammy, but oddly free.

In the days that followed, miracles unfolded before the eyes of skeptics and believers alike. Somchai defied medical expectations. Not only did she surprise her doctors with a rapid recovery, but she put on weight. Even her countenance changed. As news of Somchai’s healing spread throughout the village, other villagers and even people from neighboring villages started to believe in Jesus.

Pray for Somchai and her daughter, now that the Lord has healed her physical body, pray that He would heal the relationship between her and her daughter.

*pseudonyms

READ OTHER STORIES FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA

THREE DELICIOUS DISHES …
Danny and *Holly were at their favorite Thai open-air market on Christmas Day. When they gave … read more

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

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