Stories | Beyond

A Bag of Cucumbers: Luke 10 Wages

Mar 1, 2023 | Stories

During a recent outreach in Buddhist SE Asia, two brothers were walking through a village in the afternoon and saw a man sleeping in his hammock under his house. It’s culturally rude to awaken someone sleeping under their house, but these brothers reasoned, “We’ve come a long way. We’ll only be here once, so let’s wake him up.” As they approached the house, multiple dogs in the yard began barking menacingly.

“In the name of Jesus Christ we command you to be silent!” they said. The dogs immediately quieted down.

They called out to the man. He awoke, and they began by saying, “We’ve come to tell you important good news of Jesus, who has come to help people out of their sins.”

As the man really woke up, he interjected, “You know, I was just helping some Christians last week in a nearby village.”

“Did you hear what Jesus has done for people?” they asked.

“No, what did he do?” the man asked.

They told him God’s story from Creation to Judgement. “Don’t you see?” they said, “God was reaching out to you when you worked on a construction project with those Christians. Now God sent us here to talk to you. God is calling you — would you like to respond and relate to him?”

The man did! The two brothers asked about his life. What issues did he have? He sells things in the market and was recently divorced. They prayed that God would help him with his work and finances. The man was overwhelmed by their kindness and the news that Jesus could remove his sins. “I don’t have much to give you,” he said, “but here is a bag of cucumbers I was taking to market. Please receive this as an expression of my thanks for coming to tell me about Jesus.”

In Luke 10:7, Jesus tells the 72 He sent out to eat, drink and receive whatever they are given because “The worker deserves his wages.” We’ve seen many times that when villagers welcome the message of Jesus, they offer something to the messenger, a sack of rice, bags of produce, etc.

The next morning a follow-up team visited the man to find out if he was serious. Did he really want to follow Jesus? “Yes,” he said, “I am serious. I do want to follow Jesus.” As a market seller, he knows many people and has good relationships across his area. He said he would ask others to join the discovery study group they plan to start in his home.

Pray that many friends and neighbors will join this new brother in his home to hear God’s stories and learn to walk as Jesus’ disciples.

Other Stories from this Region

PRAYER WALKING
As she walked, Trisha began to see the people in a new light. She could see the communities in which they belonged: shop owners helping each other … read more

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

“IT MUST BE JESUS WHO …”
*Uhn was the town drunk and the senior patriarch of his large extended family. Over a year ago, *Scott’s local … read more

God’s Ideas Open Doors

Feb 15, 2023 | NAME, Stories

Danish* has been involved with some churches in the Arab world for over 30 years. By God’s grace, they have accepted him as a spiritual father figure. For the last five or six years, he has been talking to them about and training them in strategies for disciple-making movements (DMM).

When he first brought up DMM practices, the people were resistant to receiving them, but because of their trust and long-standing relationship with Danish, they listened politely.

“Time after time,” Danish declares, “the Lord has given me new approaches for presenting DMM based on the biblical text.”

For these churches, the Lord showed Danish something in the Book of Acts. Danish explains: “Who started the early church? The Jerusalem church. It was the church that took the gospel to the Gentiles. Yes, it was not easy. Yes, they waited for 14 years — they delayed their mission to start the gospel among the Gentiles. But in the end, they did. This is the idea the Lord gave to me, and I tell it to every traditional local church there. ‘DMM is not replacing you; you are here as the Jerusalem mother church. And you can send people from your side to the “Gentiles” – considering the people groups near you as the “Gentiles.”’

“Through this approach, they started to receive it and to obey… Sometimes the Lord gives me ideas that open the doors.”

After decades of praying with them, investing in them, and giving them many training sessions, there is new growth in the church. They are appointing people to reach the Unreached around them. They are taking the initiative and seeing fruit — many people are coming to the Lord!

*pseudonym

RELATED STORIES

“I AM JESUS CHRIST, WHO LOVES YOU”
A woman from a strong Islamic family attended the most recent Disciple Making Movement training read more

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A PASTOR
Brian* and Ellie’s* local partner, Hom,* felt pretty discouraged after visiting a friend who is the pastor of a local church. read more …

HOW GOOD IT IS …
One team of disciple-makers in Indonesia had been praying and pondering how they could send out read more …

Looking for the Man in White

Feb 1, 2023 | Stories

One of our field teams shares a recent lesson:

“Our number one prayer is to see God start a movement of reproducing disciples and churches within each of the unreached people groups of Indonesia. As we seek God in this endeavor, one red-letter verse stands out:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up on the last day.” – John 6:44

“So, does this mean that if God isn’t drawing someone, all our efforts to reach them are in vain? Absolutely! Jesus said that nobody can come to him unless the Father draws them. Because of this, we often ask God to show us who He is drawing. We ask the Holy Spirit to show us where to go, who to engage with, and even what to say.

“But we also look for signs that God is drawing someone. One sign we look for is someone who has seen Jesus or “a man in white” in a dream or vision.

“One of our coworkers recently met a woman and her daughter who had simultaneous encounters with a man in white. The mother’s vision came as she had simply been sitting in her house while her daughter slept. When the daughter awoke, she told her mother that she dreamt about a man in white. In both the vision and the dream, the man in white told them that they must receive Him.

“Another sign of God’s movement that we look for is miracles — especially healings.

“You may have read about how God used our prayers to heal a woman with an injured back.

“Since then, we have shared several Bible stories with this woman and several of her family members. We regularly visit this mountain village for the chance to talk with other people as well.

“On a recent trip, a woman waved us over while pointing at her shoulder. Apparently, she had heard of the healing and wanted us to pray for her shoulder. We explained that we didn’t heal anyone. It was faith in Isa al Masih that heals. She immediately held out her hands in a posture of prayer and asked us how she could pray herself.

“Jesus’ fame seems to be spreading in this mountainside village. Please continue to pray for these two women and their families. Ask God to pour out his Spirit through dreams and healings. Pray especially that many would want to truly follow our Jesus who heals.”

Dusting Her Feet Off Like Jesus

Jan 18, 2023 | Stories

Lisa has been going for walks with a Muslim friend named Fitri for a few months. Fitri knows Lisa is a follower of Jesus and has even helped her craft a few parables by changing them into the local vernacular. When they walk together, Lisa takes out a few Scripture verses (mostly from Psalms) written on small cards. Both women read over and then pray the Bible verses as they walk. Fitri readily takes the cards Lisa made for her, reads the verses, and then stashes them in her purse.

However, whenever they set a time to meet to read and discuss a story from the Injil (New Testament), Fitri always called to cancel. Lisa soon began to wonder if she was genuinely interested.

A recent training on “dusting off your feet” (Matthew 10, Mark 6, Luke 9) challenged Lisa to stop initiating spiritual conversations and instead wait for Fitri to begin one, as a way to test her interest. To Lisa’s delight, on their next walk, Fitri initiated a discussion about the differences between Islam and Christianity. Lisa asked if she could ask Fitri a difficult question, one that Lisa had never asked anyone before. When Fitri said yes, Lisa asked, “Have you ever asked Jesus if He is indeed God? If He would confirm that to you?”

Fitri replied, “I have considered asking, but I haven’t ever done it. No one has asked me that before. Since you brought it up, I will ask and tell you what He says.”

Lisa thanked her and offered to meet her to read various passages from the Bible to discover together what it says about Jesus. A few days later, however, Fitri texted Lisa a few short videos from Muslim leaders talking about the lies of Christianity. Fitri felt this was her answer. She did not want to look at either the Qu’ran or the Bible.

“I had my answer,” Lisa says. “Fitri is not, at present, an open seeker. So now I pray and keep my mouth shut when she and I walk together. I wait for the Lord to open her heart to Him.”

What Can Happen with Small Faith?

Jan 11, 2023 | South Asia, Stories

Leaders from a 10-year-old disciple-making movement in South Asia met recently to celebrate what God has done. “We stand in awe,” movement leader Ethan* declared. “Ten years ago, we imagined none of this. Never asked for it. Our faith was too small. We never imagined all that God could or would do.”

In a multi-day celebration, 100+ leaders (each one representing thousands of churches) met to rejoice and worship God as a community of Jesus-followers. Most had never met the others before, but rather than brag about their own missional efforts, they actively honored one another with words of affirmation. Traditional gifts were given and received in accordance with the leaders’ different cultural backgrounds.

Many testimonies showcased the glory of the Lord and what He has done in the various disciple-making streams. Attendees worshiped through indigenous songs and dance, and also generosity. When one leader’s large financial need became known, the group didn’t hesitate. Nor did they look to the few foreigners present or list their own genuine needs. They simply gave. In less than an hour, the need was covered.

There were some practical teachings on cyber security; a reminder about how to respond when they are arrested, threatened, or their property destroyed; and what the Bible teaches about the church tradition of ordination.

During a time of sober reflection, the group honored the 22 disciples in the movement who have died for their faith since the work first began. As each name was read, a garland of marigolds was placed onto a cloth-draped podium at the front. All then prayed for the widows, children, and disciples left behind.

Later, everyone met in groups to identify which people groups in their home states are still unreached. They evaluated: Among which people groups have disciples reached four generations of growth? Where is there less growth? Where is there no movement effort yet? It was an excellent way for everyone to see what God had done, is doing, and still desires to do.

The meetings ended with a beautiful foot-washing ceremony. The first generation of movement leaders called forward the next generation and washed their feet. Those men and women washed the feet of the next generation, and so on, until the final group washed the feet of the first-generation leaders. It was a sweet time of laughter through tears.

“Goodbyes were both joyous and hard,” movement leader Hannah* shared. “We felt so connected to these dear brothers and sisters and rejoiced to send them back into the harvest, while knowing it will be a long time before we see some of them again. And, the reality is — because of the level of persecution most of them face and what is required to bring the Kingdom into such a completely lost area — some of those dear people will probably lose their lives for Jesus in the coming years. Yet they went back willingly, joyfully, ready to keep serving their beloved Lord for as long as they are able. It was an unforgettable time.”