Discovery Bible Study

Breakfast Surprises

Aug 29, 2023 | Stories, Turkic World

One day as Sue* and her friend sat down at a freshly laid food table, their West Asian host asked, “Will you pray for our breakfast?”

“My friend and I were surprised,” says Sue, “because generally, Muslims give thanks after a meal, not before. Besides, she knows we are followers of Jesus Christ. How is it that she wants us to pray? I was caught off guard but happily obliged her request, awkwardly stumbling over my prayer in the local language due to my lingering shock.

Earlier that morning, Sue had been praying for this woman, her family, and the visit they were about to have. Sue asked God for a specific story to share from the Word, and He brought to mind the story of the woman caught in adultery. When she told the story, the host’s sister recognized it, even filling in a part of the story. The sister said she had heard the story in school, but when Sue asked another local friend about it, she was pretty sure no stories about Jesus were ever taught in the religion classes at school. “Could the sister have done some reading on her own?” Sue wondered.

Attempting to ascertain how spiritually hungry the two sisters might be, Sue led them in a mini-Discovery Bible study to draw out lessons learned from the story and ways to apply them.

“We had a good conversation about the story,” Sue says, “but the real joy was hearing a few days later that our host had remembered and liked the story enough to share it with another foreign friend.”

Before leaving, Sue and her friend offered to pray for healing for one of the sister’s kidneys. “As soon as we laid hands on her, without even uttering a word of prayer, she startled and broke out in goosebumps. She had been impacted by the power of the Spirit! After the prayer she not only felt at peace but our host pointed out that she really perked up and had much more energy. Praise the Father for touching her and showing up in power!

Please join us in praying for a miracle of healing and that she and their whole family might start doing Discovery Bible studies together, obeying and sharing as they learn.”

*pseudonym

READ OTHER STORIES AND MORE …

WHY HAD JESUS APPEARED TO HER?
She often prays this prayer for Muslims in general and for her friends in particular, so this notion was not out of the ordinary for her read more …

I’M BAPTIZED!
Knowing that it’s generally better to baptize someone together with their closest community, the women pondered whether to wait for Havva’s husband to read more …

OUR WORK AMONG TURKIC PEOPLES
The Turkic peoples are part of old and proud civilizations that have spanned continents and learn more …

Part One: Are You Like Your Name?

Aug 16, 2023 | Austronesia, Stories

Part One: Charlie*, Sarah*, and four friends were resting at a gazebo after a hike when they met Putra* and his family. As they all exchanged names, Charlie and Sarah could sense the Holy Spirit’s strong presence and were guided in the following conversation.

The Holy Spirit prompted Sarah to ask, “What does the name ‘Putra’ mean?”

Putra answered, “It has good meaning and bad.”

“Are you like your name?”

“Yes, I am like my name. I sometimes do good and sometimes bad. I lie and cheat. When I buy a chicken for Rp 20,000, I tell people I bought it for Rp 30,000.”

The Holy Spirit said to ask him, “Isn’t that sin?”

“Yes, it is sin.” Putra admits.

“Can you redeem or atone for your sins?”

“No, I cannot.” Putra says.

The Spirit said to ask, “If we know of a way to redeem you from your sins, would you like to know?”

“Yes, tell me!”

Then one of the disciples told the whole story of our sinless Jesus, who was crucified as a perfect sacrifice to be an atonement for our sins.

At that moment, a lady arrived, returning from a visit to the clinic.

“What is wrong with her?” the disciples ask.

“She has been coughing blood for the last three weeks.”

The small band of disciples moved to where the lady sat down with some friends and shared the story of Jesus healing the lady who had bled for 12 years. They asked if they could pray for her, explaining it was Jesus who would heal her, not themselves.

As Charlie and Sarah’s group turned to leave, Putra cried out, “How do I have access to Jesus?”

“Through prayers.”

“How do you pray?” Putra called out, then chanted a few Arabic prayers he had memorized.

“No, you pray directly to Jesus,” the disciples explained.

With that, Charlie and Sarah’s group left, determined to visit Putra later.

Next week, we’ll share the follow-up visit they had with Putra!

*pseudonyms

READ OTHER STORIES FROM CHARLIE AND SARAH BELOW

QUEENS, KILLER BEES AND MULTIPLICATION
“As we took our discouragement to the Father,” Sarah shared, “God reminded us of a seemingly unrelated experience a few
years ago …. with bees. read more …

JESUS HEALS AS IS WRITTEN IN THE QUR’AN
“This was the same lady, Ibu Muli, in whose home we now sat. She told us that immediately after the prayer, her back had been healed, and read more …

I TOLD HIM I WAS QUITTING
*Charlie worked in the IT industry. He specialized in indirect sales and marketing; he educated and supported hundreds of salesmen. He also led efforts to simplify read more …

The Encouraging Eavesdropper

Aug 9, 2023 | South East Asia

For several weeks, Tucker* and his friend, Peter*, have been visiting a local food stall to look for people of peace (Luke 10:5-6). As they sit and eat, they strike up conversations with fellow customers to identify spiritually hungry people.

One day as they were sharing the gospel, a man at the next table caught their attention. They noticed that he was listening to their conversation. Before long, the other man was smiling and giving them the “thumbs up” sign.

After their conversation, Tucker and his friend moved to talk with Raykim*. Raykim is a Jesus follower who had just moved to the area, and Tucker and his friend were the first Christians he had met. He was so encouraged to see them sharing the gospel with his fellow countrymen. They invited Raykim to study God’s Word with them.

The men have met a couple of times and Tucker is encouraged by Raykim’s desire to grow in the Lord, connect with other disciples, and share the Good News with lost people. He very clearly understands that God’s commands to His followers include “Go” and “Obey.”

Praise God! He is raising up laborers for the harvest from among the harvest! Pray for Raykim as he grows in his faith and puts it into action.

*pseudonym

ARE YOU QUICK TO OBEY
*Joel has been leading a disciple-making training in the Tibetan Himalayas. One of its critical components is reproducibility. The participants are immediately read more …

PRAY, WAIT, LISTEN AND OBEY
*Tucker, a Beyond missions catalyst, arrived at the guesthouse, hoping to speak with *Shuhei. Earlier he’d had a chance to pray for some of Shuhei’s needs, read more …

NOT A JOB FOR EXPERTS ONLY
“How are you doing at making disciples? Are you teaching them to obey what Jesus commanded?” read more …

Going Out 2 by 2

Jul 26, 2023 | Austronesia, Stories

As leaders from a movement network in SE Asia began to talk about taking the gospel to a nearby island, Wahid grew interested. Passionate about spreading the Word of God, he took a long trip with some fellow disciple-makers around the island’s perimeter. They stopped at several places where Wahid already knew people, and shared Bible stories that pointed to Isa (Jesus) – making disciples and training them to multiply.

Two years later, Wahid decided to revisit those areas. He knew the disciples had made more disciples, but growth in some places had not reached beyond the first or second generation of multiplication. He found that the new disciples had not understood all of the teachings, so they had some gaps in their multiplication practices. Wahid’s heart was burdened by this, so when he returned home, he and his team began to pray for a solution. What could be done to remove the blockage preventing new and sustained growth?

After praying, the leadership team decided to send out couples experienced in multiplying disciples to the third, fourth, and fifth generations. Fifteen couples came forward to coach the new disciples in disciple-making strategies. They sought the Lord together on the best placement for their work.

Since April, eight couples have been sent out. Others will soon follow. Pray for the teams as they coach existing disciples on how to multiply into generations of multiplying disciples. This island has seen many apostolic efforts start and stop. Pray that the church there will grow and see many new followers of Isa.

*pseudonyms

READ RELATED STORIES

GOING OUT AMONG THE LOST
Anna mentioned that she and her husband, Evan, had been on the island during the earthquake, and they too had experienced some fear because of it. They stayed, however, because of their love for the SaSumBi people. read more …

MAKING INROADS
The first night D spoke with a man, Aziz, a broker, about the parable of the sower and the seeds. Feeling uneasy because of the powerful message, Aziz suddenly began sharing that he often “played with the numbers” read more …

YOU SHOULD KNOW VIDEO
We updated the statistics however the reality of a Christless eternity for a third of the world is still … watch now

Three Major Hindrances — 4000 Disciples

Jul 20, 2023 | Austronesia, Stories

Hanli* helped her husband track data describing their region’s largest family of church planting movements. After reading all the descriptions of transformed lives, and the stories of Muslims coming to faith along with their families or groups of friends (not as individuals), she asked the Lord to use her in the same way. Hanli trusted God to retrain her: to leave behind unfruitful traditional evangelistic approaches, and try the new approach she had read about for reaching Muslims.

God delights to use those who know the voice of Jesus and obey His beckoning, who step outside their comfort zones and say “Yes, Jesus,” no matter the cost. They trust God to make disciples who make disciples, regardless of their own weaknesses or strengths.

Some might think Hanli had three hindrances to effectively multiplying disciples among Muslims:

She is Chinese-Indo (an ethnic people typically hated by indigenous unreached people in her country)
She is a theological professor (having much theological knowledge, most of which is offensive to Muslims rather than helpful in reaching them)
She is from a very traditional church (lacking contextual understanding of effective ways to reach Muslims).

However, in the past two years, Hanli has seen roughly 4,000 Muslims come to follow Isa al Masih (Jesus the Messiah), in multiple generations of families and friends. These new disciples meet in house fellowships and are reproducing disciples who make disciples.

*pseudonym

SUSI IS STILL SEARCHING
She wanted something to hold on to wholeheartedly. She even told her mom that she was searching outside Islam for truth. read more …

JOURNEY TO DISCIPLESHIP
Susi was interested in each of the Old Testament stories and asked, “Are these stories talking about the blood of Jesus?” read more …

GIVE UP YOUR WAY
Together the couple had sought the Lord on where they might live to be most effective in making multiplying disciples. And the Lord had answered. read more …