Gospel to Asia

Is Downsizing Ever Better?

Jun 30, 2023 | East Asia, Stories

A BEYOND team member attended a training in a large East Asian country. The 16 trainees were leaders of various Discovery Bible groups that had started in the past year. These trainees had belonged to a growing church in the city.

The church, however, had recently come to a startling revelation: the more the church grew numerically, the fewer disciples they made. Their focus on excellent preaching had failed to produce any real lifestyle changes in their church members. Additionally, they found that as the church grew, they had fewer new believers attending. Their desire to grow numerically actually made them less effective as a church.

In a bold move, the church leaders decided to structure the church to once again meet in small groups. They trained leaders in the Discovery Bible Study group process and ensured all their members attended a small group.

Shortly after they made this decision, government officials demanded they shut down their large Sunday meeting place. If this decision had come a few months earlier, it could have been disastrous, but these leaders saw God’s hand in the timing of these events. They decided that it was confirmation of God’s will and leading. They would not seek another place for their large meeting. Instead, they would continue meeting as house churches and use the new Discovery Bible Study process.

Pray that God will spur churches to evaluate the true purpose of the Church. Ask God to equip bold leaders like these as they move to fulfill the true purposes of the Church.

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Revitalized Vision for Reaching the Lost

May 31, 2023 | South Asia, Stories

Recently Greg* and one of his local partners started meeting with a group of tribal believers to cast vision for multiplying disciples, and encourage them to obey Jesus’ commission in Matthew 28. Many of these precious brothers and sisters are farmers and laborers, some of whom trek over six miles through the forest and over steep hills to meet in a church building made of mud and thatch.

Starting with Old Testament Scripture, Greg and his partner showed how Father God’s heart has longed for all peoples and nations from the beginning. They shared how Jesus lived his life as a pattern for us to follow, then gave his disciples the responsibility of the Great Commission. By the third visit, they sensed the people were accepting their responsibility to obey Jesus. Greg asked what experiences they’d recently had in trying to share the Good News with unbelievers.

One young man stood up and said, “Brother, I am only a simple mason. I don’t know much. But after you shared about the simple ways we can engage those around us in conversation, I had an opportunity. On the job that day, rather than taking along friends I already knew, I purposely asked my boss to choose people to work with me. The two men I ended up with were brothers. They come from a nearby town that has few or no believers. When they saw my behavior and that I was not chewing “gutka” (the local tobacco-like substance), they asked me why. This started a conversation about how my life has changed. These brothers were impressed with my testimony and invited me to visit them at their home. This town is new for us, and my wife and I are praying for a chance to go meet with these men and their families to share the Good News.”

After that brother sat down, Greg pointed out that since they live among so many unreached people, their places of work and the activities of their daily lives can provide many opportunities to share the Good News. Everyone accepted the challenge of finding new people and places to share the Good News before meeting again. When the local pastor stood to pray, he told Jesus they wanted to share with many people and asked Jesus to show them all how and where to find persons of peace.

Pray for this group of energized followers to be directed by the Spirit and to have rich and fruitful conversations with many in their communities. Ask that these conversations would lead to Bible studies and new generations of multiplying disciples.

*pseudonym

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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.”

Jesus Heals as is Written in the Qur’an

Nov 16, 2022 | Stories

As you may have recently read, Charlie and Sarah had been walking through a season of discouragement. One morning, Sarah asked the Lord to show her that He was still at work.

“Later that same day,” Sarah recalls, “another friend went with Charlie and me to look for persons of peace (as in Luke 10) in a mountain village where we hike. It was drizzling, so not many people were out. But as we rounded a corner, two ladies waved energetically at us and invited us into their home, just before a downpour hit.

“It turned out that we had met one of them previously. A few weeks ago, Charlie and I had been hiking and had come upon a lady curled up on the side of the road with her husband sitting beside her. Her back had given out as she climbed the hill with her heavy load. We stopped to pray for her in Jesus’ name, but had to resume our hike since we were an hour from our car and sunset was rapidly approaching.

“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 she was able to carry her load home. Her back hadn’t bothered her since. ‘Are you Muslims?’ she asked. ‘No,’ we replied, ‘We are followers of Isa (Jesus), who can heal the sick as it is written in the Qur’an.’

“God had been at work a month or more before I had uttered my prayer. And here was a lady open to hearing about Isa, because God had healed her.”

“Please pray for Ibu Muli and her uncle, who gives the call to prayer at the local mosque. They agree with everything we say, but she insists we must be good Muslims, because of all the truths we speak. We will keep returning to her village and joining God in His work. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give them a thirst for God and an openness to hear about Jesus.

*pseudonyms

Thrown into Slavery

Nov 2, 2022 | Stories

PART ONE

Bahar and his paternal uncle, Navi, traveled to a faraway province in their South Asian country in search of work.

Not long after arriving, they had a dispute with some local people. Because Bahar and Navi were poor migrant workers who spoke a different language, they were handed over to corrupt officials. They were immediately thrown into slavery and forced to work long hours.

They were beaten daily and told they would be killed and chopped up into pieces if they didn’t obey.

For 45 days, Bahar and Navi prayed to their Hindu gods, pleading to be released from their slavery. But nothing happened.

Then Bahar said, “I have heard of someone named Jesus, and that if people pray in his name, he answers them.” So they started praying to Jesus, asking him to make a way for their escape. Jesus immediately spoke to them and told them he would rescue them. He told them which day to leave, how to escape, and where to go. Encouraged, they began to pray more earnestly. Six days later, on the exact day Jesus had said, they were able to escape and begin the journey home! Bahar and Navi knew Jesus had saved them.

Don’t miss part two next week.