This past winter break I had the opportunity to visit the states for a couple weeks. I spent time with family and friends and it was a great time being able to spend the holidays with loved ones. It was a time of renewal for the upcoming year.
After my return, ministry quickly started back up again as if I never had left.In the month of January, I had another opportunity to preach at my fellowship about one of Jesus' miracles. Besides being an encouragement to the body, the Lord used this sermon process to foreshadow some important life directions.
The Lord has been evidently outpouring his grace and his renown at the shelter I talked about in my last newsletter. At the same time, working with these guys has felt like a roller coaster; there has been many ups and downs, joy and sorrow, harmony and oppression, health and sickness, blessing and suffering.
Out of all these things, suffering has been most prevalent.
Since we began our work in the shelter, we have welcomed eight new brothers into the family. I came to a foreign land completely unaware that I was going to inherit a new family. A new family of brothers that look up to you and say things like, "I was completely alone, I had no family, I had no friends... Now you are my best friend, you are my brother". A new family of brothers that after becoming completely unrecognized by their own family say things like, "Don't worry, I have a new family", as if they were the ones encouraging me when it should've been the other way around.
One word that continually reappears as I mentor and teach these faithful young men is... unworthy. I am being honest when I say that they are teaching me more about what it looks like to follow Christ than what I can ever teach... and they don't even have a clue that it is happening.
Currently, one of our brothers is in the hospital with seizure issues, forcing him to stay in the emergency hospital. We visited him and tried to encourage him... But he was not in good shape, being semi-conscious due to medication. In the midst of this illness, we have seen a couple brothers rise to the occasion and join in the suffering and pain of their sick brother. We found out today that they were determined to stick by their brother’s side. They remained by his side throughout the night making the cold hard floor their bed for the past few nights. I once heard that the shelter was "an everyman for himself" type place. I suppose the living God inside of them obliterates this concept.
I realized something today... Never in my life have I seen such willingness to join in each other's sufferings and bare each other's burdens as I have seen through these young men.
One of the brothers that tried escaping to the West returned today after being caught getting smuggled and thrown into jail. Based on different circumstances, he is planning to return back to the country where he came from except this time he's bring the Good News with him. It troubles me to know what would happen if the wrong people find out about his faith. Despite the daunting dangers that lay ahead, he is eager to share all that he can about the hope of Jesus.
In the midst of all this, the Lord continues to fill our nets. The Lord continues to put people in our path who are panting for truth. We are planning to host a meeting for those seeking for truth. We are anticipating a fairly large number.Tea HouseWhen I arrived back from the states, my fellowship began a new Tea House program in partnership with my team. Pioneering an infant program has had its challenges and issues but I think the Lord has started this program off successfully. The months to come will be very important as we seek to address issues and make improvements in order to lead the program in a positive direction.
This program exists to serve refugees by providing them a place where they can relax, drink tea and play games. From the moment they step inside we hope to overwhelm them with the love, service, and the friendship of Christ.
Ideally, the Tea House will become a hotspot for truth sharing opportunities.This program provides great opportunities for building new friendships, having meaningful conversations, showing the J-Film, and more.
I've had the opportunity to share the good news with a couple of women who come regularly to the Tea House.One of them described to me a dream she had.
She found herself standing at the bottom of a narrow staircase. To her amazement heaven was waiting for her at the top of the staircase. Though, in order to reach the top she had to climb twenty-one steps. In her desire to reach the top, she began to climb the staircase but was met by a man on the seventh step. This man was the only thing that stood between herself and the realities of heaven. The man told her that she had to pass through him in order to get to the top of the staircase. And out of love, he gave her his hand in order to help her pass through him.
As she was describing to me this dream, I was filled with eager joy and my soul cried out, "I KNOW THAT MAN!!! I KNOW THAT MAN!!!". Like a six year old on the night before a trip to Disney World, I could not wait to tell her His name... the name above all names, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings.
But before another moment passed by she did me a favor and she herself told me who he was.
She identified him with the name of...
Jesus
The Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for our brothers at the shelter and all the suffering they are going through. Pray that the Lord will be their rock and their mighty fortress. Pray that they can learn to trust in Him during this difficult season. Also pray for our protection against all types of opposition (both seen and unseen).
- Pray that the Lord will use my teammates and I to teach and mentor the shelter guys to obey all that Jesus commanded and to continually point them to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
- Pray that the Lord will continue to have his hand on the growth of the new Tea House program. Pray that He will raise up the right leaders in order to lead this program well.