The highlight of recent events is related to the shelter at which I’ve been teaching English with some teammates. The shelter is full of young men who have fled their home country for various reasons, and have no other choice than to live at this place where the vast majority feel like there’s no life or future. As my teammate and I spend time with them, many express their feeling of hopelessness with their current situation. At the same time, many are very evidently seeking hope elsewhere, and God has been drawing them to himself as the direction of that hope. Though they are from extremely unreached homelands, many have approached us with a hunger to know more about the scriptures.
As we realized there are far too many guys for us to personally pour into, we began praying for a group of them to come together for our efforts to be more directed, and who could care for and support each other. God responded. He responded with grace far beyond what my weak prayers deserve. A group of six guys that I now call good friends started coming together, and long story short, ended up in a church with my team leader and a Persian translator to help answer all the questions they had. As they were hearing and understanding about Jesus, their faces were written with conviction, excitement and joy. After a time of expressing fears over the the very real sacrifices involved—disownment from parents, persecution from peers, etc.—of professing faith in Christ, they all decided he was worth it that day.
Since then they have been through some heartbreaking stuggles, such as the death of a father, suicidal attempts, and preparing for the mandatory move from the shelter that will happen very soon as they come of age. But they continue to be aware that God’s hope can never fail. Though they have a lot to learn (and so do I) about what it means to trust and follow Jesus, we want to walk with them every step of the way, while helping them take steps out of poverty to a more secure and fulfilling future.
Please pray for us...