With our church’s recent emphasis on praying for our missionaries, we’ve been contacted by some IMB personnel about sharing their stories here. We received one such story this morning, and the following is my summary of their story. I’m keeping all names and countries private, even when the missionaries are in an open country. Security is a top priority.
We were working with a mother and her daughter one afternoon, and a conversation showed us the typical mindset of the natives in our country. They were happy to talk about Jesus, but the mother said she would never go back to church. We pressed for more details. The mother revealed she had received a Christian education, but left the church soon after her graduation. She wanted nothing to do with the church that is fallible. “If the church loves Jesus, why is it so messed up,” she asked.
Her daughter, because of her mother’s sprint away from the church, had grown up in a completely non-religious home. They wanted to believe in something, but they were not interested in the church. We talked about Jesus, and why I still loved and believed in the church, an I offered d then we talked about the recent spate of terror attacks around the world. I offered to pray for them, and they happily accepted.
Another woman, a non-practicing but open Muslim, said she had a problem with believing Jesus is God. She has great respect for Jesus, so we looked to scripture at Jesus’ claims. Then she asked, “Is the Bible reliable?” Then she, like the mother and daughter above, asked why the church is so messed up.
Finally, while cleaning streets with a group of youth, I overheard a resident ask, “Why are you doing this?” One of our teams members responded, “Because Jesus cleaned our hearts, and gave us hands and feet to clean streets and sidewalks.” The Bible says in Romans 10:15, “And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
We believe God is desperately calling out to the people of this country. They need Him now more than they know, and we are engaged in planting and multiplying churches so the people in our country can see the living Bride of Christ. Will you please lift up the following requests in prayer:
- We have a vision of the church growing through group multiplication, and we have several projects in the coming months aimed at that goal. These include videos, social media teams, etc… Please pray for these projects and the teams involved.
- We will be hosting a team from the states in the coming months to help our small groups evangelize and invite their friends. Pray for their safety and effectiveness while in country with us.
- We also have a student who will be working with us this summer. Pray for safe travel and productive work while the student is here.
- There are several events occurring within our National Baptist Convention. Please lift those up in prayer.
I love hearing stories of God’s work through our foreign missionaries. If you have any IMB contacts who would be willing to share stories and updates, and prayer requests, please send me their contact information, JonesTonyL@yahoo.com
