High expectations preceded Michael’s fall—both his own expectations and those of his missionary mentors. A ministry student at Bible college, no one knew of his secret girlfriend and the sordid hotel tryst. Though he was smiling and singing as usual at church, his conscience nagged him about the hypocrisy of his double life. Miserable and…
Arriving back to the field brings excitement and apprehension. There’s the usual life events: births, deaths, and people moving away. Despite all the usual life dramas, Brad and Ber are happy to be back and tackle whatever comes their way – especially getting reacquainted with Sami. Sami is the person Brad has been working with…
Though she’d been an English teacher in this class composed of four students for only two months, a bond had already formed. She appreciated their thirst for knowledge and their drive to excel; they admired her intellect, and the respect with which she treated them. She was approachable and seemed to genuinely care about them….
Her hands flew up to her face and she uttered the words, “What can I do?” Simply put, that had been the point; she couldn’t do anything. It was that “ah-ha” moment when things started to make sense. During our study, we deviated to Matthew 5:21-26, the Sermon on the Mount, and the section on…
Although this funeral was a Christian funeral, I knew that the elderly lady that had passed away was an unbeliever. Two years before, not long after arriving in Hong Kong, my co-worker and I visited her. She was a spunky, kind old lady. Though her grandchildren had often witnessed to her, she was politely uninterested…
“First we were friends and after that, sisters in Christ!” Maya describes Julia’s journey from unbelief to faith as a collage of friendships, connections, truth, and soul-searching. The two young women met at work, and a warm friendship sprung up between them. Since Maya’s faith in Jesus is a big part of her life, the…
We have been able to study the Bible on 2 occasions with a local business man and his wife. As we studied Isaiah 53, the Holy Spirit opened this man’s eyes to a foundational truth. We simply read the passage and asked, “What does this teach us about man?” He answered, “If I were a…
Pouring oneself into people doesn’t always produce expected results, as John found out. After working with Amos for a while, there was a sense that headway was being made; he showed interest in the Word of God and acknowledged its truths. John was encouraged until one day Amos’s kind gesture of a honeycomb wasn’t so…
A married couple in their 60’s (with decades of experience teaching school, Bible clubs, and Bible studies) said goodbye to their adult children, grandchildren, and elderly parents to serve in an Asian country as school teachers. When God prepared this couple to go to this school, He first brought them through a very deep, dark…
There is no self-sufficient Christian. Identification as a Christian is identification with Christ, indicating a recognition of one’s own need for the help. Such a worldview creates friction with our American culture which seeks to enable self-sufficiency. That same friction exists in cross-cultural ministry where community is key. That’s why when a child of one…