“Why do you cry at death? Don’t you know that death is immortality?” These were the words of comfort at the funeral of a man we studied the Bible with. Often, the response to the most devastating circumstances is to give the most hopeful of outlooks. While veiled differently, this is a typical response to…
Anil’s life in a hut on a mountainous sugar cane farm knew plenty of hardship. Plowing, planting and harvesting with the help of only their bullock, Anil’s family had sacrificed to the gods for generations to ensure their farming success. Into the midst of this darkness walked missionaries with a message of hope and life…
Our hearts are encouraged to see this small church plant catch the vision of reaching out to others and inviting them in. At our church barbecue, one of the unsaved visitors grew up in Indonesia with a knowledge of the majority religion there. In simple English, I shared the gospel with her while we sat…
As I walked through the busy streets of a densely populated Asian city, my mobile phone dinged, announcing a new text message. It read, “Good morning, Pastor, in this morning, I tried to lead my son to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, but I failed…” One week before, the gentleman who sent this…
It was 1981. Bob and Cecilia’s hearts sank. The door was firmly and finally closed. No way would the remote interior tribe allow foreigners to live in their village. Fast-forward thirty years. Their chief, Antimu, lands himself in prison—for murder. A week later the fierce warrior leader is surprised to be visited by a white…
The sound of a low steam whistle came from the street. I jumped up from my chair, knowing what that sound meant–snack time! I ran out and hailed the man on his blue motorbike, the back outfitted with a gas burner used to make steam. The steam comes up through a board with holes drilled…
“No $500 bills,” the bearded taxi driver grunted in Cantonese. “You must have change.” A friend and I had just climbed into the taxi on the way to teach a Bible class. The taxi driver had no interest in conversing with us so my friend and I chatted in the back seat. Two days later,…
Prison is a mission field in and of itself. One elderly Latino inmate was saved in prison years ago before being taken off death row. He learned to read, write and study. He has taught many men and led many of them to Christ. This man wrote: I only have a little time left (lung…
“You’ve never sinned?” “No,” came the response from a man who had seen much in his 65 years. And that’s how the conversation went as he responded to each of the missionary’s promptings about lying, stealing, etc. After years of sharing the gospel, something happened that we never prepared for: we had finally found the…
Do you ever wonder how many Christians it takes for one person to come to Christ? Consider the case of two school girls in Australia. Ruby and Charlotte met in junior high, and their friendship grew naturally. Ruby’s family had taught her the gospel from the earliest age, but Charlotte’s family had no interest in…