Just got back from East Asia a couple of weeks ago! I've still been in the process of trying to process everything, but I wanted to get my first update out. God did some amazing things this summer. Even before we left for East Asia, we saw God bring in $20,222 in less than 24 hours. From that point on, I knew that we would experience nothing short of miracles on this trip. The greatest miracle is salvation, for only God can save hearts. This summer, God invited us to partner with him in the great things he is doing overseas in East Asia. We were able to have spiritual conversations with over 900 students, and we shared the Gospel with over 300. As a result of this abundant sowing, God blessed us in seeing 139 new brothers and sisters come to Christ. It was an amazing blessing and great testimony to the great work that God did in our lives in just 5 short weeks. But numbers themselves do not even come close in expressing the magnitude of God's heart for the people of East Asia. Our team was confronted with a glimpse of the reality of God's amazing heart for his people. Here is some of my testimony of this amazing summer! Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together.” – John 4:35-36
There is a saying at Arizona State University (ASU) that has come to define the very outlook of our ministry. “What happens here changes the world” – this phrase is etched on the wall of the Campus Crusade for Christ house at ASU, and it is the motto that has become a living reality for those of us who have come to terms with its significance. Going to East Asia this summer, I was able to get a glimpse of this idea – the living reality that my life has a lasting significance that is shaping the world as we know it. In recognizing the magnitude of this vision for “changing the world,” I realized that the vision hinges upon the idea of spiritual multiplication – a process that occurs when people hear of God’s love and are passionately driven by the overwhelming desire to respond to His love.
While in East Asia, I was able to share the Gospel with many students who were hearing about Jesus for the very first time. I had the opportunity to talk to one student in particular named Chong with the help of my friend Steven. Steven is an East Asian Christian student who helped me to share the Gospel with many other students in his dorm by translating my testimony and explaining the Gospel to them in their native language. On the last Monday our team was on campus, Steven and I were able to talk to Chong and see him make the decision to follow Christ! It was exciting to finally celebrate this momentous occasion after personally seeing very few results in the previous weeks.
After seeing Chong come to Christ, Steven and my friend Jiannan from ASU were able to go with me to follow up with Chong on the following Wednesday. Jiannan is an international student from East Asia who studies business at ASU. I had the chance to meet Jiannan and become friends with him before going to East Asia. I was able to lead him and his friends to Christ during the spring semester at ASU, and he later promised me that he would come visit our team in East Asia during the summer. Sure enough, he came and helped play a vital role in explaining God’s love to Chong.
When the three of us talked to Chong, he seemed doubtful of his new faith. However, he eventually began to understand what we were talking about as Jiannan shared with him about the depths of God’s love in their native language. By the end, Chong was able to declare with confidence and joy that he truly believed in Jesus and His love! As if that were not enough, immediately after sharing with Chong, Steven and Jiannan continued to share the Gospel with another student on their own as I went to meet with my teammates. Jiannan had only known Jesus personally for a few months, but he and Steven were already telling others about the love of God– talk about spiritual multiplication!
These are but a few of many stories that demonstrate the power of spiritual multiplication. As students from ASU, we were able to share the Gospel with many students from East Asia this summer; however, the vision was not to merely see many students come to Christ – that was one result of the abundant sowing of the Gospel. More importantly, we came with a vision to empower students to share the Gospel themselves no matter how young in their faith they were. As a result, we were able to witness God raise up student leaders who will be catalysts for new movements that will not only affect their campuses and families but will affect the world. Many of these students will go on to share the Gospel in Muslim countries in Central Asia and the Middle East – countries that we as Americans may never be able to enter – on a quest to bring the Gospel back to Jerusalem.
God has written this tremendous vision of reaching the nations on the hearts of many East Asian students, and together you and I are witnesses and partakers of this amazing destiny. Your prayers and support will continue to go a long way in investing in eternity – this is no cliché statement!
Consider this: John 4:35-36 states, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together.” Through your prayers and support, you have sown far and wide into the abundant harvest which we reaped in East Asia this summer. Because of this, we can “rejoice together.” But the celebration does not stop there. Thousands, if not millions, of others will be impacted through your support because of the power of spiritual multiplication. You can think of it like this: through your support – no matter how big or small it may have been – you are playing a vital role in “changing the world” so that they may know Christ and continue to make Him known!
Thank you for partnering with us for the sake of the Gospel, for there is no message that matters more! Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue on this lifelong mission!
