I just want to thank you all (hi mom and dad) for your support. Your prayers mean so much to me and I know that you were interceding for us while we were there. In fact, my amazingly beautiful, wonderful girlfriend woke up a couple of times in the night and started praying for the Lighthouse teams, and it was during those times that we were on the islands and sharing the Gospel. We even prayed that God would wake people up to pray for us, and He really did. God is so good.
With that, i'll leave you with my note and a picture collage. Seriously, if you want to talk more about the trip, my experience, your experience, life, philosophy, East of Eden, Joanna, anything - I already want to talk to you. It'll be good.
Assalamualaikum! (Arabic for “Peace be upon you”!)
I’m back from SE Asia and wanted to send you a very condensed summary of our trip to let you know of how the Lord has changed me and of how He is at work on the Sea Tribe islands. I hope this letter finds you and yours well! I would love to tell you ever detail of my trip, but that would take pages upon pages and it still would not do it justice. So I’ve decided to give a brief overview of the trip, and share a couple of stories from my experiences.
Our team lived in three different islands in home stays, taught English in a school for a couple of days, and learned a fair amount of the language of the Sea Tribe islands. In between the island stays, we would travel back to our breathtakingly beautiful base camp, where I felt like I was living inside of a postcard. God’s creation there is absolutely incredible. The food was incredible, much to my surprise! We ate tons of fish, drank the best hot sweet tea in the world, played volleyball, ran around with loads of beautiful kids, and had amazing conversations with our hosts and with the people of the islands. Our ministry was, at its root, truly living authentically in front of these people and sharing our lives with theirs. We told stories of forgiveness and mercy, parables that Jesus told Himself, and asked deep questions and we were never found wanting in those conversations.
One story I would like to share with you is the story of my second home stay. We stayed with Pak Ali, the Qur’an teacher at the local mosque, and at first, we were unsure of how much he would listen to our stories or parables. The second night there, we discovered that he was open to Jesus and was willing to talk about him. After dinner that night, I got to share a story of mercy with him, and we proceeded to talk about his beliefs and ours. We hit a wall in our conversation and couldn’t move forward towards Jesus, and through God’s timing, one of our hosts, Mike, came inside. He simply asked Pak Ali what we had been talking about, was told we were discussing mercy and forgiveness, and then was able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them in the following conversation. I am so humbled that I was a part of such an amazing process that sometimes takes years and years on these islands.
On our second island, a house of girls from our team asked their hosts if they had dreamed anything out of the ordinary lately, which started the girls they were with to giggling. They pointed at one of their friends, whose face lit up as though she was the happiest woman alive. She told them that she had a recurring dream of a man in white who came to her and said “Repent”. When she asked the man who he was, he would reply “You will know when the time is right.” Whenever she was sad, she would think of him and be filled with joy and hope, and she would think about him often, yet she still did not know who she was. The women in that house, blown away by God’s timing, shared with her who that man was – Jesus Christ.
God is powerfully at work in the Sea Tribe islands. He is on the move and is showing Himself to the people there. The part that I find amazing is that He is doing the same thing here. While SE Asia may be halfway around the world, it does not mean that God is not. He is at work right here as well just as powerfully. And He is working in your life as well, although you may not see it now.
This trip was truly a life-changing experience for me. The Lord renewed my spirit so much on this trip, and rekindled passions that I had forgotten about for many years. He challenged my perceptions of missions, the poor, evangelism, life, and so much more. He gave me the blessing of an amazing team who I now count as my brothers and sisters. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support you gave to me and the team through your prayers and finances. You were just as much a part of the team as any of us were and I thank you so much for that. As cheesy as it sounds, we honestly could not have done it without you interceding for us like you were. God used you in amazing ways, and I want to be sure you know that. If you ever want to hear more of the trip, please give me a call. I would love to share more!
Thank you again for everything. May God make His face shine upon you and guide you.
(If you want to see more pictures, check these out. I'll add more soon)
1 comments:
Wow, what an experience! It's great to hear about it, thanks so much for sharing. It's obvious the light of the Lord shines bright in your eyes. Keep sharing His love!
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