Friendships are Made:
“The worst part of our winter break was that we could not come to the center everyday! And the best day of our break was the day we went ice skating with you and our friends from the center!” This was the response we got over and over again as we asked our students about their holidays. They had four weeks off from the university and we naturally closed the center during these weeks, as well, in order to spend the much needed time to plan for the upcoming semester. It was exciting and humbling to hear how much they enjoy the center and the time they spend there!
The Key To Their Hearts:
We have seen an incredible difference in our ministry this past semester at the center compared to the previous year we spent on the university. Although, we had several occasions to share the gospel the prior year, we had few accept, and we never built the deep bond and rapport like we have now with these students at the center! We feel having these deeper friendships and connections with the students will be the key in seeing them later accept Christ as their Savior and Lord. We are no longer just foreigners and strangers that came to their country to try and change their beliefs, but we are friends, that love and care for them. We are people they respect and trust. We have heard many, many testimonies of the local believers here in Central Aisa and the common denominator in all of their stories is someone built a relationship with them along the way and through their lives they saw Christ, and were forever changed.
What’s Next:
Already we have been able to share about our beliefs and about our personal relationships with God on several different occasions and because they trust us, they listen and still come back. Our goal by the end of the semester is to have one-on-one time with each student coming to the center and present them with the chance to accept God’s sacrificial gift. Continue praying for their hearts and the timing of these conversations. Another part of our work here is to train and raise up the local believer staff to take on the long term ministry. Recently, the largest part of that has been showing them how to run the center as a business and use its potential to reach students for the Lord. This is a new way of doing ministry and has been challenging at times to persuade them of the benefits. We are thrilled to see them become more involved with the center this semester. We can tell they are catching the vision of this strategic platform!
Kicking Off Another Semester With Tennessee Friends:
Words cannot describe the energy and motivation we get from having a group of like-minded people here working full blast along side of us!! We were blessed to have another team from our home church come last week! It was a week full of excitement! Two of the people on the team, Brandon and Amanda, were returning after just being here in October; this had a huge impression on the students that got to know them last semester. The other two, Luke and Joanna, brought just as much fun to the week! Each morning Branden and the team set out on two of the largest universities in the city and were able to do a lot of advertising for the center. We have had several come and join because of the work they did. The team also took the load off of us for the week and taught all the lessons at the center. Then in the late afternoons they spent quality time with the students hanging out, dancing, and playing Uno a hundred different ways. Most of them had opportunities to share their personal testimonies with students during the week and continue planting seeds of truth in those lives. When they left, we weren’t the only ones crying; they impacted these students on such a deep level, even the guys were bawling as they said their goodbyes!
Taken By Surprise:
In His Word, God calls us to leave our families in order to follow Him. For some maybe this isn’t a huge sacrifice, but for us this has been one of the hardest things about living on the other side of the world. Therefore, you can imagine the sea of emotions we had when Annie’s dad showed up with the team and surprised us all! On top of the fantastic week working with friends, we were able to spend some wonderful quality time with him and allow him to see and be a part of our lives we’ve been living here in Central Asia! It was hard to say good bye when it was time for him to leave, but we were so blessed by the valuable time we had with him! We are still stunned from his initial appearance!!
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