Open Doors

In the past three weeks our team has seen more open doors than we could have imagined. We know that this is only possible by the grace of God working in our favor through the lives of many college students around us. God has been teaching me personally during the short time we have been here, "I will open doors that you would have never expected. Don't be afraid to walk through them."

We have had the opportunity to speak in classrooms to large groups of students as well as one-on-one EV and discipleship. A unique opportunity we have at one of the local colleges is to set up a bracelet making booth in the main lobby. We were told, "Sit at the booth and they will come." And come they did. We had students from many different backgrounds and areas of study who were glad to make bracelets with us, and we were glad to sit and talk with them. This has been an open door for conversation and for sharing the gospel. This past week we used colored beads to tell the story of God's love and Jesus' sacrifice. We have made many contacts with these students and have invited them to Bible study at our apartment on Thursday nights. We know that we are responsible to plant seeds in their hearts, and it is our prayer that God would make them grow.

Our team making bracelets with students

Another interesting opportunity we had recently was to visit a meeting of the Baha'i, one of the many religious groups here. This place is such a cultural and religious melting pot that most of us knew nothing about their beliefs prior to attending the meeting. We walked into the house where it was held and were warmly welcomed. One of the first things we did was enter into a time of individual prayer where I simply repeated the words, "Come, Lord Jesus, come," over and over to myself. It was a slightly uncomfortable and unfamiliar setting for all of us, and it wasn't hard to sense the spiritual warfare as soon as we walked into the room. After a couple of songs were played and prayers were offered, they read a passage out loud that explained the fundamentals of their beliefs. It didn't take long before we realized that their agenda was to educate and hopefully persuade us on those teachings, while we had the goal of speaking the truth in love and hopefully planting more seeds.

We then went into a time of "refreshment" where their leader encouraged more personal conversation to take place between our team members and their group. I had many questions of my own and was extremely burdened for the people in the room. I felt led to speak to a woman who was holding a baby and a girl who looked like a student sitting beside her. After introducing myself, I quickly identified myself as a Christian to both of them, who politely acted like they knew as much. I asked them if I could share my testimony with them, and they readily agreed to listen. The Holy Spirit filled me with words as I was able to share with them with great joy in my heart. I began to ask them a few questions about their beliefs when the lady's husband walked up. We will call him Gene.  He quickly took over conversation and welcomed all my questions. God opened a door for me to share my beliefs with him as well, and although he was well-versed in Christianity, my prayer is that the love of Christ was evident in my life through the things that I shared with him. 

I learned through my conversation with Gene that the followers of Baha'i believe that there are a series of spiritual cycles that have taken place through the course of history and that Jesus is not the Son of God, but is a prophet of one of those cycles. Other prophets of other cycles include Moses, Muhammad, and Baha'u'llah. The goal of their religion is that all humans under every race and religion be unified as one and that we all live in harmony. There is much lack of truth in their teaching and my heart was greatly burdened for them. My prayer is that they would come to know the truth about Jesus, and that the truth would set them free.

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sounds doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."  2 Timothy 4:3-5

Please pray for the people of the Baha'i faith and for Gene and his family.
Please pray for the college students we meet that are surrounded by such darkness every day.
Please pray for words to be given to us by the Spirit so that we may proclaim the gospel even when we are in unfamiliar settings.
Please pray that God would grow the seeds that have been planted and that more doors would open to plant more seeds.

Grace and Peace,
Amanda