God is not through here

We only have a few days left, but God is continuing to work here.  After meeting tons of new students and building relationship after relationship, sometimes God blesses you with something that you would have never expected.

Recently, I met a young local student named Fuad.  After talking for a little bit one day and discovering all of our common interests, he began wanting to meet up with Kynsleigh and I all the time.  This has given us a great opportunity to share with him over several meetings and he is very interested and receptive to what we have to say.  He comes from a muslim family and he has said several times that he does not think that they are right in what they believe but he does not know what is right.  God is evidently at work in his heart and we have been blessed by the conversations that we have had with him thus far.  

This past saturday, he and his girlfriend (Samantha) took us on a trip to a local river to swim and hang out in the shade for a little bit.  Again, I had the opportunity to share with him and plant some seeds in his life.  He began to tell me how thankful he was that I actually cared about him and was not just sharing with him because I felt like I should, but because he could tell that I loved him.  He said that he had met Christians before but they had always been pushy and arrogant while sharing what they believe.  This absolutely broke my heart.  He said that it was so encouraging to find a few believers that genuinely wanted to love him and share what God has done in their lives without being forceful or upset when someone does not feel ready to accept Christ at that very moment.  

Please be in prayer for Fuad and his group of friends that we have been blessed with who are obviously searching

Pray for us as we begin to say our goodbyes over the next few days

Pray for the relationships that we have built to continue to grow

We are humbly blessed by your prayers and encouragement, 

Mack

A Conversation about Goals

Me, Amanda, and Kynsleigh with some students at lunch

Recently, I met a guy named "Ah Heng".  He asked me, “Do you believe in Philosophy?” I said, "Well, I took a class in university, but what do you mean? Do YOU believe in it?” 


He responded with, “Yes, I have learned about it, and I have understood that we live as humans to set a goal and achieve it. Then set another one until we are ready for another one.” 


I asked, “So what is your goal for your life?” with a confused look, he said “I don’t know. I don’t have one."  


“Can I share my goal with you?” I eagerly said. “Yes," he said with a smile.  
So then I began to explain to him that my goal in life is to represent God since He is the Lord of my life. Because I have a relationship with Him, one day I will be taken out of this earth to be with Him. No sacrifice could measure up to how great the sacrifice He gave for me. 


The man was astounded at my passion. He asked me, “Why are you so sure that is the right goal for you?” I poured out my heart about many scriptures that confirm God’s love, sacrifice, mercy, and promises of all! 


    I asked him, “So, can I ask you something again, just to clarify?” 
    “Sure,” he said. “What do you want your goal to be for your life?” He said the most hurtful, lonely sounding words I had ever heard in my life, “That I will have God in my heart, and be with Him in Heaven.” I could do nothing other then to shed tears knowing that God was calling on his name saying, “Child, come home! Child, come home!” 


    And He used me to show His love. I shared with Him the way to salvation through scripture. I told him of the simple prayer I said many years ago when I asked God into my heart, and I explained that once you're saved, you are always sealed with the spirit of God that no evil can take away. 
I asked after those moments, "Is this something you would like to do now? It says in the word, 'For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you."' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” God is waiting for you to accept Him into your heart and even if you choose to not follow Him today or tomorrow or until next week or many years to come, know that God is awaiting your return to Him. 

(2 Timothy 2:13)

    He said with a gentle smile, “Maybe, I don’t know.” (inside I was screaming AHHHH! Maybe. maybe. maybe. MAYBE!) I had never wanted to not hear that word more than in that moment. 
I wanted him to fall on his knees and call upon the Name of the Lord. I wanted him to confess he believed, but then I was quickly reminded it is not about me. It is about him and God. The seed has been planted. He agreed to meet tomorrow and receive a bible from me.  I pray that he reads the verses I have highlighted for him.  I pray that he will be willing to listen to God speaking truth in his life.

 

   Just like this story, we encounter these questions everyday at the three colleges we focus on, it has been great whether we are in the classrooms teaching about American life and how we live or in the cafeteria (“Kantine”) striking up new conversations about their lives finding some way to connect. 


    Even though we only have less than two weeks, and home seems so close, the duty her is not finished and we can still see the Holy Spirit stirring up new and old hearts in them and us! We can’t leave here thinking we could have done more, so we will do all we can! I pray that in the moments of a heart being softened by the love of God that I don’t get selfish in wanting a heart to be converted so bad that I forget the hearts condition. 


   This is not a game, and it never was. It's not a race to see who can convert the most, but merely a calling that I have graciously been given the honor of choosing to accept. I am a soldier to God’s army, built with the armor of God to sustain His Kingdom. For if I rely on the armor of God, nothing can destroy it. Praise God for His Power…Pray for Ah Heng… and Pray for us!

In love,

Tiffany

“Not Just a Café”

          Acts 16 describes Paul and Silas’s journey to Macedonia, the place the Lord had called them. When they arrived they found a place of prayer by the river where they went often. They encountered many ministry opportunities there and saw God work in mighty ways. Well, our team found such a place near the shore recently called Just Caffe. 

     It was started by two local young men, Josh and Kelvin, who both received word from the Lord to open up a coffee shop and café in order to minister to those who walk through their doors. The name comes from the word “justice” which is something they are very passionate about and a goal as they show Christ’s love to their customers. I was very encouraged as I heard their story and was able to affirm them as I saw their heart behind the ministry.

            The location of Just Caffe is not an accident, either. It lies directly across the street from one of the colleges we have been reaching out to each week. We have been able to meet students at and around the café and invite them to join us. Although Just Caffe has only been open for about two weeks, it has already attracted many students and workers, and our team has been there many times as well. A few of the city’s government buildings lie on the same road as well as several businesses, so we can really see God’s hand in providing for the café and its new ministry. They strive to create a loving, Godly atmosphere for those who walk in, and that is exactly what they are doing.

            Four floors above Just Caffe is a branch of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) that is led by Josh and Kelvin as well. We had the opportunity to join them for their weekly time of prayer this week to intercede on behalf of this city and the people we have met. Four college students joined us, including two non-believers. We were able to share the gospel with them as well as have meaningful conversation and discipleship with the two students who are believers.

Weekly House of Prayer service that our team attended

            If we have learned anything this summer it has been that God can do amazing things in a short amount of time, and Just Caffe is proof of that. 
     Please join us in praying for the ministry opportunities that are there, and that they could develop some of the relationships we have formed with students after we leave in just two short weeks. 

Jesus Loves the Little Children. All the Children of the world!

The children and I hard at work making lion masks.

Sunday, the girls and I lead the children's ministry at the church we attend.  We were welcomed by many loud and excited voices.  These children had so much energy it was hard to keep them all in one room.  After a mishap with the power and lights going off, we were finally able to calm them down long enough to share the story of Daniel and the lion's den with them.  They all demonstrated their best lion roars for us which was quite impressing.  We showed them that when we pray to God He will rescue us and protect us just like He did for Daniel.

Our finished project.

God wants us to love His children and show them what His love means at an early age.  The children made their very own lion mask for a craft.  Who knew that lions had rainbow faces and mustaches!  They might not have always wanted to listen or sit down, but these kids were such a blessing to me.  They each now have a special place in my heart. To show them how much Jesus loves them and how He is their rescue and salvation is such a joyful feeling.

Please Pray...
That these children will have parents and others to show them the love of Jesus Christ and bring them up in His ways.
That leadership will step up in the children's ministry at this church.
That these children will continually learn and understand more about the Jesus.

In the grace of Jesus Christ,
Kynsleigh

Luke 15:7 - Joy in Heaven!

Our team has been constantly meeting new students and furthering our relationships with students and other young people that we have met.  We have had the opportunity to attend many events with the locals here and have participated in many conversations that gave us the opportunity to plant seeds.  We strive to plant these seeds every day and pray that God will provide the necessary growth from these seeds.  Sometimes God provides harvesting opportunities in amazing ways.

Our team with local students after speaking in a class

Part of our team had the opportunity to visit a woman in her own home this week who has been fighting lung cancer for a year.  This woman says that she wants to feel the Spirit of God because nothing else has worked up to this point, but she says that when she prays she feels nothing.  She feels like she is missing something, but she can remember two times in her life that she has felt the Spirit of God.  These two times have both occurred when other people have prayed for her and cried out to God on her behalf.  


Our team then began to share with her how she can come to have that same Spirit of God living inside of her constantly, through personal testimony and scripture.  After hearing these things, she cried out to God to save her from her sins.  By the grace of God, she confessed her sins and committed her life to Him and our team celebrated with her.  We prayed that if it is in God's will, that her cancer will be healed.  We will be in contact with this woman during the remainder of our time here and the time after we go home.  

New sister in Christ (middle: light blue shirt) with the girls on our team

Please be in prayer for...


Her physical and spiritual health during this time.


Seeds to continue to be planted in the lives of the young people here.


The seeds that have been planted on fertile soil, for God to begin to work in their hearts.


The ISF basketball team that has been joining us for the past few days as they begin to travel around the area to play local college basketball teams.

ISF team playing basketball against a local college team

The relationships that we have already formed, and will form, to glorify God in every way possible.


Thank you for your constant thoughts and prayers,
Mack

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

For the First Time

Kynsleigh and Amanda at Farlim Night Market with
 local students Ker Xin, Mandee, Kim, Big May, and Little May

   Three weeks ago, I got on an air plane for the first time.  Three weeks ago, I set foot on foreign soil for the first time.  And three weeks ago, I heard the speakers broadcast the call to prayer high in the air for the first time.  It's hard to know where to begin except with that our God is a God of new beginnings.  
    I've seen evidence of this in just three weeks.  He gave our new sister in Christ a new beginning through His saving grace, and everyday He has given me a new beginning to proclaim His glorious name in this nation.  It's been three weeks, but everyday I still wake up in amazement.  Amazed that I'm here.  In a different nation.  Ultimately my only purpose is to declare the name of Jesus.  It's been three years since I first felt God calling me to serve Him and love His people in a different nation.  Now that I'm here, it is so evident that our God keeps His promises and gives us the desires of our hearts.  That nothing we pray for is ever too big for Him.  And I pray for big things.  In these students.  In these campuses.  In this nation.

   On a normal day, we will enter a classroom, introduce ourselves, play a few games, and then get to know the students.  Last Monday, in one of these classrooms, I met a group of five girls that stole my heart.  Just like I would with my friends back home, we laughed, talked, and joked around with one another.  They couldn't wait to hang out and "take photo". During this time in class we had together, I found out that one was a Christian, three were Buddhist, and one was a "half and half" as they like to say.  The Holy Spirit has never made it more obvious to me before on a group of girls that I was called to pour into before.  
    My heart broke for theses girls who did not know the love of my Savior.  I knew it was my job to show them His love. To be His hands, His feet, His instrument.  Wednesday night they invited me to go the night market with them.  So of course, I willingly went.  They wanted me to try all of the local food.  So out of politeness, I did. Probably not the best decision. They would buy food after food for me to try.  And a night of eating chicken gizzards and who knows what else was more than enough Asian food for me.  But I would do it all again for the chance to show these girls the love of Christ.  At the end of the night, I knew that at least a seed was planted in their hearts.  I invited them to Bible study the next night, and two came which is so encouraging.  I know that my time is short here, but I plan to love these girls in Christ with all that I have.  To boast in Him.  To be ever joyful in Him.  I pray that God would do big things in their lives. 

Prayer

• That the spirit would begin to move in these girls hearts. 
• That our Thursday night Bible study would be an open door for nonbelievers to hear and experience the love of Christ.
• That God would burden our hearts with certain people to focus on.
• That the time we spend hanging out with the students would be intentional.

"For Jesus. Every word, every breath is for you."

-Kynsleigh 

New Sister in Christ!

 PRAISE GOD! Tonight by God's Grace, Grace (a girl who came to Bible study the last two weeks) accepted and Confessed Jesus Christ is her savior and Lord!! we are only here for a period of time and so the two of us are going to be meeting and studying God's word and hopefully she will be comforted by the time that we leave in knowing that when she search's God He will reveal Himself to her and she doesn't need us that we are only a vessel :) 


Please pray for me as I disciple her that I will only speak the words that God has for her and what she needs to hear not what I want her to hear.
Pray for our team as we began to disciple these new believers.
Pray for protection from spiritual warfare that we have already felt here heavily and for Grace as satan will try and stray her.
I am overjoyed with honor that God is using us here to fill His kingdom, and I can't wait to begin discipling her tomorrow and many more days to come.

Lovingly praying,
Tiffany

It Begins

   It has been a very long journey but we are finally here! We have started the process of being acquainted with the area and are now settled in our homes for the summer.  In the very short time that we have been here, we have met some amazing people that will greatly assist us during our time here.  
   We have been extremely blessed by the local believers that have already made contacts and currently have thriving ministries.  In only 3 days, we have had the opportunity to attend a bible study, a church service, and meet tons of students/young adults from various backgrounds.  
   Below are some pictures that we have taken over the few days that we have been here.

Chris leading worship at church

Playing the pretzel game with students at bible study

Tiffany at a candy shop with Michelle and Grace

Amanda eating with some local students after church

Ultimate frisbee with students from a local university 

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Aunt Mary and Uncle Richard as they are our caretakers for these next few weeks.  
• The local believers that we have already made contact with that will be helping us meet new students.
• A local Hindu man that has a foot problem
• Please pray for not only his physical health, but we will be in contact with him soon about meeting for lunch or dinner
• One of the women in the local church lost her grandfather, who was not a believer.  She is the only believer in her family, so please pray for strength and courage during this time.
• Pray that we would not be led by the things that we have previously learned but only by the Spirit.

Thank you so much for your prayer and encouragement!

Mack

Meet the 2012 Asia Campus Team

Meet the 2012 Asia Campus Team

We will be building relationships with Asian college students to share the gospel with them.

Andrew

College: Mississippi College

Homestate: Mississippi

"What I want for this summer is for the Gospel

 to be preached and for disciples to be made"

Favorite Verse: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Amanda

College: University of Alabama

Homestate: Alabama

"I would like to see college students come to know the name of Jesus through the seeds planted this summer."

Favorite Verse: Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.
Ephesians 6:19

Tiffany

College: Middle Tennessee State University

Homestate: Tennessee

"My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored, in my body, whether by life or by death."
Philippians 1:20

Favorite Verse: He had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statues and ordinances. 

Ezra 7:10

Kynsleigh

College: William Carey University

Homestate: Mississippi

"One thing I want for this summer is for God

to provide me a compass for my life and to show

the direction that He has for me."

Favorite Verse: For God did not give us a spirit of

timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

Mack

College: University of Tennessee

Homestate: Tennessee

"I expect for the gospel to be preached, seeds to be planted, and love to be shown." 

Favorite Verse: Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord 

your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9