Now picture Knight and I in a cafeteria, with students sitting everywhere. Knight and I look around trying to decide whom to sit next to. We see two guys who still have a bit of food left, and decide to try it.

After talking for a little bit and finding out about each other (not in English), they explained that they had to go, and suddenly got up and left. We did not get a chance to get their numbers or anything. A new group of people sat down next to us fairly soon after, and we started talking with them as well (again, not in English).

The conversation was fun, and we seemed to be clicking. Knight mentioned that we should hang out after everyone finished eating. However, when they finished, they told us they had class and could not hang out. Again, we did not get their phone numbers or any contact info before they left.

At this point, I was starting to get a little discouraged. We had already spent a while there (the campus we went to was a bit farther away than the usual one we go to), were unable to share the good news so far, and had failed to get anyone’s phone number so that we could share in the future. Discouraged.

We had both finished our food, but I wasn’t in a particular hurry to move or go anywhere, so I suggested we just sit there and wait for another wave of people to come.

A tall student named Allen sat down two seats away who looked like he came from the north, and I asked him if that was the case. He was surprised that we could tell and slid over to sit next to us. As it turns out, he spoke excellent English!

We chatted with him for a long time, and after he finished eating, we all went back to his dorm room. Once there, we met his three other roommates, who also all spoke decent English, and continued talking. After some time had passed, Jesus came up, and Allen said that he wanted to believe, but didn’t know anything about it. Wow. Talk about prepared.

So, in his little dorm room, we shared about Jesus with him and all of his roommates. They all asked questions and were generally interested. However, that night, none of them believed.

I am amazed at how the night turned out. I totally believe God wanted us to meet Allen and talk to him that night, and He set it up just right. Just at the moment when I had given up on myself and my efforts, the Lord revealed who our assignment was that night. So amazing, His timing and plans are so perfect.

-Adriel

We arrived at the canteen, got our food, and sat down. Herbert told his friend, whose name was Sony (pronounced like the brand name), that I wanted tell him about Jesus, to which he said OK.

Herbert and I tag-teamed and told Sony about Jesus. And guess what? He believed! Herbert was shocked, and it was priceless! Thank you Jesus!

Afterwards, Herbert (with a little guidance and a few helpful suggestions) taught Sony how to share the good news, and we practiced. That night Sony went back and shared with his friend a little about what had happened that day. Please pray for him and his witness!

I just want to say thank you for praying for me and especially praying for Herbert’s and my meeting. God really does hear our prayers and is faithful 

Praise Report:

• Besides Sony, there have been five new believers decide to follow Jesus since I last wrote, roughly a week and a half ago!
• We felt like God spoke to us and gave us a number of salvations to shoot and pray for by the time we leave in May. With that in mind, at the moment we should average about six new first generations to our church a week. We are right on target… God is doing it!
• Knight and I “randomly” met a believer at a canteen this past week, who joined one of our churches and is excited to be fellowshipping with other believers again! Praise Him for His greatness!

Prayer Requests:

• I’m still a little sick
• Some of the girls (or at least they are the only ones who have admitted it ) have been experiencing a lot of homesickness
• Pray that the Lord keeps moving among us
• Pray that the Lord gives our friends boldness to share. We can’t do this without them, and God so badly wants to use them to reach their friends and families

Blessings,

Adriel

Maybe 20 minutes to a half an hour later, I asked him, “Do you want to believe in Jesus?” He said, “Want.” And that was it! This kid had been on a mini vacation to GZ for about 5 days by himself, and it was his last day there. It is truly amazing and the divine work of God that we ran into him on that day, in that grass, and the Lord had prepared his heart.

We spent the next two hours teaching him how to share the good news for himself, prayed with him, and sent him back on his way to a different province… I suppose you could think of it as we just sent out a missionary!

Things are revving back up with all students returning this week. We are excited to see all the believers come back and to connect with them and see how their vacation went. Please pray that we can meet with them on a regular basis and form groups, as that was a big struggle for us last semester.

Praise report:

• I got the opportunity to meet up with Herbert, who chose to follow Jesus at the end of my first year. It was great to see him again, and better to hear that he has continued on in the faith, praying and reading his Bible daily. He was so excited to learn how to share the good news; he was practically bouncing out of his seat! We are going out together on Sunday to try to share with someone, so please pray for us, and that Herbert would get a chance to try out his new wheels
• Another new sister came in yesterday. Praise God!!

Prayer:

• I have been sick for almost three months now. It seems to be finally going away, but please pray for me!
• For new believers! We feel like God is calling us to aim for 25 for just us over the next month.
• For the Asian believers, that God would give them boldness and vision to see their friends saved, and to train them to follow Jesus.

Blessings,

Adriel

It started on a Wednesday night, where Knight and I went to a canteen and picked two guys to sit next to, have dinner with and hopefully share the good news with if we could. We talked a bit and then they had to go to class, so we got their numbers to hang out with them again in the future.

On Friday, we met them again, and they brought a friend. This time we did get to share with them about Jesus. When we asked them if they wanted to believe, one said no, one said maybe, and one said yes!

We talked with Arron (the one who said yes, pronounced like Aaron) some more about it and prayed with him to receive Jesus. What a great and fruitful time!

But that wasn’t the end…

Later in the afternoon I got a text message from one of the girls on the team saying that her and her roommate just led two girls into the family!

But wait, there’s more!

Saturday we trained Arron how to share the good news and helped him to write a list of all of his friends and family. When we asked him how they would all get to know God, he said, “I can share with three people every day. In one week I can share with 20, and in one month with 100!” I hope he does! Regardless if he shares with five people this week or 20, it’s great to see God working in his life already.

Still not done?!?

On Saturday night at around 10pm, a combination of one of the girls here in GZ and some Asian friends prayed with another girl who wanted to follow Jesus! Praise the Lord!

We definitely were celebrating this week, and our spirits were high. However, we were also reminded of the reality that if four people started following Jesus every week and that was all we saw, we would be losing the battle in the vision God has given us, to reach the whole campus.

Please pray that we start seeing multiplication! That is what it will take to reach the campuses, and the rest of Asia for that matter. If the Spirit doesn’t move, all our efforts will fall flat. Lord help us!

Adriel

Last week a few CT leaders and I attended a church planting movement training in Singapore. The training lasted for three days, after which we as a leadership team got together and spent the next day processing together and planning. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that it was one of the most strategic, important and exciting trainings I’ve ever received. After those four days, we spent another two days connecting with people in Singapore (my teammate’s home is there, and none of us had ever met her family or church or anything!).

A strongly emphasized idea during the training was that it is not our job to convince someone to believe in Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit’s job. He is constantly attacking people’s hearts and preparing them to receive the gospel. Our job is to clearly present the good news to them and give them the opportunity to respond.

After returning to GZ, I laid out this vision again to the team. Just go. Share the good news. See what happens. The Holy Spirit is with you and preparing people’s hearts for you.

Well, He did it! Two of the girls on the team were sitting near a student (named Wendy) on campus, and felt strongly that they should talk to her. They chatted briefly and exchanged numbers, and eventually met for the first time this past Sunday.

Clover, a girl on my team, shared her testimony, dispelling the belief Wendy had that your beliefs are a product of how you were raised. After that, the girls shared the good news with her, and right there Wendy believed in Jesus! The first time they met, Wendy believed! Praise the Lord!

Things are going well and the spiritual atmosphere feels like momentum is gaining and building. I’m so excited for what will happen in these next few weeks. Please be praying for us! As for me, Knight and I just shared the good news fully with my tutor from last year, and I think it was the first time he actually heard the heart and center of what it means to believe in Jesus. He seemed open, so please join me in praying that the Lord continues to give him understanding and revelation.

Blessings!

Adriel

]]> http://www.campustarget.org/blogs/adriel/2011/10/singapore-and-a-new-sister/feed/ 0 http://www.campustarget.org/blogs/adriel/2011/09/papa-johns/ http://www.campustarget.org/blogs/adriel/2011/09/papa-johns/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:12:03 +0000 Elisabeth http://www.campustarget.org/?p=3657 Have you ever had one of those times when you just feel down, maybe even a little depressed, and God just comes through and shows you how much He loves you?

Monday finally came, my day off. I overslept, which bummed me out to start the day, because I had wanted to get up and just be able to relax and enjoy the Lord. That time was severely cut short because church started at 2:30pm and ended at 5pm, which is great and all, but it still requires energy and isn’t necessarily the most restful thing.

I felt rejuvenated after worship, but after our meeting I just felt down and didn’t know what to do about it. Then I had an idea, or at least I thought it was my idea at the time. (In hindsight I truly believe it was the Lord guiding me to my destination.) My friend had told me that I could get half-off coupons for pizza at Papa John’s (the best pizza here in Asia), so I decided to go.

When I got to the machine that spits out coupons, I discovered that Papa John’s was recently removed from the list! What a bummer – pizza there is rather expensive for my budget. However, I decided to still go, and threw up a prayer that I didn’t really expect or have much faith that God would answer “yes” on. “It would be really nice if when I got there, there was somehow a coupon for half-off so I could get or a deal or something.”

I went, ordered my pizza, and spent about an hour reading my Bible and just hanging out with Jesus. I played with a little girl that was 2 tables down. It was extraordinarily refreshing. Then I told the waiter that I wanted to “buy the bill” as it were, and he went to fetch it.

A small pepperoni pizza is 63 bucks in the local currency, a little less than 7 US dollars. The waiter came over and informed me what I needed to pay. Keep in mind, at this point I had all but forgotten my half-hearted prayer, and was just really happy at the joy that I felt inside. Guess what he told me?

31.5 bucks.

I basically did a double take, was very shocked, and asked him again, “Why?”. I was in disbelief. Did that really just happen?

Pizza was half price that day. Huh. Go figure.

God is so good!!

Between C-town and here in GZ, in the month that we have been here, 11 students have come into the family! This past week God has been bringing them in, with two earlier in the week, three yesterday, and one today! Praise the Lord!

Also, we baptized two other students not among those 11 today at my house! It’s almost unbelievable all that He has been doing, and in such a short time. Keep praying for us!!

One other exciting thing, is that we are trying out a little bit of a new strategy this year, and it’s working. I know of at least one case where one of the new believers has already shared the good news with all of her roommates!

Hope all is well. The temperature is finally dropping here, (although it’s supposed to spike up again later in the week) which makes for much more bearable and enjoyable living.

Adriel

You could call it a normal day, nothing super special or hyped up really. Knight inserted a Ray Comfort DVD on evangelism into the DVD player that we planned on watching for the morning. Three guests had arrived over the previous two days that came to teach on some things and equip us for the work God called us to.

This DVD contained the morning’s lesson. However, instead of staying in and playing like it was supposed to, the DVD player said: “no disc.” Knight took out the disc and put it back in. “No disc.” Again he tried. A third and a fourth time. About six times he tried getting the disc to work with no avail.

Then something strange and honestly surprising happened.

Carl reached over and put his hand on the DVD player (Knight did the same) and said out loud, “Lord.” (that wasn’t the strange or surprising thing, haha!).

Immediately a red light came on and the disc started working!! Praise God!!!!

Today I had another seemingly supernatural experience.

I was praying and just spending time with Jesus this afternoon, lying on the couch. I felt like the Lord said, “Open your Bible.” So I did, and as I reached for it, another thought popped into my head… Psalm 53. I opened my Book and started to read it. Immediately my friend Yucheng, who I just had dinner with a few days prior, came to my mind. During our morning session today I asked God who of my friends that He wanted me to share the good news with in the next couple of days. Yucheng was one of the two that He highlighted. (*note: if you read the chapter, it’s not altogether encouraging or uplifting)

Yucheng is my tutor from last year who started opening up to the gospel and coming to church more regularly. He isn’t saved yet, but in my last meeting revealed to me where he stood and the progress the Lord has brought him through. He said, “All my life I’ve been told that God does not exist, and that is what I believed. Now, I don’t think that they are right. I don’t know that God does exist, but I don’t know that He doesn’t, I just can’t say. I don’t know. I have friends that have had a special experience and then they believed, but I have not had one. If I do have a special experience, then I will believe. If I have a special experience tomorrow, then I will believe in Jesus tomorrow.”

So tonight I texted him to see if he was free. Knight and I wanted to try to meet him together and share more with him, and I wanted to share my verse. When he responded, he said that tonight would not work, but hoped that we could me another day. I said ok, and then something strange happened again.

He responded back with this text: “Ok! By the way, do you have something to share with me today?”

What?!?!? Where did that come from? Haha. The Lord is so good. I told him the scripture reference.

Please pray for him!!! Pray that the Lord speaks to him, that Yucheng gets his special experience!

In His loving and strong grip,

Adriel

P.S. I made it to Asia safe and sound!!

The next day we had another party at my house, but this time one of our Asian churches put it on. We didn’t know how many people planned to come exactly, and were surprised to have another 40-head party! This time, Eagle (my Singaporean teammate) shared the good news. Afterward, a seven year old (someone brought their little cousin) was playing in my room, and I went in and picked up my guitar. He didn’t know any English, so we were chatting a little in the local language. Suddenly he asked me a peculiar question: “If I break your guitar will I go to hell?” I thought maybe I misunderstood what he said, so I went for help. Yalin, one of the Asian believers, came in and started talking to him and sharing the gospel. I gave input here and there, and in the end, the kid believed in Jesus!!

While at an English corner, Blake, one of the guys on the American short-term team, was trying to share the good news with a student. He was arguing really, trying to explain how we are apart from God and can’t do anything on our own to get back to Him. But the Asian guy wasn’t very interested, and continued to argue back. All of the sudden Blake felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around, a different Asian guy said, “If he doesn’t want to know how to have a relationship with God again, can you tell me?”  That’s a pretty exciting thing to hear. Blake went on to lead him to the Lord that very evening!

In other news, I made it back safely from Thailand. It was actually very busy this year for me, but I was able to rest for a few days. Tomorrow is the first day of Spring Festival, with tonight being the big firework kickoff. Most everyone has gone home (every year there is a mass migration home in Asia), so ministry is a bit dead at the moment. Some of the team has gotten the opportunity to go to their friends’ homes, so please be praying for them. On the 27^th we’ll all be traveling to C-town for our Winter Session, where we are having some guest speakers come and teach, as well as doing a few days of ministry and life skill training. This time serves two purposes: 1) a time to get some more training and work on any personal issues and 2) providing productive activity until our friends return from holiday.  Please be praying for this time as well, that the Lord will show up and minister to all of us.

Happy New Year!!

Adriel

Mei Ling’s family is very very poor.  The way Herbert described it, they don’t even have 1 元 to spare to go towards curing her.  In the past at the school when someone has had leukemia and no money to pay for it, nobody did anything.  But for some “strange” reason, her classmates decided to hold a fund raiser/activity thing to raise money for her.  They thought that maybe they could raise 50,000 yuan (which is no measly feat, that’s around $7,350 american).  Turns out, they raised…. Over 200,000 yuan!! (around 29.5 thousand dollars! That’s ridiculous in America for a campus, let alone Asia).  She will still need more money, but that will cover her through till she gets the surgery at the very least.  Also, according to Herbert, there are 2 phases to get through before she can have surgery which has about a 10% chance of working.  She passed the first phase where the probability of people getting past it is between 10-30%.  The whole situation is turning into a huge miracle that God is using and will use to affect many lives!

Please please please keep on praying for her!  Well, really we just want to see God’s glory seen by all right? J  Herbert is fast on the way to becoming a Christian, and with Easter season here we are getting many opportunities to bring up God and what Jesus did for us.  We will be showing the Passion movie tomorrow night, so please pray for a good showing of people who are receptive and will be impacted by God.

He is doing it!!

Adriel

Tomorrow Victor, my friend Herbert and I are going to a church in the area.  They are both excited, and Herbert is planning on buying a Bible!  It cost about 50 yuan, which for them is a pretty substantial amount of money (less than $10 American).  Pray for us as we go on this adventure, that God would speak to each of them… they are so close!

With love,

Adriel