Do you ever have those moments where you just sense that something really cool is about to happen? This was the sense I had when I ventured onto the university that we are working on. Ken and I are leading a team of two fantastic married couples and I get to spend most of my days working together with the two girls, Posh and Hero (code names). On this particular day Posh and I decided to go to our university and make a friend. It was a little scary for us because we had never done it before and we didn’t exactly know where on campus to look for this new friend. We took some time talking to God and asked Him to lead us and bring the right person our way.

 Next we headed off to the sports bug, a huge sports area on our campus. Underneath the area there is a badminton court. We awkwardly stood on the sidelines realizing that people who were focused on playing the game were not the best to make conversation with. We were about to leave when we saw a hallway on the other side of the court where we had never been. We decided to explore it! Once we were in the hallway we heard loud music echoing throughout the hall. It was American Hip Hop! But where was it coming from?  We followed the sound to a random dance studio where about 6 students were practicing their moves. We watched them for a few minutes and eventually sat down at the edge of the dance floor. The students were nice and glad for the audience but spoke very little English and were pretty occupied with their dancing. It was fun to smile and encourage them which we did for about an hour, all the while asking God if these were the friends we were supposed to meet.

 And then it happened! A blur of long black hair and colorful clothes ran right in front of us. A wide smile and friendly English “Hello” followed this energetic-and-late-for-dance-class girl who introduced herself as Michelle. From the very first moment we met her there was an instant connection. We watched her awkwardly practice a few dance moves, realizing that she didn’t quite fit in with this crowd of hip hop dancers but trying really hard. As Posh and I sat there watching her, our hearts were about to burst. She was so precious, so looking for acceptance, so the one that God had divinely brought into our lives so that we could share about Him, and His love and acceptance for her.

 We have already had some great relationship building times with Michelle and met many of her friends, all of which we believe will someday (hopefully soon!) be in the family. I could go on with all the stories of divine connections that the Lord has given us over the past three weeks, it’s truly amazing! Michelle is just one of the many special friends I feel like the Lord is giving us this year to lead into His Kingdom!

 Please keep her and all of our many new friends in your hearts and prayers! Pray for their hearts to be open and hungry for His truth. We have already had so many powerful conversations with our friends about God and His deep love for them. As we continue to sow seeds and you continue to sow your hearts with us in Prayer I know that God will do some awesome things in the lives of our friends and that they will ultimately become brothers and sisters with us all!

Barbie

This afternoon three local college students came over to our apartment for a visit. So far we've shared lunch together, swapped funny pet stories, taught them how to pray, explored why one-night-stands leave a person feeling lonely and empty, and read together from Romans 2 about how God has written His law on our hearts.

A pretty good day so far, huh?

Now, as I'm writing you, I'm watching these Asian kids laughing and playing cards with their new American friends. It's amazing to see relationships being built right before my eyes. I can see the Lord moving through our conversations. And as my laptop plays worship music softly in the background I can feel the peace of the Holy Spirit here in our apartment.

I know they can feel it too. Especially Wong. He's the leader of the pack. I wish you could be here now to see how wide his eyes are when we talk about the Lord. I wish you could have heard him pray for the first time today at lunch. It's obvious that God has been preparing his heart for months before we arrived.

Wong is a senior in college this year. He'll graduate with a degree in Economics, but doesn't think he has a shot at getting a good job. He's a good looking guy with dark skin and a winning smile. He has a gentle spirit and an open heart to the Lord.

Pray for Wong. I believe the Lord wants him to be one of the first believers here in this new city. And pray also that today would mark the first of many Spirit-led gatherings on our comfy couches!

I was passing him on the left. But he lost control. He wobbled to the right and then overcompensated toward me. His ancient bike careened into mine, locking our handlebars together. I don’t exactly know how it happened but it ended with him sprawled across the pavement and me sitting comfortably on my bike. I guess it was his fault, but I felt terrible! So I stopped to see if he was OK.

The sympathy was my first mistake. Seeing that I was a foreigner, the man on the pavement jumped to his feet and demanded that I pay him money. I was shocked! How could he do that? The accident was clearly his fault! But he began to yell and crowd formed around us. I apologized profusely, climbed back onto my bike, and tried to drive away. That was my second mistake. He ran me down and grabbed my bike by the seat. Things were escalating quickly.

Now I was embarrassed and frustrated. I felt anger flare up inside of me. As my face flushed red I looked at two of my new CT team members, mouths wide open, waiting to see what I’d do next. I’d like to tell you I was a vision of humility and gentleness. The
very attributes I’d been reading about in Ephesians 4 that morning. But I wasn’t.

I jerked on my bike and stared down at the little Oriental man, trying to emphasize the point that starting a fight with me would be a poor decision. Eventually he agreed and relinquished my seat. But I felt convicted. In that moment I lost sight of what really
mattered. That this poor guy, like a billion other people here, is lost without Jesus!

I’ll probably never see that man on the bike again. And I missed my chance to love him. The good news is that I'll probably have a bike accident tomorrow – so I can be nicer then. And it ended up being a cool chance to talk with the team from Ephesians 4 about what it really means to live in complete gentleness and humility – a life worthy of the calling…

My P-stor, my friend Todd, and two other influential leaders arrive from America. Thatguy and I taxi them to the hotel where we learn that one of the major underground leaders in the area is on the run and hiding out in our hotel.

Apparently the local officers have learned his code name, tapped his phone, visited his house twice, and questioned his wife. They have heard about the training that my p-stor and the other leaders have come to do.

We are forced to cancel the leaders training, but instead we stay up late into the night talking and p

Here’s an update on what’s been happening. I’ll send a cool story along in a day or two, but first here’s the low-down:

The last two weeks have been incredibly intense for me. I helped to lead worship at a conference, reconnected with all the team members that I left a month ago, attended a lot of meetings, and led a short term team of my good friends here until they boarded a plane for home yesterday.

To be honest, I’m a bit run down. I could use some quality rest, and especially some quality time with Jesus. I really don’t want to get into carrying the burden of responsibility in my own strength

She was his friend first. But then I became popular – sort of. See, I was so horrible at basketball that people felt bad for me. The girl started a fan club to root for me.

This Fan Club annoyed most of the athletic guys, and especially John. When I heard that John didn’t like me I tried to act like I didn’t care. But I did care. I liked John and wanted to be his friend. Sadly, that could never happen.

John and I coexisted but spoke as little as possible. Sometimes we’d sneer at each other or talk about one another to our friends. When I graduated we were almost enemies. That was a long time ago.

Eight years later

I was there when Lianna met the Lord a few weeks ago. While we were praying she was copying down every word that we said in her notebook. It felt awkward to me. Possibly the least spiritual salvation experience I’ve ever been a part of.

“D-e-a-r

So the 13 of us ordered our favorite dishes, and then we shared them all. It was awesome fun! We were laughing and talking loud. Telling jokes and just having a grand time. Some of the guys had never met one another before so I was extra happy when I saw them getting along and even exchanging phone numbers.

After dinner we headed to Jame, Joe, and Drew’s apartment and relaxed with the bright lights off so we could enjoy the glow of the Christmas tree. Everyone continued talking in small groups and about 15 minutes later Tom and Alex made an announcement that their good friend Orange had just accepted Jesus!

It was crazy cool – especially because this kid was a really worldly guy two months ago. It’s been pretty dramatic watching the Holy Spirit move in his life – he’s been calling Alex and Tom nearly everyday wanting to spend more time with them and wrestling with the idea of giving his life over to God. Seeing Orange accept Jesus was an emotional experience for us all! When the boys made the announcement the room erupted into a cheer! There were hugs all around.

Another one of the guys we named David had accepted Jesus on the night before and had brought his best friend (Gabe) to our ‘guys night.’ 15 minutes after Orange joined the family David (with a little help from me) led his best friend in prayer to invite Jesus into his heart! When we made the second announcement, the joy in the room was almost tangible!

Another cheer! More hugs! And we started singing songs to praise God almost spontaneously. After a while we all prayed for one another?s needs (with Gabe and Orange praying for the healing of some of the other guys) and we talked about starting a new group on Sundays.

So far someone has joined the family every single day this week! Jame, Jen, and Tom have all led friends to the Lord for the first time in their lives! Rebecca has led three more in the last week, Laura and Joanna led a couple in prayer on Friday, and Alex’s friend accepted the Lord too! And all of these people are friends that we now have the opportunity to help grow into mature, reproducing believers!

So far 17 people have joined the family since we’ve arrived, 20 more are very close, and hundreds of others are being invested in and getting closer as the Holy Spirit continues to move on their hearts!

In the next two weeks we’ll be starting one or two new churches to provide a place for all of these new disciples to grow and be connected with other locals who love Jesus! (They’ll be extensions of the church network that we are part of – so they’ll be well connected under a large, mature body.)

And in a few days we’ll have our huge Christmas party. We are expecting nearly 200 people to come! It’s unbelievable because 5 years ago this kind of gathering would be unheard of. We’re renting a whole restaurant and all of our friends will have the opportunity to meet Jesus at Christmastime!

Isn’t He Amazing?!

~ M

Other Prayer Stuff:

- Safe travels. (I’m coming home in a few days)
- Wisdom in my schedule making while I’m home.
- Development of more tools for discipleship over here.
- The Lord would begin to bring the team for 2007 together. (I’m asking for 25-35 people)
- The team would continue to do well in my absence.