Two weeks ago, my girlfriend and i were on a date. We saw some
flying lanterns being set off into the sky near a lake, so we went
to check it out. It was a group of students from the same province
as the recent earthquake gathering to mourn and bless the people of
the affected area. She and i both signed a banner, and i wrote,
“Jesus loves you.”

As we were preparing to leave, a girl approached us and told us she
thought that i shouldn’t have written that to people in a disaster,
because it doesn’t seem like God loves them if this happened to
them. She was bold, and maybe a tad abrasive, but before long we
realized she was truly seeking God, even as she was trying
to understand the calamity in the world.

The next week, she came to our fellowship, along with a friend.
Another friend of ours, also not a believer, came. I choose to
discuss a portion of the Bible that explained the Good News clearly,
and before long a lively discussion ensued. The cool part was that
i couldn’t keep up with the language, and our believing friends
were the ones who carried the discussion. It’s happening!

Keep talking to the Father! He hears our cries!

knight

P.S. I’m going to send out an email to y’all about my plans for the
summer and next fall. Stay tuned!

Today i got some rough news. A friend of mine who has struggled
with ups and downs in his walk with God called me to let me know
that he is giving up on Jesus for a while. He just cannot feel
Father’s love. He says that if Jesus loves him, then He will rescue
him and help him to change his mind. In some sense, i couldn’t
agree more. The sad thing is he is listening to lies about Father
and about himself.

Would you pray for him? His name is John. I’m tired this evening,
and i don’t have a lot of fight in me, but i’m ticked at the enemy,
too. So a tired and ticked knight just dials his update team, the
folks standing with him in the battle, and asks them to beseech the
King. If you feel led, fasting for him might be a good idea. Some
things only get beaten by fasting and prayer, Jesus once said. And
He knows!

In spite of the battles, there have been some really exciting
developments recently. My girlfriend and i randomly ran into a
really spiritually hungry girl last evening. Some of the friends of
the girls on my team have showed interest in God, one of them
who explicitly told them she DIDN’T want to hear about God some
months ago. Another friend of mine texted me today out of the blue
asking to learn more about God. So He’s doing stuff! And He
loves us so much…

In Him, who is in us,
knight

So this evening we’ll watch the Passion with a few friends, then on
Easter Sunday we’ll throw a party, complete with games and a skit
to music about how the Son has set us free.

Keep these events in your thoughts before the Father!

Personally i’ve been feeling a bit worn out and fighting to keep my
head on straight. So i would appreciate your lifting me up as well.
He is faithful!

Love,
knight

As he tore out of the house, he yelled back, “You’re ridiculous!”

You would think this kind of interaction would normally be
destructive and indicative of disunity, but i think it actually
shows how close we’ve become. And it was one of the funniest
moments of the year!

This is the story: We had five minutes to be downstairs meeting
other peeps for lunch. He thought i was just getting in the shower,
when in fact i was in the middle of a shower. He told me there was
no way i could be dressed, clean, and downstairs before the clock
struck 12:01. I told him it was a done deal. The whole exchange was
hilarious, and when the door banged shut on his way out, the clock
was ticking.

I took time to brush my teeth (really fast!), put deodorant on, put
gel in my hair, and even rinse out the shower. I ran down the seven
flights of stairs (no time to wait for the elevator) and bolted up
to where the others were waiting, huffing and puffing. My roomie
pulled out his cell phone to check the time. To his dismay, i had
made it with seconds to spare!

The truth is that i have been feeling close to my teammates
recently. Even hard conversations have led to mutual understanding
and appreciation. Praise Father for giving us a chance to live in
community and to do battle for His kingdom together! Until next
time….

Requests:

**  That i can love others because of knowing His love
**  For my friend Sean, to choose to follow Jesus
**  For us to not grow weary in doing good, but to trust Father for
strength and a good harvest in time
**  For wisdom in how to lead the fellowship

Thanks! With love,
knight

Dinner was a bit awkward. Durk and Shirley apparently hadn’t spoken much English recently, because they kept switching to their own language. Things started going better when we went around in a circle and shared about our families, like what our parents do and how many siblings we have.

After dinner we sang a few songs, and then we shared about how God has been our strength recently. Durk talked about how God brought him to this city where he has grown to know Him, though he had been on course to go to a different city. Jesus is the rescuer!

I asked Shirley if she wanted to share. She was tentative, not sure she could do it in English. We encouraged her to try. She talked about how God has been moving in her heart, how she has seen that she and her family has a lot of sin and needs God. Then she said something like these words:

“What the world says I should do is not enough. If all I do in life is tell one person about Jesus and they believe, then I think I can die. I’ll be happy.”

We were speechless; what she said was so heartfelt, so real, and so from the heart of God. What do you say to that? We talked to God together and asked Him to fill us with boldness and power. We closed that part of the evening, and before long we were playing silly games and connecting on that level. But we were moved; we were excited. We knew God had been at work among us. Praise His Name!

What an evening! I love it!

knight

I also was fasting for the day, and I had been drinking coffee regularly for a bit, so I knew a headache was likely. Not fun.

On the way, Clive contacted me and told me he’d like to come too. My cell battery was on the way to dead, so I arranged a place to meet him on the beach.

The beach was nice–sort of. It had some trash, and it was just a big river.  But it was water, and it had little waves that sound like water, and that’s what I thought I needed.

By the time I got there, the headache had started. I laid down and dosed off. Then I went to the meeting place and waited. And waited. Chatted with some guys for a while.

Clive finally came, and we sat down on the beach. About ten feet away a young lady sat down. I wondered to myself if we should talk to her about God. She looked thoughtful, like there was stuff churning inside. After 20 minutes or so, Clive told me he feels strongly that we should talk to the same girl, so I asked her if she speaks English. She did, amazingly well for only a high school education.

Before the end of the day, we shared the Gospel message with her and had dinner together (I had broken the fast), and given her a Bible. Turns out she had come to the beach because she “was in a bad mood” because she couldn’t find a job. As we shared with her, it was one of those times when you know they get it, and not because we said it well. Because of Him, His leading, His love.

Clive heard from her this morning that she believes and has talked to God many times. Woohoo!

You know, if I went on feelings alone, yesterday was sort of a bad day. Headaches can be tough, and I’m learning how off they make me feel. The truth is, however, yesterday was a great day. Praise Him! He’s the best!

Knight

Every year we all sit around in a circle and share what we’re thinking about next year. People are nervous. For some, the sense of commitment to what God is doing in Asia looms large. Some are thrilled. For some, they’re not sure if their friends will judge them for moving on.

This year was different from last year. For our city group, only about half of us are returning next year. As we shared together, we felt joy for those who are stepping into new things they know God is calling them to. We felt sadness as we were impacted with how things will look different. We felt the weight of the decision for those who are still undecided.

For me, I know I will be here next year, unless God directs clearly otherwise. My time isn’t done yet. He’s given us a clear call to reach university students in Asia, and there’s more to be done. Thanks for standing with me!

-Knight

One was Shirley. My friend Durk, who is a believer who doesn’t yet
call himself a believer (that’s my current analysis) brought her to
our big Christmas party. Shirley is a family member who has been
looking for a family, so i was really excited to meet her. She
showed up to the fellowship with a book of songs, and before the end had
led us in most of our song time. You don’t know how much of a
blessing that is to us! Please ask God to plant her among us, if
it’s His will.

The second person to grace us with her presence was my new
girlfriend, Rosie! (That’s not her real name.) She’s been nearby
for a long time (she’s my city leader) but this was the first time
she was able to make it to our island fellowship. I was happy to
introduce her to everyone there and for her to see what’s been
happening.

Well, by now you’re probably more interested in girl details than
fellowship details! I asked Rosie out last week, after wondering about it
for a while, and it turned out she’s liked me for a while. So we’re
going to give it a go with the goal of growing in our relationship
and determining whether we are supposed to be life-long partners.
Please lift us up and ask that we would hear from God clearly.
Thanks!

Thanks for being with me! Love,
knight

Recently I’ve been talking to God in the mornings for more time than
I ever have before. But I’ve maybe been more distracted than I ever
had before. Inner turmoil, relationship difficulties, looming big
decisions…all of it takes over my mind. Lift up your eyes, young
man. To the Son born so long ago.

This Christmas season was a time here in Asia to talk about the
gift of the Son to us, the broken people (that’s all of us!). We
had parties, conversations over dumplings, and sang songs of His
birth. At my team’s largest party, about 7-8 people expressed
interest in learning more about Jesus. Yay! Praise Him!

Also, my parents came here and spent Christmas with me and are
friends in this city! Then we went traveling to two different
cities here. They did awesome. Squatty potties, chopsticks, Asian
food, and all of it–they were troopers.

So, i just got back to my city this week and am getting back into
the swing of things. The fall semester is finishing up, and then
the students will have a break. During the festival season, we’ll
travel to Thailand, travel to local friends homes, and then have
what we call Winter Session, which will be a week of receiving
teaching from visiting speakers and seeking God’s face. I’ll keep ya
posted!! Thanks for being with me and lifting me up.

Requests:

** Ask that we can have vision, strength, and anointing to connect
with close friends before everyone splits up for the break. We want
to show them we care about them AND our best friend, Jesus!

** Comfort for my family. My mother’s mother passed away about a
week ago and the funeral will be happening shortly.

** Direction for the future, for me and all of us over here.

** For joy in Jesus. So important!

Love,
knight

Sometimes the most fulfilling things for me are when my teammates
have cool things happen to them. Here are some of their stories…

About a week ago, we had some security concerns with one of our
teams. In response to those concerns, we emphasized again the need
to focus on relationships and seeing our friends as friends first.
Then last weekend Summer and Sonata had a Christmas party with
three girls whom they felt really connected to. The three friends
didn’t know each other, but everyone had a wonderful time, it all
flowed really smoothly, and one of them told Summer how important
their friendship is to her. Summer and Sonata were both wiped out
the next day when they were talking to me, but i could tell they
were super excited about how it went.

Aidan and Tank have a friend named Jason, a music student from the
north. They both consider him a good friend, and he has come to a
Bible study or two. Before Jason came to the first Bible Study, they
had no idea he was remotely interested in God. Even at the
Bible Study, he didn’t say much. Several days ago, while they were
hanging out, he mentioned that he thought that God had
brought them all together to lead him, and if what he wants (going
to a specific university in the US) doesn’t work out, that God
must have something else better for him. Wow!

Hey, my parents are coming to Asia next week! Yay! Keep them in
your thoughts! Blessings, too, as you enjoy this Christmas season.

Requests:

** For encouragement for me and my team. We’re in a battle here (as
are you) and discouragement seems to be one of our biggest enemies.

** Friends to come to know the Savior who came to us.

** For grace for me to be a great manager.

Thanks for being in the fray with me!

knight