The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of learning, doing, and celebrating. Everyone here in X-Town has been making friends left and right, and sharing the gospel whenever possible. Out of that, we have seen 20 brothers and sisters join the family as of today! Wherever we are, my roommate and I give a small yelp of joy whenever we get a text saying we have a new brother or sister.

Even in our excitement though, Felicity and I have been battling a bit of discouragement that we haven’t had the chance to help someone join the family yet. It’s not a numbers game, but doubt tends to creep in when each of the other partner pairs has helped roughly seven brothers or sisters in Christ, and you’ve helped zip.

So this morning, I took a lot of comfort from reading this passage in the Book:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.”
–Jesus, Revelation 3.20

The thing that struck me most when reading this passage was the realization that my “knocking” on anyone’s door isn’t the key to success. Jesus is already knocking the door of their heart, because He is knocking on everyone’s heart. Additionally, I realized that I don’t have to try to open the door for anyone else. This passage is pretty clear that the decision to let Jesus in has to be made by each individual.

However, we do have a very special opportunity here in Asia (or really, anywhere) as we make friends and they let us into their hearts. Once we are able to “dine” with them (literally and figuratively), we can help draw attention to His knocking. It’s like we’re saying, “Oh hey, do you hear that? That’s Jesus knocking on your door! Man, he showed up at my place one day. When I finally decided to let Him come in, He completely changed my life. Let me tell you all about it.”

And after that mini-revelation this morning, wouldn’t you know it that Felicity and I had the opportunity to get together with our friend Margaret tonight? We shared the gospel with her a few days ago, and she wanted to get together again to hear more stories about God. By the end of dinner, she decided to open the door to Him, and we gained our 21st sibling!

Please pray that Margaret (and all our new siblings) would continue to have encounters with God and grow deeper in their faith. Please also pray for our leaders they try to organize church meetings and reconnect with believers who are returning for school.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Until next time!