Serene, the leader of the house church, told us to meet at a subway station at 2 PM, where Jane met us and led us to Serene’s apartment. Chairs and stools were getting set up, and a little projector was getting hooked up to a teeny laptop. Hot water was poured for guests and snacks laid out.
After some introductions and greetings, the worship time began. Serene led with a guitar from the front corner while people passionately sang, prayed, and sought God’s face. God’s presence was sweet, and I was struck how this church had truly become their own. It wasn’t American — the language was all the national language. Serene didn’t just play songs — she led people in prayer and worship.
I remember when Serene was a young Christian. My wife’s friend Anne — Serene’s college roommate — led her to the Lord in the summer of 2010. Serene would bounce up and down with excitement as she talked about what God was doing in her life during church meetings in a hotel room. I remember my teammate Summer met with her weekly during that year to train her in leading worship.
6 years later, it was so sweet to be there and see what God has done! He’s so good! When we left that city, we didn’t know for sure what would remain. We taught what we knew — the basic things. Share the gospel extravagantly, pray, worship, lead simple meetings, be action oriented. But we didn’t know what would remain and whether they would persevere through the growing pains.
Today there’s a small church that shares, prays, and worships with heart. They recently got connected to a couple other like-minded house churches, and once a month they do outreach together. There’s been a bunch of cross-pollination as they’ve hung out and attended each other’s events. God has truly grown His church!
Thanks for being a part of what God is doing in Asia! And by the way, we’re back home and basically recovered from jet lag. 🙂