At 16 when I decided I wanted to be a ministry worker, I thought for sure I’d be hacking through jungles and living in a mud hut. I said, “Sure God! I’ll go anywhere, do anything!” Little did I know I’d be living in a fairly nice apartment and working with incredibly intelligent university students. I have come to realize that despite the differences in these two environments, Asia has its own “spiritual jungles.”

I may have mentioned that I recently began leading a team of long term workers learning the language here. Much like I did while in K-town, they will be attending an Asian university and attempting to speak as much of the native language as possible! I love seeing these guys grow and their hearts for reaching the students.

There have been some “spiritual jungles” that our team is hacking through. There are the personal battles that each person faces in a transition to a new team and new place. I’ve been feeling exhausted and taxed in my emotional levels. There was a minor bike accident and a passport lost. These are all seemingly small and manageable things, but combined, they form distractions from the goal of reaching a level of the language that can reach the hearts of those around them. Please lift up this team of awesome workers as we continue to hack through some spiritual jungles!

Also, exciting news! Recently, I began leading a small group with a girl named Guo Dan. Guo Dan saw that her friend Rita was interested as she talked about God, so she brought her to our big group one week. Rita had traveled to Indonesia (a predominantly M–lim country) where she happened to live with a Christian family. That’s a miracle!

Guo Dan invited her to our small group to share more with her, and Rita said “yes” to beginning a relationship with God! My favorite moment was her saying, “I know God chose me and has been chasing me when I look at all the ‘coincidences’ that have happened!” She will be moving to the Du (another city containing one of our teams) this next semester, so she will be able to continue meeting with other believers!