Called to be Witnesses

The primary purpose of our trip to southeast Asia was to learn.  Learn about the culture, learn more of the language, and learn what it looks like to do ministry among a majority Muslim population.  I absorbed so much in the last two weeks, and I feel like I've just barely scratched the surface.  Our ultimate prayer throughout the trip was that God would open our eyes to show us what he is doing in this beautiful country.

I've had this mindset that until missionaries go to a place, God isn't there yet.  How ridiculous!  Before we even left I felt like God was already showing me that He is in fact doing great things there even before anyone shows up with the Gospel.  I needed to be reminded that God doesn't need us to accomplish his global purposes, but he allows us to be used.  We learn from John 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."  Clearly God is already at work in people's hearts, drawing them to himself long before they even hear the Word.


We spent a lot of time with current mission workers who helped show us how to see the fruit of their labor.  In countries like Indo where, until relatively recently, there have been few missionaries, it would appear that very little is accomplished there.  You just don't have people becoming believers everyday.  We were introduced to the concept of 0 to 1 vs. 1 to 1000.  The idea is that in many countries with a long history of missionaries who have paved the way for new generations, loads of people are responding positively to the gospel.  You might have hundreds or even thousands come to faith in Christ at once.  On the other hand, in south east Asia where there are many roadblocks in missions, that foundation is still being laid.  Relationships are built over time and Jesus is introduced to a few people at a time.

This was a stark reminder that missions is a slow process.  When you read missionary biographies you learn of people who spent years, decades even, in remote areas with no fruit at all for their labor.  It's not until years later that the seeds they sowed yield a harvest.  In many ways the workers in Indo are still waiting for the great harvest, but we know that someday it will come.

During one of our team devotions one of our new friends said something that stuck out to me.  He talked about how we are called to be witnesses, and how we usually take that to mean we speak out for Christ.  If you think about the word witness, though, you realize that it means to observe or see something happening.  So when Jesus calls us to witness, we are called to see what He's up to and be a part of it!  How cool is that?  So part of our calling during this trip was to find out where Jesus was and how he was already working in the lives of the nationals.  What we found was pretty incredible...