Based on a recent report by an Alliance global worker
Headline news often reports tragic stories of peoples on the move. Accounts proliferate of Syrian refugee families fleeing for their lives and people seeking a better life in new lands.
Among this latter group are north and central Asian migrants, millions of whom have left dire economic conditions in their homelands to find work in Europe and other parts of Asia. Estimates are that less than 1 percent of this diverse population has heard the gospel.
Strategic Outreach
“But God also is on the move,” says Beth,* an Alliance worker. “He is pursuing these displaced peoples who are precious to Him, strategically placing them in locations where He can best reveal His love and truth.” Beth and her husband have seen this firsthand as members of a small Alliance team seeking to share Jesus with the nearly 2 million north and central Asian migrants who share residence with them in a European city.
Recently, Beth met Katrina*, a bubbly young woman, who is a hairstylist in a shop across the street from the couple’s apartment. She learned that Katrina belongs to a people group from an isolated location in the North and Central Asia Region that has had little or no gospel witness. Her people have their own language, culture, and religious practices based on their homeland’s predominant religion.
Jesus is the Lamb!
Beth has begun meeting regularly with this warm, outgoing young woman. “Conversations have often turned to spiritual matters,” she says. Last month the two women discussed a holiday Katrina’s people celebrate, the commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. Beth explained how Jesus’ death was a sacrifice for our sins to reconcile us to God.
Katrina, who had never heard this truth before, exclaimed: “Oh, I see! Jesus is like the lamb God provided in place of Abraham’s son!”
“Praise God that He is moving on behalf of Katrina,” Beth says. “Please pray with us for her and her family to come to faith!”
*Names changed
Pray
“As you pray for Katrina’s family and the other migrants in this city to come to faith,” Beth urges, “ask God to also empower them with the Holy Spirit, so they can be His witnesses in their homelands—the remote regions of north and central Asia where He longs to build His Church.”
Use the weekly Alliance Prayer Requests to join the Alliance family in interceding on behalf of our global teams, who often serve in challenging circumstances requiring Holy Spirit–inspired wisdom to exemplify God’s love among peoples who don’t know Him.
Learn More
Check out people groups of the world lacking access to the good news. Praying for them is an effective way for Alliance people to help fulfill the Great Commission.
Read “When Paths Cross,” another story about how God has connected a migrant family from north and central Asia with those ready to share the good news with them.
Check out how Alliance people are meeting the felt needs of Syrian refugee families.