By B, an Alliance worker, who serves with her husband and team among an unreached people group in the spiritually desolate North and Central Asia Region
We minister in a village community divided by a river. A church was established on its right bank some years ago. Yet when we visited the community on the river’s left bank in 2009, we found it to be a dark, gospel-resistant area with no Christians.
Our years of subsequent outreach in this area were met with increasing antagonism and difficulties. At times, I wanted to shake the dust off of my shoes and never return.
Others had come and gone and had given up. Many Christians living on the right side of the river also had given up on these villagers. Why not us? I thought.
But we couldn’t abandon them.
“Lord, we will keep going there with hope because we believe one day You will plant Your church on this side of the river,” I remember crying out to the Lord one evening. “All I ask is that we will see Your church planted there in our lifetime.”
Personal Sacrifice
Before we left on home assignment last year in May, we gave about $3,800 of our personal savings to a young homeless family from this community to purchase a lot and build a home. (I am telling you about this gift only because of the story’s outcome.)
We had met this couple in 2014 when they were considering aborting their unborn baby if she was a girl. (Government regulations required that this child be a boy.) A month later, the wife gave birth to a girl.
Fearing this couple might abandon the baby, we shared the message of Jesus with them in hopes that they would keep the child. After a long day of sharing, both accepted Christ. JS, my husband, dedicated their baby to the Lord.
A Plot of Land
Right after their baby was born, the young man’s father sold all of the family property and left the area, leaving the young couple with no land and forcing them to find temporary shelter. (Every other villager in this community owns some land, even if he is dirt poor.)
When we gave this couple the money to buy a plot of land, we prayed, “We give this money to You, Lord. . . . May it purchase a lot that will be a light, and on this lot may your church be planted.” We then left for our seven-month home assignment.
While we were gone, the family bought a small piece of land and built a house. This past spring, we had our first church meeting in this young couple’s home—19 people attended.
Joy in Persistency
Nothing can describe the joy in our hearts that there is now a place to worship in this community.
We’ve asked a partner church across the river to visit and encourage this young congregation monthly. When we told them about the new church, they exclaimed, “It’s not possible!”
When they met the new church members, they said, “We are so sorry we had given up on your community. We thought it was impossible, but now we see with our own eyes that nothing is impossible with God. Forgive us!”
I am thrilled to see a church planted in this community in my lifetime. It took us about seven long years of persistent work—along with a whole lot of faith—but it was so worth it.
So far, five people have accepted Christ in the new church, and three have been baptized. May the glory be His!
Pray
Praise God for His moving in this previously gospel-resistant community! Please intercede for many more to come into the household of faith in this area. Pray also for continued boldness, strength, and wisdom for me, my husband, and our team as we proclaim the good news in this spiritually dark region.