Tuesday, April 18, 2017

God, We Want You to be Our King

After a series of some unfortunate events, Joe has found favor in a family by coming along side of them and walking with them through these hard times. Aung Thian (Father) and Aye Win (Mother) realized that they needed help raising their teenagers and asked Joe to step in. Their family is Buddhist, but they were so desperate for help that they told Joe that he can teach Christ in their home and gave their blessing for their kids to accept Christ and be baptized if it means that they will be good and have a change of heart. Hser Nay (daughter, 16 years old) and Htoo Nay (son, 14 years old, who spent a year in Keystone Academy) were open for Joe to lead them in a Discovery Bible Study and even invited some of their friends to discover who the Jesus really is. This is happening in their home so their whole family is hearing the truth that Joe is teaching from Scripture, so it has the potential to change the whole family! After 3 meetings, they were impacted by Mark 1:15 where Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel." They broke that verse down many times to see what Jesus is truly saying here, and after hearing the Gospel on Easter weekend, they both prayed and asked God to be King of their lives! Please be praying for Hser Nay and Htoo Nay as they continue learning what it means to live in the Kingdom. of God.


 
Picture: Joe and the Discovery Bible Study (Left to right: Hser Nay, Htoo Nay, Hsar Ha, and Lah Kpro)

God is Moving in Sheffield Square

Sheffield Square is an apartment complex about 10 miles from our Ranchester location. Through some divine connections, Chris and some other members of our team have been able to be connected with some of the newly arriving Syrian refugees there. Here are some of Chris' journey entries about what God has been doing there over the past couple of weeks:

April 5th: Time for Keegan and I tonight at Sheffield was a blessing. Was able to take my Homegroup on mission. We followed up with Sami's family. The mother was joyful to invite us in. She didn't want us to leave. She said she has been so sad. We asked to pray for her and joined hands in a circle and as we were praying for her she began to weep. She then replied in Arabic to us, I love you!

Her name is Sumiah. Here tears were very meaningful, they have invited us back whenever. Praying this leads to an open network of doors in the 6 families, Wesam, Yuossif, Muhammad, Mohammad, Osama and now Sami - His mother Sumiah. That a redemptive community would emerge and God would peal back the darkness and shine his light brilliantly!


April 8th: Heading to see Sumiah and Sami with Keegan. Pray for God to reveal himself more. Last night when Zach Keegan and I laid hands on Sumiah and prayed for her headache she felt a stirring in hear head healing her headache. She was happy that we prayed for her and felt something happening as we prayed.

April 12th: A Syrian Muslim family has recently invited Caleb and I over every Wednesday to teach them English and study the bible. Osama and his father "Said" and his brother "Hani" are unlike other families. They do not necessarily believe the bible has been changed. They want to know the truth about the bible and want to journey with us and come to a conclusion of the truth about Jesus. Last time I invited my friend Josiah over and they were wooed by his fluent Arabic speaking ability. This family is just hungry to say the least. Yes they are deep in Islam, but they even had a notebook of every bible verse we shared and every question they had about Jesus they would write down and are going to study the Ingil(Bible). Praying for a breakthrough!



Picture 1: Sumiah and Paul (from Chris' home group) engaged in conversation




Picture 2: Osama