*disclaimer: the outreach was to a restricted location. For those of you who knew my location, please do not post or mention it here or online, thank you!*
Our first location was a beautiful city with mountains and the best la mien (Muslim pulled noodles) I have ever had. The entire team was together for the first two weeks and after that, we split into two smaller teams and went our seperate ways for six weeks before meeting back together in Hong Kong.
The people we met and were able to share with were amazing. Truly, their hearts are beautiful and kind. In one of the cities, my friend and I made friends with two local girls. We went to cares and parks, getting to know them and hearing some of their dreams. A common theme in this country was the loss of dreams. They students depend highly on two things: what their parents want them to do and what their school says they can do. Often, neither of these are the dreams that are within their own hearts, causing them to often become discouraged and feel pressure to become a person they no longer identify with. Also, the beliefs are strongly influenced by parents an school as well. While speaking with our girls at a bubble milk tea cafe (my favorite place to take people), we found out that one of them ever so slightly believed in Buddhism, due to her parents, and the other girl believed in nothing because she was taught this in school. My friend and I prayed for words to speak and for these girls hearts to be opened.
Thirty minutes later, after I had a long conversation with the atheist about creation versus evolution, is God real or not, part of my testimony and about hearing the voice of God, I was both surprised and amazed when my girl said, "I want to believe in Jesus! I want Him to be my friend too!" My friend's girl also had come full circle and desired to believe in God. We prayed, talked, laughed and both girls said they could feel His love and knew that we were their sisters. When my friend and I went back to the hotel, we looked at each other, screamed in joy, then I promptly started to cry. I cried because I had just been apart of an amazing transformation....I also cried because God had chosen to use ME....I cried because I knew I was doing what I was created for. And I cried, because I was so happy and honored and humbled at what the Father had just done. It was amazing. It was a miracle. To see a change of heart that quickly! Wow! God is so good!
In another city, we met a Christian girl who desperately needed encouragement. Through friendship, prayer and loving her, by the time we left, she said she felt encouraged and knew that God was with her. Two of the guys from our team also were able to meet a Christian young man who was bound by religion rather than a living relationship with Jesus. He soon rededicated his life and finally experienced the deep love of the Father.
In every city we went to, our teams were able to share. Not every person was receptive, not every person agreed with us. But they always showed a willing heart to listen and were respectful. Before I came to this country, I knew the statistics, the population, the lack of people going and telling them about Christ. However, it was not until we were at a layover city and did a prayer walk that I finally understood the numbers.
We stood on a circular overpass that overlooked a highway. Cars and buses came and went and you could see the train station, next to the bus station. Masses of people swarmed the streets. There were millions of people below us. People we would never see, meet or speak to. We were a team of ten at this point, but looking at the amount of people in this one city, it finally hit me how small our group was and how big the 'mission' truly is. This moment, standing on the bridge, had one of the biggest impacts on the outreach for me. The moment when my vision cleared and Matthew 28:19-20 become real. A prayer I have been praying for months is: "God, give me your heart. Your broken heart for the nations." A recent change to that prayer is: "Help me to live out your heart." For me to have His heart is not enough, not if I don't live it out in my daily life. These past two months have taught the teams and myself more about the heart of God. We have learned much about ourselves and the need we have for Him iour daily lives. Laying down our own pride, needs, wants and understandings, and beginning to see through another perspective.
A huge praise report: a total of 30 salvations occurred during our time traveling!!!!
Blessings and Love:
Ashley
~*~Leave a Legacy that will Make a Difference in the World Around You.~*~
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