In Southeast Asia, IMB workers strive to equip and empower local churches to reach what they’ve identified as the edge of lostness. With this goal in mind, IMB workers prayerfully look for opportunities to equip and mobilize local believers to reach their own people.
A few months ago, IMB worker Tom Callahan* and his national partner, Jethro*, were given the opportunity to mentor a few first-year students from a local seminary. As they were mentoring, it became glaringly evident that none of the students had ever shared the good news of Jesus with a lost person. Throughout the semester, they faithfully met weekly to train local believers in sharing the gospel. The training specifically focused on how to share the gospel with Muslims—the dominant religious group in the country.
In 2019, nearly 68,000 Southeast Asians heard the gospel witness. Pray that they would believe and share the gospel with others.
After each training session, the seminary students immediately “hit the streets” to put into practice the methods of sharing the gospel they learned from Scripture. After a few weeks of Tom and Jethro’s modeling, the students began engaging in gospel conversations and proclamation. By the end of the semester, the students were going out routinely on their own, meeting people throughout the city and boldly proclaiming the gospel.
Two months ago, Jonathan*, one of the seminary students, testified that he had continued faithfully proclaiming the gospel and someone had professed faith in Christ and would soon be baptized.
Pray for more local believers who have a similar passion and desire to reach those in need of the gospel. Pray for the faithful work Jonathan is doing. Pray also for the Lord to pair Tom and Jethro with others they can train, equip and mobilize.
*Names changed for security
This article was originally published by the IMB at imb.org