Two weeks before we got to East Asia, one of our long-term partners was riding the bus on her regular schedule, and this gentleman came up to her and began to speak English. He was a director of a school, and he began to talk to her because she was a foreigner. As they spoke, they began to talk about students and cultural exchange. Our partner shared that several American students would actually be coming to visit them soon, and his response was, “Do you think some of them would stay with my students to help them with their English?” So we ended up partnering with them.

Very quickly, within two weeks, he had homes for us to stay in four different cities. What was really incredible about that was that it’s difficult to get any kind of intimate interaction with anyone, let alone families, let alone in cities that are much smaller.

When we got there our host families were just incredibly joyful to have us and were very good hosts. They invited us in, fed us ridiculously good food, and took care of us. They wanted to show us around and let our students experience their culture.

Over the course of these days, our students would simply live out their life. And so every morning they’re getting up, they’re doing their devotions, they’re praying, and they’re asking questions to look for ways they can weave in threads of the gospel into everyday conversation. That prompted so many great conversations.

One of my favorite things that happened was when we got there, one of our students was staying in a home with a man that was declared an atheist. Eventually, by the end of the week he started asking questions like, “Your guys, they’re reading their Bibles every day. What is that about? Why do they do that? They don’t have to do that?” And our students began to share their hearts and their passions and their relationships with Christ. And the night before we left, he said, “I’ve seen what this means to you. I’d love to read the Bible too with my son. I think it would be very helpful. Do you think I can have a Bible before you go?” The next morning, our partner had a Bible in his language, and we were able to give it to him. He hugged us and just kept thanking us over and over and over again. It was fantastic. 

It was such a joy to see how regularly sharing your faith or just doing your daily devotions and prayer made an enormous impact on a family that never sees that.

— Mark S.

This past summer, I went on a Short-Term trip to East Asia. I didn’t really know what to expect. My team was told that we were going to be staying in host homes. And I guess, I assumed, “Oh, so they’re going to be putting us in homes of local Christians with several other team members and a leader.” However, when we got there, things ended up being a lot different than I had expected.

It took 30 hours to get there. And after getting there, within 24 hours, I found myself on a five-and-a-half-hour bus ride into a village in East Asia with just one other girl from my team, Rosalie, to live in the house of an unreached people group for four days and four nights. They didn’t speak English, except for the high school student, and she was not was completely fluent. So, as you can imagine, I got pretty nervous. I really didn’t know what to do, what to say, or what to expect. I wondered how I was really going to be able to be effective here. But what our leader had told us leading up to the trip was that our personal relationship with Christ on a daily basis was the thing that was going to be most noticeable. And that really proved to be true.

The first morning I was scared. I was having my quiet time and just crying out to God, talking about how I didn’t really feel fully equipped for what I was about to do, and that I was completely dependent on Him. I asked for Him to lead my words and actions and help me to know what to say, and when to say it, and how to bridge the gospel into daily conversations with our host family. And the Lord answered those prayers in real ways, and I felt used by Him in ways I’ve never experienced before.

On the first day, I got to share the gospel. First, I got to talk about my family where I was able to share how the Lord led my parents to adopt and about how we saw God’s love in all that. Later, as we were walking around the park, Rosalie remembered she’d seen versions of Harry Potter in our host student’s bedroom. Rosalie asked, “I saw Harry Potter in your room. Do you like to read?” She said, “Yes, I like to read. I love stories.” And I had this immediate thought that I need to tell her about the story of Ruth. So I took out my translation app and looked up the word for “redeem” so I could focus on what that word means and explaining it well, and then share the gospel with her. And then I did it. She really liked the story of Ruth and was interested in the gospel. She is a Muslim because that it was her family is, but it was clear that she didn’t really have a faith that was personal to her. Apparently, she had never even been in a mosque. She wasn’t allowed to, being a girl. So I got to see how she was very culturally Muslim but not truly Muslim in a very sincere sense.

I didn’t see her come to Christ while I was there, but over the four days I lived with her I got to share the gospel with her every day. At the end of the trip she wanted us to give her an American name, so Rosalie and I decided to give her the name of Ruth, and she really liked that.

— Rebecca T.

Mark S. serves as our Student Minister at Brook Hills. In July, he led a trip of high school seniors to East Asia. Rebecca T. was a student who went on the trip. She is now a student at Samford University. As a result of BH students staying in homes this summer, four Bible studies have been started among this Unreached People Group and one young lady has professed Jesus as Lord and has been baptized. Praise be to God!