Changing lives from the inside out - Wednesday update

The third ministry day was an AMAZING one. My team walked to a Muslim village where people were not open to hearing the gospel. We encountered an elderly Muslim man and I shared the gospel with him. He responded by reciting the Quran and rejecting Jesus. I shared my testimony of how Christ has changed my life and asked him if he had an assurance of salvation.  The Quran does not promise an assurance of salvation so he responded that he was unsure if he would go to heaven because of his good works. One of the disciple makers’ wives then shared her testimony of how her Muslim family came to believe in Jesus and how that had changed their lives.  The older man eventually said he would think about becoming a Christian but needed to talk to his family first. He turned his back and walked away and then stopped and said, “come to my house, I am ready to accept Jesus Christ now!”. In his home he prayed and proclaimed his faith in Jesus. He told me that God had softened his heart today after hearing the Gospel and learning who Jesus Christ really was. We rejoiced and prayed for him and left his home. 

Right after we left the Muslim man’s home an Ethiopian orthodox boy heard us sharing the gospel and told us we needed to come tell his parents this good news. We followed the boy to his home where his parents invited us inside. The family was Ethiopian Orthodox and the father told me he was praying that there was more to life than his works based faith.  I shared the gospel with the family and they accepted Christ and were praising God for the truth they heard today. On their own iniative, they tore off their Orthodox crosses (a symbol of their old faith) and threw them on the ground and said they would live their lives for Jesus. It was such an amazing experience to see God change the hearts of people in front of my eyes and be reminded of the power of the Gospel.  Stories by Ross 

To say this has been a good week would be a GROSS understatement.  We have seen God do incredible things right in front of our eyes.  God is so faithful to change people’s hearts.  Not everyone we talk to professes faith in Christ but we have to remind ourselves that our job this week is to plant seeds & God’s job is to change the heart.  The team is feeling healthy and in great shape physically.  Our bodies have finally adjusted to the time change (8 hours) difference than Dallas time.  Please continue to pray for:

·      Open hearts for the Gospel of Jesus Christ

·      New believers will stand fast in the face of persecution 

·      Continued good health for the North Americans

·      Safety as we travel the Ethiopia roads dodging goats & donkeys 

·      Continued unity with our Ethiopian partners