Time sure flies by this year. Whenever I mention this to people, they would say that it has got to do with one’s age. “The older one gets, the quicker time seems to pass,” they’d say. They are probably right. I turn 40 this year.
It seems like only a while ago that I’ve returned to the city after the spring break. At that time, the company through which I was getting a work visa for the past couple of years was shutting down and I had to come back with a 1-year multiple entry visa. This meant that I had to do a visa run every now and then. That caused an amount of anxiety for me, being concerned over the increased expenses and because every time I leave the country there was a possibility that the immigration department may refuse me entry back. Thankfully, there has been no problem so far. In fact in retrospect, it turned out for the good (Praise God!). For with every visa run that I’ve made, except for the last one, there had been opportunities to talk to someone about Jesus Christ.
Also in retrospect, losing a ‘job’ at this time turned out to be profitable (again, Praise God!). With time freed up, I’ve been able to travel a little further to visit some works of the local believers and have a bit more understanding of the state of church planting work outside of the city. There were also more occasions to touch base with the local believers and leaders in the city and to pray with and for them. A couple of opportunities had also opened up for training with local groups in the use of transferable evangelistic and discipleship tools.
Last week in our weekly meeting, 2 girls believed after hearing the full Gospel. That was a huge encouragement. For across the board, most church leaders in the city would say that the population is less interested in spiritual truth as compared to 2 years ago. This is because of the influx of material security that is increasingly becoming within reasonable reach for the population at large. However, this spiritual condition need not be the reality. I believe that God desires all His creation to long for him. That reality has to begin with believers themselves.
Prayer Pointers
- Ask that believers will renew a passion for God and His truth.
- Ask that non-believers will have a hunger for God and for spiritual truth.
Thank you for faithfully lifting the people in this city for the past year. May you have a blessed Christmas and a fruitful new year!
