PHILADELPHIA (BRN) – The other day, I had the opportunity to sit down with a friend who just returned from a mission trip to Central Asia. In this article, I hope to encourage and inspire you from what God is doing in a place that is incredibly hostile and, even, murderous to the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout this story, there are constant reminders that this is God’s story, and we are blessed to even play a small part in it.
This story starts three years ago in London. My friend, Henry, was participating in the International Mission Board’s (IMB) Journeyman program and was tasked with engaging and reaching international students. He met Nassim (from Central Asia) by a divine appointment after Nassim overheard Henry sharing the Good News with another student.
After the other student left, Henry and Nassim met and talked for awhile. Nassim said he was having dreams about some man named Jesus. In these dreams, Jesus called Nassim to follow him and even showed Nassim that he would need to leave his family, friends and community to follow him.
Henry was amazed, and immediately began to share the gospel with Nassim and invited him to a Bible study. Over the course of the next year, Nassim got closer and closer to following Christ, but did not make a profession of faith.
During the summer, Nassim went home to his country. It was there, in the midst of beatings, torture and murder of Christians, that he finally accepted the gospel and was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Soon, his family found out about Nassim’s faith. His brother, Sha’ul, beat-up Nassim when he found out he had “become a westerner and forsaken the family.” His father responded by telling Nassim he would not pay to send Nassim back to London for his next year of school, as he was getting “way too messed up by westerner-thinking and this Christian thing.”
But no one could stop God, who wanted Nassim to go back to London. God provided for Nassim, giving him funding through his older brother in another country.
When Nassim got back to London, Henry and his fellow Journeymen worked hard to disciple and train Nassim. For the next year, they poured into him and watched as he grew in his faith and maturity.
Also during this time, God was working on Sha’ul, Nassim’s brother. Sha’ul was close to becoming a full-fledged member of a feared, brutal terrorist organization. But God intervened.
Sha’ul kept having this recurring dream, where he would be in different scenarios and settings and hear a voice from heaven saying, “Sha’ul, why are you persecuting your brother? Don’t you know you’re persecuting Me?”
Sha’ul did not join the terrorist group, but, instead, began meeting regularly over Zoom with Henry and Nassim to study the Bible. Throughout these meetings, Sha’ul was getting closer and closer to becoming a believer in Christ.
They met this way for a while, until one day Sha’ul just disappeared. They had no word from him, and still no way to find or even contact him after Nassim finished his program and went home.
After some intense, grueling detective work, Nassim found Sha’ul in a remote, dangerous village in the mountains. For some time, Sha’ul had been passionately and faithfully sharing the gospel with people in a region where they killed Christians. Sha’ul was not just a believer, but a zealous missionary!
A ministry team was started. Two brothers who the Lord, himself, brought to faith through His own power and outstretched arm.
Two years later, my friend Henry went to their country to encourage and disciple Nassim and Sha’ul and see the incredible work the Lord is doing. He is indeed doing incredible things. As Henry shared with me these stories of faith in Christ, I was amazed and awe-struck at the power and might of our God.
Nassim and Sha’ul have been faithful in sharing the gospel and discipling believers, even as they experience more and more persecution for the work they are doing. They have been held at gunpoint, barely avoided kidnapping and have been followed and watched almost daily. In spite of this, and indeed even through it, God has brought people to faith.
When Nassim shared the gospel with a prominent leader in a village, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Nassim’s face. But the man was shocked when Nassim didn’t show any fear! He was so curious about that peace and fearlessness, that he had to hear the rest of the gospel. Months later, he became a believer, and has now led about 600 people in his village to the Lord. He was such a brutal, ruthless man, but now he is totally changed into a loving, compassionate follower of Christ!
Thousands of people are putting their faith in Christ. It is an incredible movement. Yet, it is important to note that Nassim and Sha’ul are not some great missionaries or preachers, no, but rather it is the power of the Holy Spirit that is spreading like wildfire in a dry forest. Nassim and Sha’ul go village to village, read the Word and then explain it, allowing the Spirit to do the rest. And God’s Spirit delivers!
This mindset is similar to that of Paul. In 1 Corinthians 1:17, Paul says that he did not “preach the gospel…with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Paul unashamedly had one message and one “ministry that [he] received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24)
In Nassim and Sha’ul’s country, there are many new, baby Christians. The Spirit is doing an amazing work and there is a huge need for training and discipleship of these new believers. If you can, please take a moment right now to pray for the protection of these believers, who live in such a hostile environment. Please also pray that false doctrines and teachers would not arise and distort the gospel.
There are so many more stories I wish I could share from the believers in Nassim and Sha’ul’s country, but I do not have the time! Indeed, each one is a miracle and work of the Lord that comes with a very compelling story.
However, instead of that, I would like you to personally reflect on your own story of salvation. Every soul that goes from death to life is a miracle (Luke 10:20), whether the encounter with Christ is through a vision or through a Sunday School class as a little kid. Indeed, whether through a vision or through a Sunday School class, all of this is from God and for God. To Him belongs the glory forever and ever!
“Missions Minded” is a new monthly column written by Jack Elliot, Missions Mobilizer for Nehemiah Teams. Each month, Jack will explore a different topic or spiritual discipline and relate it to the field of missions – a field close to his heart! For any questions or more information about how you and your church can get involved in impacting the nations, please feel free to contact Jack at jctn@protonmail.com.
