E-Connected Archive - March 2009
Praying for the Uys
What does pioneer work actually look like on the ground? Often it is simply about befriending people, sharing truth and offering to pray with them.
Ibrahim is a man that we met at the school gates when dropping our children off at local school. He has always been incredibly open and interested in the things of God. Over time our families became good friends and we would meet together, eat, relax and talk. As we got to know each other better Ibrahim began to share his heart and the anxieties in his own life. Unemployment in the region where Ibrahim lives is a real issue and it challenges the ideal of the man being able to provide for his family. We were able to share with him the reality of God being personally involved in his life and offered to pray for his need of work. He was a faithful Muslim and was happy to pray but it was a new concept to him that God wanted to answer and meet his needs. Shortly afterwards he was able to get a three month contract in a factory.
Over time we were able to share a number of scriptures with him relating to seeking after God, how He provides for us and how God looks at our hearts. One night in a restaurant Ibrahim recounted these scriptures and conversations to an increasingly interested audience of waiters, waitresses and customers. With his gregarious good nature and desire for God he was unwittingly doing an ‘open air’ better than any ex-pat!
Due to the political situation we had to leave the country recently. Before we left we had a meal with the whole family. We gave Ibrahim an Injil (New Testament) after making him fully aware of the impact possessing this book could have on his life. Having a copy of the Injil in Uy is illegal where he lives. He was thumbing through it excitedly even as we ate and literally devoured the verses that we highlighted. God’s word does not return void and we trust Him with this seed and the many others that have been sown in recent years amongst the Uys.
Pray that:
>> The Uy believers would know His peace, courage and wisdom as they strive to stand in difficult environments.
>> The Uy believers would have the desire and God-given skills in evangelising and discipling their own people.
>> The governments in countries where Uys live would cease their persecution and allow the Uys to express their love for God freely and corporately.
>> God would continue to move amongst the Uys and that very soon growing, vibrant and lasting Uy fellowships would be raised up in Central Asia.