In the beginning it was so dry. We were sad that our ministry was not working, that we were not reaching our communities with the Gospel of Jesus. We needed to change something, but what? So we prayed, and sensed God saying that we were to trust him. As we gave all the fuss to God, he told us, “Reach the children.”
And so it began—crafts and Christmas calendars and English lessons and music lessons and candy and Kim Chi and skiing and summer camps; snacks and special needs, parties and ping pong.
One of the first boys to come was Aziz. To be honest, a lot of the boys came to us through him—friends, classmates, relatives. He came for snacks, but was suspicious. “I know you’re Christians,” he said accusingly. “I’m going to beat you. I’m going to win you over with my evidence.”
He did not win us over; instead, he came to believe in Jesus. After that, Aziz brought other boys. He invited one friend to go skiing with us. “What if the car breaks down,” the friend asked, “and they eat us?” It was funny, but also sad—such false information about Christians! We told him that was a lie, and Aziz convinced him to come skiing. Afterwards, he said, “Well, you’re not so bad after all.” Aziz’s friend now comes to church (he still has many questions!).
Others came. Niara came for help with homework, Damir to learn guitar, Shirin to help us with a Down’s Syndrome child, Kaly for a hug. Mamyr, age eight, came to play games; Marat, age fifteen, because he wanted to die. Each one searching, trying so hard. Slowly, we connected with their families: mothers in need of coal; alcoholic fathers in need of rehabilitation; hungry Koreans in need of rice.
We met one woman, “the mom of bandits”, who helps criminals with lawsuits. Another, aged eighty, was raising her grandchildren alone because their father is in prison. Both came to faith in Jesus. There are many who do not trust us—but they are trusting us with their children.
When God began to work this way, we took a lesson to ourselves: no matter what happens, always rely on God, not on your own strength. I ask you, brothers and sisters—if God is with us, who can be against us?
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