The Christians there were hungry for fellowship. Their intense, curiously hopeful stares were veiled with caution, hoping to have the chance to engage but apprehensive of stepping outside cultural norms.
They wanted to interact at whatever level they could. Sometimes, that was just a hug - a non-verbal means of receiving a deeply needed connection.
Father of the girl whose life was saved, moved with gratitude to hug Steve after receiving help and an audio Bible.
Pastors and leaders eagerly engaging with the SALT material as Steve teaches.
Steve teaching the SALT material in Pakistan.
I knew going over that some Pakistanis live in slavery, but it was one thing to assent to that fact cognitively and another to look an enslaved human being in the eyes, hug them, and hear their story. I remember thinking, “I can’t believe there really are still slaves in the world.”
In this culture, many any of them are Christians (for various reasons).
The Lord impressed on me their joyful and grateful response to the simple act of my showing up to visit their humble homes and compounds.
They were calm, content, and thankful for something as simple as being able to consume the Bible daily via an audio Bible from ITMI. (Many are illiterate, so hearing the Bible opens up a whole new world for them!)
Modern-day believer and slave moved with gratitude for life-saving medical treatment for his daughter and an audio Bible.
Though they’ve faced an unrelenting stream of challenges like Covid and cultural unrest, our partners David and Taru Kumar continue to minister faithfully.
The way David and Taru use any excuse possible to invite people into the added room above their home to celebrate (literally anything), have a training session, Bible study, or quiet prayer time left an impression on me. I saw firsthand how all who enter experience what a “place of peace” is like amid frantic, hopeless, and fearful surroundings.
David and Taru save a great deal on rental expenses and clean-up fees, bypassing the once-used conference hall rentals for their festivities.
Because God used all of us to help them build this room, they can use it much more often and create additional opportunities to bring people together and share truth and love with them.
Every time David and his co-worker, Pastor Walter, travel to rural locations to train believers and leaders to share Jesus with their Muslim friends and neighbors, David gets genuinely sick.
Heat exhaustion, poor water quality, and the substandard personal hygiene of the rural villagers take a significant toll on his physical body. David is literally laying his health at Jesus’ feet each time he ventures to the rural areas - roughly once a month.
The consistent pairing of sickness with his travel to rural areas, where the enemy displays his strongholds, is no coincidence. I’ve no doubt David and Walter must stand up to spiritual attacks each time they bring “light” and truth into this darkness. I love how he doesn’t hesitate to schedule the next series of conferences, knowing it will mean days of feeling miserable and extended recovery.
Taru, David and Pastor Walter with a group of believers from rural areas after completing the 6th monthly training in how to share Jesus with others.
Despite these challenges, David and Taru have implemented new programming at Deepam Primary School. They are more intentional than ever. These new programs afford them greater freedom to share Jesus and God’s truth with the students and their families.
A Deepam student proudly tells his peers part of a Bible story after Taru reads it to them.
A Deepam instructor teaching one of the students.
The students at Deepam are very engaged in the Bible-rich curriculum.
Asians do love their rice - I ate rice, rice, and more rice. They don’t fix their meat anything like we do in the USA, partly because having meat to eat is such a rare privilege. They make sure nothing is wasted, and it is socially acceptable to gnaw the meat off the bones to ensure none of the precious commodity goes to waste.
Plates of rice ready to serve after church in Pakistan.
There is something about eating together that transcends cultural and language barriers. Eating together is unifying. Maybe because, in a subtle way, it reminds us that no matter who we are or where we came from, we are needy.
We need food to survive, and sitting together to meet that need creates a bond of humanity that I believe the Lord intentionally infused into our human experience, that we might never forget our dependence on Him and be united in it. It was really special to observe the new Cambodian believers experience dinner "on the grounds" after their first-ever Sunday Service.
Abraham Warren (right) leads the first-ever church service with these villagers in Cambodia.
Dinner on-the-grounds after the service!
Some of you may know that I love riding motorcycles and using my photography skills. My father gave me my first motorcycle and my first camera years before I was involved with ITMI. I needed both of those skills in a big way on this trip.
I would estimate there are 7 or 8 motorcycles for every car or truck on Asian roads. Whole families ride on a single, one-cylinder 100cc motorcycle and are elated that they don’t have to walk.
Our partners and contacts in these countries usually can’t afford an automobile or don’t know how to operate one. The indescribable chaos on the roads caused by the frenzied, rule-less, my-needs-above-your-safety attitude of most Asian motorists as they repeatedly lay on their horns at every whim would be a terrible environment to learn to drive in.
You need nerves of steel and an unflinching hyper focus just to back out of your parking spot, much less get across town while competing with a million or two of your closest motor rivals for limited road space.
The Lord has been preparing me for Asia for a long time!
This trip felt like an incredible success for the Kingdom. It seemed so meaningful to those I visited. I celebrate the opportunities I had to point people toward Jesus and encourage them toward a greater understanding of Who Jesus is and trust in Him.
But it’s not my success. You sent. You prayed. You stood with me. And together, with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we contributed to the expansion of Jesus’ Kingdom in Asia.
Your prayers kept me going through health challenges, covered me during travel, and cloaked me through customs. Your support funded the mission, demonstrated Jesus to the suffering, and laid the foundation for future work in the region.
From myself, the staff, and the many believers and yet unreached in this region, I thank you for the part you played in demonstrating and declaring the Gospel in Asia.
Thank you for the part you played in demonstrating and declaring the Gospel in Asia!
