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Every week, we share stories about the amazing ways God is at work around the world. We hope that you’ll be encouraged by these stories and inspired to greater involvement in God’s Great Commission to go out to the world – near and far – and train, instruct, and baptize people in Jesus’ Name. This week, we start off by hearing from Stephanie who just returned from sharing the Gospel in Albania:
This was actually my second trip to Albania and it was great to go back and minister to the people who we met last year. I think that I was more relaxed this year because I knew what to expect, compared to last year when I was much more hesitant about sharing the Gospel. But this year, I was much more confident that God was going to do something amazing in and through me, so I just let Him have His way! Last year, I kept insisting that I wasn’t God’s mouthpiece, but this year I knew that He wanted to use me in that way, so I was much more open to speak about His Good News.
My most special moment was when we went to the home of one of the interpreters. We had the opportunity to share with his mother and we got to see her accept the Lord as her Savior. Witnessing our interpreter walk his mother through the sinner’s prayer was a very touching and tender moment.
It’s amazing what God can do when we allow Him to lead us out of our comfort zone and into the work that He has planned for us.
It’s hard and nerve-racking when God calls us out of our comfort zone, but He has tremendous blessings in store for those who will follow where He leads. If bringing the Gospel to all nations of the world was easy, everybody would be doing it. There are just so many barriers to be overcome: travel, language and financial barriers just to name a few. But, the Lord never promised that it would be easy or comfortable to serve Him. He did promise, though, to always be with us and never leave us!
Carla was sitting in church, opened up her bulletin and found a flier about an upcoming missions trip to India. This is her story:
I heard the Lord telling me very clearly to go. And I answered just as clearly. I said, “God, I can’t go. You’ve got the wrong person. I can’t go to a third-world country. I can’t leave my children…” I had my whole list of reasons why He had the wrong girl.
That following week, in my quiet times, God continued to very clearly speak to me through His Word about how He just wants me to be obedient and how He can work through my weaknesses – even though I’m not a trained evangelist. I’m not even a good travel partner. I don’t do well without sufficient sleep. I’ve never gone away anywhere and left my daughters behind. And then my husband threw me for a loop one day when he came home and said, “God has told me very clearly today that I’m supposed to go to India, too!”
God then supplied all the money that we needed for the trip. He also provided someone to stay with our girls while we were gone. And we went.
Now, as an American, it is very hard to share with people. Many people do not see their need for God or His mercy, grace and forgiveness. So, they often just tune you out. It made me wonder why he called us.
Then, I had my “light-bulb moment”. After lunch on the first day we were there, every person at the house that we shared with accepted the Lord! That’s when it dawned on me that it wasn’t about me. God’s love and His Word are all it takes to penetrate people’s hearts. You could see it in their eyes. They were eager to pursue God’s truth and renounce all their other gods.
It was so amazing and humbling to realize that God would use me in this way. Even my friends at home said that I was the last person in the world that they ever thought would do something like this. But now, my husband’s and my priorities have all shifted and we pray constantly for new opportunities to share God’s Word.
The work that Carla and her husband did in India was very significant because it glorified God and expanded His kingdom. For additional stories and information on how you can be with E3 Partners Expedition, go to e3partners.org.