E3 Partners Expedition Podcast 23: Following God Through the Streets of Paraguay and Seeing Prayers Answered in India

E3 Partners Expedition Podcast 23: Following God Through the Streets of Paraguay and Seeing Prayers Answered in India Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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 Scott who has a burning passion to share the Gospel in Latin America and reports what God did in Paraguay:

God placed three teachers in our group of 19; and we didn’t know it at the time, but we were eventually able to go into these two villages and preach the Gospel at secular schools there. Not just telling warm and fuzzy stories, but unabashedly sharing the Gospel of Christ. Because we had these teachers in our group, we were allowed to go into classroom after classroom, teaching the children about Jesus. And not just the children – several of the teachers at those schools accepted Christ during those sessions, along with nearly 200 students!

I was paired up with a local translator named Luis. We went door-to-door and mostly focused on discipleship and really trying to get some strong, committed Christian families to serve as a nucleus for a budding church there. Our hope was then to come back a year later and see those same families being used by God to expand His kingdom.

So, the plan was to go out the first day, focusing on evangelism and then over the next few days, focusing on discipleship and follow-up.

That first day, we went by an auto repair shop. I wasn’t very optimistic. I thought that there was no way these guys would put down there tools and equipment in order to hear us talk about Jesus.

Man, was I wrong!

That first day, there were five guys who put everything down, sat down and talked with us. Three of them accepted Christ right then and there, including the guy who was the leader of the group who completely transformed and was on fire for God!

We returned the next day hoping to continue to disciple those guys who we had spoke to previously, but they weren’t there. Instead, there was a whole ‘nother group of guys, so we shared with them and even more guys accepted Christ at the body shop!

It’s always amazing to see how God leads us and places us where He wants us to be in order to serve Him best!

So many times, we look at our surroundings and we think we know best regarding where we should go and who we should talk to about Christ. What we need to remember is He already has a plan and we need to be willing to follow it. He has already prepared the hearts of His children and we need to be open to go where He sends us and preach His Word to the people He brings us to, and trust Him with the results.

Next, we hear from Stephanie who went to the small town of Silchar, India and ministered to an obscure, unreached people group known as Bishnupriya Manipuri:

We had a team of eleven people, and this was the first time that anyone from E3 had been to Silchar. There are about 300,000 Bishnupria Manipuri people living around Silchar, and when we arrived, there were only about 100 people there who considered themselves followers of Christ. 25 of them were bussed in to help with our work there. Now all 100 of these believers attend three different house-churches, all shepherded by the same pastor. Imagine being the only Christian leader of an entire people group! He is amazing!!

One thing that really struck me was seeing God answer the prayers of his people. These earnest Christians had been praying fervently for 22 years for a group from outside their region to come in and help them spread the Gospel among their people. We had the extreme privilege of being the very first ones. This means that since I was nine-years-old, these people had been praying for me and my team! Talk about humbling!! Then, when we went out and spoke to people about Jesus, there were so many who God had obviously been preparing their hearts long before we showed up and they immediately and sincerely recognized the Word of the Lord and chose to follow Him.

Personally, before we left, I had gone through a time where I felt like my prayers weren’t very fervent. I prayed that God would give me a heart for these people that we were training to go see.

As James 5:16 says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Now, I know that I’m not righteous on my own, but through Him I am and with Him, my heart could beat with a passion for the salvation of these people!

God answered my prayers beyond my belief and instilled an overwhelming love for these people within me! Even today, I am filled with love and yearning for the Christian brothers and sisters that I met there; and I am driven to tears as my heart breaks for the thousands there who have yet to hear about and accept Jesus as their Savior.

I know that I asked for a heart for them, but sometimes I ask God if He could take just a bit back. It seems like too much for me to handle!

Then I read Psalm 145:13-19 and was so encouraged:

The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made… You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.  The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.  The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

There is an unspeakable joy that wells up within you when you are hit with the reality that you may have been the first person to bring the Gospel to certain people who have never had the opportunity to hear the Name of Jesus before!

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