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Kathryn* served as a Mission Society intern in a secure country in Asia this past summer. She taught English and worked with other team members in the nation. In this story she shares how the experience changed her and others she encountered.

“A little over two years ago, the Lord stamped and sealed my heart for Asia. My passion and desire to be in Asia grew as I waited for God to open the door for me to go, and after two years of waiting, I was flying across the Pacific Ocean towards the desire of my heart!

“As I stepped into this new place, the peace of the Lord washed over me. I felt as though I was home! One of my goals while being in Asia was to teach English, so as to fulfill a requirement for my Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages minor at my university. I was somewhat disappointed that I would be stuck in a classroom for more than 120 hours, but I knew I needed to finish this commitment.

“My teaching experience differed tremendously during the two months in Asia. I spent time doing a language exchange with some of my local friends; tutored a 16-year-old girl one-on-one; taught five-year olds at an English camp, and even taught on a dirt floored kitchen in a hostel in the Himalayas.

“All seven weeks that I spent in Asia were incredible. This summer will be etched in my heart forever. My last week in Asia proved to be more incredible than the previous weeks I had spent in the country. I entered into this final week having just returned from the Himalayas, and pretty exhausted from our 48 hours traveling on buses and vans over dirt roads, and an overnight train to finally make it back home! It was a Sunday, which meant I was supposed to be tutoring my 16-year-old friend named Sandy*. I reluctantly went to Sandy's apartment to have our tutoring session, when I really just wanted to rest. We started talking, and she reminded me of the homework I had given her a few weeks before. I had assigned her to prepare five questions to ask me. Her first two questions were about American culture, and questions number three was, ‘What's your favorite music?’

"’What's your favorite music?’ Who would have ever thought this would be such a pivotal question! I thought about my answer and considered saying something like Country or Rock, just to make it easier to explain. Then I decided to go with my favorite music, Christian. As I wrote down this word on Sandy's notebook, she was confused. ‘Christian? I don't know this!’ was her response. I told her what Christian was in her language, and then she looked at me and curiously asked if I was one. I said yes, and I asked her what she believed. She responded that her parents are atheists; her grandmother is a Buddhist, and she is not exactly sure what she believes.

“Had God really just opened a door for me to share His sweet gospel? That was exactly what He did. I asked Sandy if I could share with her what I believed, and I began sharing with her about God being the Creator, man being separated from God because of sin, God sending Jesus as the one to reconnect us with Him! As I shared with her about the Bible, she was in awe. ‘You have one of those? You've read that book?’ she asked in amazement. I promised her that I would get her a Bible before I left Asia, which was in only eight days.

“The next week was a blur of God anointing Sandy and my conversations, literally directing our steps, and answering prayers in an instant.

“Sandy and I spent Monday evening together downtown, and the Lord led us to a Christian scroll store. This store was not easily found. I had actually only been to it once before, but it was on this Monday that the Lord led us here. In her native language, I asked the woman who worked in this store if she was a Christian. She said yes, and Sandy told her that I was a Christian, but that she was not. Then Sandy went on to ask the worker how she could become a Christian. The woman was able to share her testimony with Sandy in her own language! As we left the store, the woman had tears in her eyes, and told Sandy that she would love to study the Bible with her in the future.

“Monday and Tuesday I spent trying to get a Bible. In this country, it's not the easiest thing to find a Bible, so on Tuesday night I sat among other missionaries and prayed. I prayed for the Lord to just give me a Bible. I believed that I would not have to look for it; He could just place it into my hands. Right after I was done praying, a missionary from Europe looked at me and said, ‘Kathryn, last week I bought an extra Bible! I thought I might need it for one of my students, but I didn't. You can give it to Sandy!’ I sat in awe as the Lord answered my prayer instantaneously.

“After picking up the Bible on Wednesday, I met Sandy on Thursday to give it to her. As she opened her gift, and turned the pages of the Bible over, she sat in awe. ‘It's so beautiful,’ she proclaimed. Without even reading a word, she was enthralled! It was as if God was throwing Himself off the pages at her. That night we sat in this classroom and went through God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, the Old Testament, New Testament, books, chapters, verses, sin, the Fall, Satan, Psalm 139, and on and on. Sandy had never had much, if any, contact with the Bible. This was a new adventure for her, and she needed some guidance. She left that night so excited to return to her apartment and read more! I gave her homework to read Luke, and we made plans to get together again the next day and discuss it.

“Now, with four days left in China, I met with Sandy on a daily basis. I so badly wanted her to accept Jesus as Lord. Friday, we talked about her questions from the beginning of Luke. The Lord was very gracious to us by bridging the language barrier and allowing us to speak and listen in each of our heart languages. Saturday, we returned to the Christian scroll store, and Sandy was able to ask even more questions about Luke to the woman we had met just a few days earlier. I was also able to take Sandy into the government-run church downtown. She said it was a holy place, and she looked at me and said, ‘I don't know why, but I just want to cry.’ As she said this, her eyes filled up with tears and one slowly ran down her cheek. We sat in the pew and listened to the choir that was practicing off in the corner. I reassured Sandy that it was alright to cry – God was moving in her heart!

“Sunday we met for an English lesson, but we ended by talking about what she was reading. Sandy confessed that Friday she had felt so lonely, but she read the Bible and she wasn't lonely any more. God's Word was giving her peace! He was working! We made plans to meet the next day. It would be my last day in Asia.

“Monday. My last day in Asia. Not only was I upset about having to leave Asia, but I also just wanted to see Sandy ‘get it.’ I wanted to walk with her through more of the book of Luke, but I was leaving in less than 24 hours. We met at 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon at a picnic table in our neighborhood. We began talking about what she was reading in Luke 11 and then she asked a few questions. Suddenly, she turned to me and said, ‘But I don’t understand, who would want to kill Jesus?’ I began explaining some, but then I decided my words were so weak compared to God’s Word, so I brought her back to the crucifixion at the end of Luke. I led her to Luke chapter 23 and had her read this chapter. Her face grew solemn and she asked, ‘But why? Why did Jesus have to die? Was it for us?’ I was taken aback. I told her that He did die for us, and once again I started explaining, but I quickly stopped and sent her back into Luke chapter 24 to read of the resurrection. When she finished reading this, the Lord prompted me that it was time. I needed to dive in. I asked Sandy what God was doing in her heart, and what she was thinking of all this she was reading. She said it was so amazing. Then, as the Lord led, I asked her, ‘Sandy, do you believe this? Do you believe that this really happened? That Jesus is God? Do you believe that Jesus really died for you, so that you could be friends with God?’
Sandy replied, ‘Yes, I do.’
‘No, really Sandy, do you believe that Jesus IS God? That He died for YOU?’
‘Yes, I do believe that!’

“Wow. Words cannot express the feelings I had in this moment. This girl, who I tutored in English one day a week all summer, believed. She believed that Jesus is God. She believed He died for her sins, that she could be friends with God.

“I asked her if she wanted to be a Christian, and she replied, ‘Yes, very much so, very much so I do want to be a Christian!’ Then, right in front of me, Sandy prayed to God, in her heart language. She told God she believed!

“During this week, and the weeks to come, God continued to move. Although I was no longer in Asia, God used the missionaries who were still on the field, as well as my best native friend, Joy*, to disciple Sandy. Sandy meets with Joy on a regular basis and is going through Luke more thoroughly from where we skipped over on my last day in Asia. I receive weekly emails from Sandy about what God is doing in her life, and how He is becoming more and more important to her. She told me she prays for me every day. This girl who had known very little about God, and had not read a Bible until a month ago, is now praying for me from the other side of the world! Although she has undergone persecution from family and classmates, she is standing strong, and now her parents accept her new beliefs. Her joy for the Lord is like no other! My heart aches to be on the opposite side of the world from my new sister, but I know God is working mightily through her.”

*Pseudonyms and stock photo used for security purposes.