DMM: No Small Disturbance

 

 
“About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way.”
-The Book of Acts, Chapter 19

No Small Disturbance

 
There came no small disturbance concerning the Way of Isa Al Masih that day in the heart of Ibu (Mrs.) Jawaria. This SaSumBi woman considered the long journey from a past full of unmet longings, as a faithful adherent to Islam. 
 
Then came the day Ibu Jawaria was introduced to another type of SaSumBi woman. A woman who was radically different and quite unlike anyone else she had ever known from an Islamic background. This other woman claimed to be a follower of Isa Al Masih.      
                                                                     
“How could that possibly be so?," Ibu Jawaria marveled.
 
Ati, her new friend, was meeting with Ibu Jawaria and sharing Discovery Bible Stories regarding the Old Testament Prophets and Jesus. Ibu Jawaria was being trained by Ati to take these stories, one at a time, and then facilitate her household to gather and discuss them. 
 
As a patterned response, Ati would facilitate her family in asking the following questions related to the stories they were learning;

►What does this story teach us about the character of God?
►What does this story teach us about man? 
►In what specific ways will you obey God from what you are learning in this passage of Scripture? When do you plan on applying these truths? 
►When and with what other household/friends' group will you personally share this story so that others too can know God and His ways?  

 
Over the several times of discovering God's Word, alongside her family, Ibu Jawaria felt the sweet release of tears that flowed as she began to see the heart of God. 

As a SaSumBi Muslim she had yearned to know if this Allah whom she sought could be known. She had tried to live in a righteous way according to Islam.  She had come to realize, to her frustration, that the many ceremonial outward cleansings required by Islam could not offset the sins she continued to commit against Allah in her heart.  As she reflected honestly, there were numerous times she had and would hurt others. She felt like one who had been invited to know Allah and yet was always separated by a great chasm between she and a holy and just God.  

She felt disturbed and quite undone. 

Ibu Jawaria’s longings met God’s way. After her household reached the part of the New Testament Discovery Bible Study Storying set, her entire family finally understood. They understood that only through Isa Al Masih could forgiveness and true life be found. The reality of Allah’s truth bore deeply into their collective as well as individual understanding. 
 
At that moment, Ibu Jawaria was no longer disturbed. Ibu Jawaria along with her entire household realized the Way to Salvation and life in abundance today and for eternity was found in Isa Al Masih alone. They prayed a simple prayer of commitment to Christ, turning from their own ways, and gave their lives to Isa Al Masih that day.  
 
Ibu Jawaria’s husband told her recently, “you’re really bold in telling others about Isa Al Masih.” To which she replied, “of course I am bold, this is the truth!” 
 
Ibu Jawaria has exclaimed to Ati how she longs to become like the Apostle Paul. Ibu Jawaria’s heart cry is to become one who loves their life not unto death and one who proclaims the glory of Isa Al Masih boldly. She and her husband are presently studying the Word of God on-goingly with their oikos (household) as a reproducing House Fellowship.
 
 Pray with us and local disciple makers to:

• Reproduce Laborers for the harvest. 
• Launch a social media campaign to find and reproduce laborers from among local believers. We are asking God to identify and filter those whom He would raise up, to equip and coach to be Timothys/Timothy-etts.   (2 Timothy 2:2) We are looking for those who are Holy Spirit led dissatisfied believers from both Muslim backgrounds as well as from traditional church backgrounds.
• See more rapid multiplication of Discovery Groups that are meeting throughout the 9 counties of the SaSumBi to come to Christ together.
• See the increased multiplication of house fellowships of baptized disciples.

DMM: Finding Ina

                                         Longing to Be Found

 

 

 "For it is not you who speak, but {it is} the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” - Matthew 10:20

 

                                  Ibu Ina—A Person of Peace 

                                      (Luke 10, Matthew 10) 

 

 

Devastation awaited restoration. Ibu (Mrs.) Ina lingered for a bit as we concluded our art therapy sessions for villagers traumatized by the recent 8.0 earthquake. The exacting lines sculpting her leathery skinned face belied the harshness of life in this rubber-tree rich area of Southeast Asia. I felt led to ask her privately if she was a reader, to which she lit up. I asked her if she had ever read of the beauty and splendor of Isa Al Masih (Jesus) from the Injil (the Gospels)? 

 

Animatedly, Ibu Ina confided her desire to hear more of the life of Isa Al Masih. She shared that, years before, a man with a Muslim background came to their village and declared himself a follower of Isa Al Masih. Ibu Ina recalled having studied a glimpse of the life of Christ through a brief discussion of the Gospels with him. She noted that many others in her village had gathered with this man at the time. However, as Ibu Ina commented, that opportunity to learn more of Isa Al Masih seemed a very long and lonely stretch of lifetime ago.

Reflections to Ponder 

 

►Picture yourself in the same conversation as the above. If desiring to see a Kingdom Movement (CPM/DMM) begun among this Muslim Unreached People Group, what would be your next move?

 

Heavenly Father, cause the SaSumBi laborers to find the Persons of Peace who will lead them to the households of Muslims whom you are bringing into Your Kingdom. Cause each of the laborers to walk in the humility of Christ, while appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit in all endeavors for Your glory. In Jesus name. Amen.

  

 

DMM-A Conduit to God's Heart

 A Conduit 

"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” - Rev. 12:11

 

 

                                                                            Nella (1968-2002)

 

Nella retained few illusions about ministry among Muslims.  Despite multiple efforts to establish a beachhead for Christ among the various villages she befriended through the years, there remained one final act of surrenderedness. 

 

Nella was newly 34 years old at the time of her death. As I think back to the moment my husband and I held her limp body while she extracted her last breath, God’s faithful ways come flooding to my mind. I recall how we met her in 1995 while we were still living in another region of Southeast Asia. At the same time as we were preparing to move to the SaSumBi area, the Lord had also placed the same Unreached People Group upon Nella’s heart.  

 

In preparation for ministering to the SaSumBi, Nella and I began meeting weekly.  Nella desired to learn the finer points of dialoguing with Muslims about Christ in a contextualized way. Resultantly, I began to take her out to engage Muslim women in order to help model this process. My husband and I continued to encourage her to join us in launching a Kingdom Movement (CPM/DMM) among a neighboring UPG in the SaSumBi area. 

 

As we began our efforts in that new area, the Lord graciously provided a way for Nella to enter villages as a kindergarten teacher. She needed a legitimate reason to be in these places as they were, and still are, almost exclusively Muslim. Outsiders are typically frowned upon and suspicions run high toward those outsiders who attempt to share Christ with them.  

 

After seven years and three foiled attempts to open a kindergarten, Nella continued to persevere. That is, until she died of pulmonary edema and other complications. Her lungs filled with fluid and she slowly suffocated to death before our eyes. The minimal medical help available was ineffective in treating her condition. 

 

The Lord had used Nella in my own life. Through the many years of coming alongside, equipping, and loving her, I was the one impacted by her adoration of the Savior.  Is not that often the case? Those whom we disciple, often times, in turn become conduits of God’s blessing in our own lives. 

 

In reflecting upon her death, I was struck by how much the Lord desires us to learn to love through His power alone. Surrender of everything God has blessed us with can be a joy, but ultimately it is the choice to obey Him out of love that matters most.  

 

Your pain has changed me

Your dream inspires

Your face a memory

Your hope, a fire

Your courage asks me, “What I’m afraid of?”

Your courage asks me, “What I am made of ?” 

“And what I know of Love?”

“And what I know of God?”-Sara Groves

Reflections to Ponder

►Pray for workers among the SaSumBi and new house fellowships to increase in the deep abiding love for the worthiness of Jesus, no matter the cost. 

 

Father, thank You that you have promised overcoming faith by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony for those focused upon the SaSumBi. Cause their hearts to move more and more into the lifestyle of loving their lives not unto death, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.