Planting Seeds

It was clear that they were not interested in the gospel. The ACTION team had just shared the story of Jesus in the home of a Muslim family in Central Asia, but there had been no response. The team left feeling discouraged, but hopeful. They trusted that God would produce fruit from the seeds of the gospel that they had planted.

Over the next two years, God grew a hunger for Himself in the hearts of this family. Their daughter even went to a church during this time, pleading, “Please give me a Bible.” She was desperate to read God’s word and to learn more about Jesus, but the church had no Bibles.

One night she had a dream about Jesus. In her dream, Jesus came to her and told her, “Wait for Me, I’m coming, and I’m going to give you a Bible.”

Two days after her dream, another ACTION team came to her family’s home and gave her a Bible. Her whole family was hungry to hear the gospel, and this time they were open to receiving Jesus! They told the team about the group of Canadians that had come to their home two years earlier and had shared the gospel with them. This team realized that the family was talking about the previous ACTION team who had planted the seeds of the gospel but had seen no fruit at that time.

God used the seeds planted by the first ACTION team to place a desire to know Him in the hearts of this family, and another ACTION team had the privilege of seeing God draw these people to Himself. Over two years, God had prepared their hearts to receive Him and now the entire family was eager to learn more about Jesus and to be discipled by the team.

While the ACTION team was still in this area, they invited some other families from the valley who were interested in hearing the gospel. The ACTION team hosted a church service in this family’s home, teaching the Bible and sharing the messages that God had laid on their hearts for this community. It was exciting for them to see how eager these families were to be taught about Jesus and the life that He gives.

Praise God for drawing this family to Himself, and pray that their lives will be a light to other families in their community. Pray that the other seeds that were planted by this ACTION team during their time in Central Asia will bear much fruit as God grows a desire for Himself in the hearts of these people.

"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." – Mark 4:26-29