Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story – those he redeemed from the hand of the foe.
Psalm 107:2 (NIV)
At our World Mission Prayer League Board of Directors meeting in October, I presented a report that provided examples and stories of the impact of our work as it relates to the goals of WMPL. The stories are written by our WMPL workers who experience God’s faithfulness in orchestrating events that lead to a harvest. According to our theme verse, when Jesus appointed seventy two (some versions say seventy) harvest workers from among his disciples, he said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2 ESV) It’s the Lord’s harvest and is about believers living out their calling and sharing the Good News.
The following testimony from one of our workers in a closed access country is a harvest story “from the redeemed” who is sharing about his friend who was redeemed by the Lord and spiritually delivered “from the hand of the foe.” In light of the context, I will not share names nor places. Our worker traveled to meet a Muslim friend who had asked for teachings from the Bible. The friend introduced our worker to a group of recording artists, and he had more opportunities to share the Good News in four days than in the previous year. One young man our worker met turned out to be a local language teacher, so our worker asked this man to be his tutor. Within about a week, however, this man was diagnosed with a stage 3 brain tumor, an awful shock for someone in his 20s.
Our worker began praying with him, and he asked for healing for his soul and body. When the hospital sent him home to die, our worker struggled with the emotions of the moment but encouraged this friend to call on the name of Jesus, which he did. Despite criticism from people around him, his friend began reading the Bible and proclaimed that he was about to see Isa (Jesus). His mother is so thankful to our worker for what he has shared. Our worker sees this involvement as an opportunity to disciple the entire family so all of them can experience the love of Jesus. He is asking others to join him in prayer for this family.
When we commit to praying, God’s miraculous interventions occur. When we pray to the Lord of the Harvest, we can expect God to use us in spite of our plans.
Another story I shared was from workers in Africa, which they titled, “A God-Ordained Mix-up!” One Sunday they took a wrong turn and ended up in a church they weren’t supposed to attend. A student service was held as all adult congregants were at another church to participate in the gathering our workers were supposed to attend. They write that what was purely an accidental detour was actually directed by the Lord. The new connection soon led to launching a discipleship program, several students were saved and brought out of bondage, and many have now become church leaders. Our workers are witnessing how God is drawing many students to himself and understanding they are privileged to be God’s instruments. The Lord uses us despite our mistakes and directs our paths in ways that glorify him.
God is the centerpiece of our prayers and moves mountains, including our hearts, which can be our biggest challenge. We can think it’s about us too often, and God has a way of working to show he is in charge. That’s what these stories reveal. As our workers in Africa testify through their story and several verses mentioned here, when we commit our work to the Lord, he establishes our plans. (see Proverbs 16:3) It is encouraging that the harvest worker and the hearer have their plans established by the Lord. Again, our workers in Africa remind us, “The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” (Proverbs 20:24 NLT) They “went with the flow” and saw God transform the hearts of many young people. As we listen to the Lord as an organization and seek his will, let’s not be surprised when the Lord redirects us. We should expect to bear eternal fruit when we step out in faith at the Lord’s prompting, even if the outcome is different than we thought it would be!