Ministry with My Mom
It was so life-giving for me to attend Vision Conference with my mom. I (Naomi) absolutely love befriending and sharing the gospel with international students. Pictured above is a photo that my mom and I took with two Indian students that we struck up a conversation with. I’m so thankful that my mom could attend Vision and learn more about their culture (and other cultures too!). She is excited to befriend and minister to internationals at Colorado State University.
My Small Group
I really enjoyed my time leading a small group of seekers in the Multi-Nations track. It was so fun to get to know these young women. They are pictured above (left to right) Kaeum, Jenny, Juri, and Miho.
Kaeum was very open to the spiritual things. She is Korean but grew up in China, so she had never heard the gospel before coming to America. At Vision, Kaeum did a lot of listening and processing.
Jenny is from China. She was very beholden to atheism and even some buddhist ideas, but was open to listen. At one point she verbalized that she was making excuses to not believe in God.
Juri is Japanese. Of all my girls, her heart was the most open and receptive to the gospel. But she missed several discussion sessions because of sickness. The staff from her campus told me about similar things happening, that she was very open, but “circumstances” were stopping them from connecting with her.
Miho is a member of Shoka Gakkai, a Japanese Buddhist cult. She is in very deep and holds strong Buddhist beliefs. At the beginning of the conference, she was promoting Shoka Gakkai, but praise God she backed down and started to absorb the message of Christianity.
Gospel Sharing Night
My favorite moment of the conference is pictured in the header (right). We paired a Christian student with a seeker and had them go through a gospel presentation. Joke (pronounced Joe-Kay), a believer from Nigeria, and Kaeum had a wonderful conversation! Kaeum said “she really helped me understand a lot.” Joke shared that she had no idea there were so many people in the world who had never heard about Jesus. She wants to go back to her campus and continue sharing the gospel!
During the gospel sharing night, we, as staff, sit on the sidelines and pray for the seekers to accept Christ. We were so blessed to see God answer prayer before our very eyes as a female student from Africa led another student named Gerard, from Myanmar, to Christ! What a joy!
Mayumi
My friend, Mayumi, (who lives in Atlanta; pictured above) became a believer through my first summer mission trip to Osaka in 1997! She now leads a Japanese discipleship ministry. She came to Vision to share her testimony with Japanese students.
A seeker named Natsumi approached Mayumi, and they had wonderful gospel discussion. Natsumi is very close to accepting Christ! Mayumi was also able to connect with two Believers, Eriko and Kaede. Kaede accepted Christ here in America and had literally never met another Japanese believer.
Praise Reports
- Vision was life-giving for me
- Zack had a great time with the kids while I was gone (despite a few tears)
- My mom was trained in int’l student ministry
- Joke (from Nigeria) grasped the importance of sharing the gospel
- Gerard (from Myanmar) accepted Christ.
- I also heard of a Chinese gal getting baptized and three South Asian students accepting Christ!
Prayer Requests
- Open doors for my mom to volunteer with Bridges at CSU
- God would save Kaeum
- Jenny stop making excuses to not believe in God
- The enemy could not hold Juri back from hearing and accepting the gospel
- Miho set free from the strongholds of Shoka Gakkai
- Joke would become a life-long laborer for Christ
- Natsumi would accept Christ
- Kaede would be plugged in with Japanese fellowship and grow strong in her faith