Mission News: World at Our Door

1050, 4, 95, 36, 25
These are not lottery numbers but represent the amazing things God is doing in the ministry of reaching internationals by Fred and Dana André, through their mission, Bridges International.

• 4 conferences for internationals at the end of December 2004: Chinese, Middle Eastern (13 nations represented), Japanese, Indian
• 95 seekers among the 329 international delegates
• 36 Chinese who surrendered to Christ and placed their faith in Him
• 25 hours of training (13 instruction and 12 hands-on ministry) for student workers learning about ministry to internationals 1050 internationals attended an outreach event at which Michael Chang shared the gospel

Each conference's four days was spent in Bible teaching with delegates grouped by language or cultural background. One evening, "World Vision Night," brought all the nationalities together to focus on the Great Commission. One Indian student said, "World Vision Night gave me a sense of the vision the Lord has given us - what's happening in different parts of the world and what is still needed. It fired me up to pray and help."

After the planned part of the meeting ended, many joined in a spontaneous worship time that lasted beyond midnight. An American volunteer observed, "Worshipping the Lord with people from different countries was powerful. It gave me a glimpse of what is going to happen when we all meet in heaven." It wasn't just worship that kept conference delegates awake long into the morning. One Chinese couple struggled spiritually until 4:00 am when they prayed with Christians to trust Jesus as their Savior.

Many delegates came never having heard of Bridges. One of those, a doctoral student from India, said, "The training helped me put my stay in the United States in perspective, I am not here just to get an education but to be used by God. I would love to be involved with Bridges to help plan the next conference."

A student from Egypt, who had found faith during his teen years, had watched his parents suffer huge financial losses because of his witness. Nathan shared, "I see God's hand in my life day after day. Getting in contact with other believers encouraged me to dig deep into the Word to answer the questions of non-believers."

A Moroccan woman practiced the dominant religion of her culture, but did not sense a true relationship with God. She found truth and experienced harsh criticism from her countrymen. "People tell me I deserve to be killed. At one point I was paralyzed with fear, but God delivered me from fear." She was encouraged to see God working through the time spent at the conference. "God is blessing the work, so why not do more?"

Fred and Dana are here today to encourage Central people to become involved with internationals who are on campuses near the church. They will meet with anyone interested after each worship service in Trinity.