Our friend Wesley and his family have been hosting an annual crusade in S. Asia in an area where they have been ministering for years. They had invited us last year, but the timing did not work out. But, this year they extended the invitation to us to come Feb. 8 – 10th and we were excited to be able to join with a team from the USA to be part of the “Jathra” which means “Gathering”. The crusade has grown to be a massive undertaking that happens over 3 days with 5,000+ people attending and camping on-site after traveling far distances to pray, worship and seek the Lord together. Wesley’s heart was that the Word would be taught and we were honored by the opportunity to share the Word.
Sharing With the Masses
People gathered under tents (like an old-time revival meeting), dressed in colorful attire, sitting on the ground, eager to hear and hungry to learn the Word. The place seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere with dessert surrounding on all sides and yet truckloads of people flooded into the grounds of the crusade. The masses kept coming and coming like nothing we had ever seen before in Asia.
Bond taught from the books of Genesis and Revelation and challenged believers not to waste their lives, but to serve God with their whole heart. Bond has been burdened to share the Gospel and he was able to do just that during the morning meeting and from the main stage. The crusade is not only for Christians, but many bring friends who are not believers, which was an answered prayer to see people making a profession of faith for the first time.
Even in the midst of a massive amount of people, a lot of times we find ourselves ministering to the ONE! God is so personal, He knows our name, the hairs on our head, our struggles, needs, weaknesses, strengths and even in a group of people…He loves each one of us individually.
Heather was able to be a part of the first Women’s Meeting held during the crusade. In all of the years, they have never had a time where only the ladies gathered together and had a woman teach the Word. Heather was assigned a seasoned translator, but just minutes before she was informed of a change that “S” (who had never translated before) would be translating. They stepped to the side of the stage and prayed together before the session, but had no time to talk before it began.
Heather taught about the love of God and the importance of guarding our minds from believing the lies that keep us from receiving that love and walking in God’s plan. Heather shared in English, “often times as women we believe the lie that we are not enough, not worthy, not going to be used and we don’t have the training” and as truth was being proclaims… tears began streaming from her translators eyes. Heather went on to share, “But our confidence is not in ourselves but in Christ and through Him we are enough, worthy, loved, called, used and God wants to do great things through each of our lives.” It was in that moment that Heather realized that it is not about the masses, but that night was about the ONE who said YES at the last minute to stand by her side to translate, who had been believing the lies and because she said YES she was being used powerfully for God’s glory. God ministered His Word so personally in that moment. S wiped the tears from her eyes, the ladies cheered and she boldly pushed through the tears to proclaim the truth in step with Heather as they read scripture together and prayed for each woman to believe and be used greatly. S shared with Heather at the end of the night that she lives in a home where she is forbidden to go to church, she has endured persecution and has been repeatly been told the exact lies that she was being asked to translate that night to all of the ladies. God met “S” and ministered to the ONE!
Semester is in Full Swing
We were able to share about the colleges at the crusade and we are thrilled this semester to have 17 students on campus in S. Asia (south campus) where we are currently serving, 17 students at the central campus, a handful of students at the north campus and 20 students in the neighboring country in N. Asia. All of the students at the various campuses throughout Asia are learning and growing in God’s Word on a daily basis, being equipped for the ministry, for church planting and to effect all of Asia for eternity. God is raising up an army of men and women who are sold out for Christ. We ask that you pray for each student, teacher, leader, and for our family to be faithful to the call to invest, disciple and teach the next generation of Pastors and Leaders here.
With all of our hearts, thank you for making it possible to minister in Asia to the masses and to the ONE! Each of you is loved dearly by God and also by us.
With Love from S. Asia,
Bond, Heather and Breanna Gaona