Excursions on walking trails are ways some young adults and college students in Central Asia spend time with friends. A group from First Baptist Church Jonesboro, Georgia walked miles with new Central Asian friends in an effort to build intentional relationships.
The pastor warned the mission team they might not verbally share the gospel with Central Asians during their partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB). The young adults from a church in Georgia couldn’t believe their ears. Evangelism was something they worked hard at doing in their diverse community. They trained for it. They practiced. They shared.
Andre wasn’t sure how he felt about the warning. Ever since Jesus transformed his life in 2021, he openly shared the gospel with everyone he met. He knew in Central Asia there were people who had never heard of Jesus Christ. They could die without hearing about Christ.
“How will they know if we don’t share?” Andre wondered.
In this culture, the pastor explained, sharing the gospel starts with showing it. He challenged the young adult team to be intentional in their relationships with the Central Asian college students they worked with. For the men on the trip, this meant each concentrating on one person and building a relationship. For the women, they worked as a small group to accomplish the same.
The young adults from Georgia hung out with the Central Asian college students. They hiked, laughed, ate meals and talked. A Muslim student whom Andre connected with took him to tour an Orthodox church, thinking it was the same as Andre’s back in Georgia.
Andre thought explaining how this church was different from his own was the perfect opening to share his gospel belief. The student stopped him and bluntly said, “I don’t know you well enough to talk about that.”
That’s when the concept of “intentionality” clicked.
“They need to see the gospel through our actions,” Andre said. “Once there’s a mutual trust, then we share with words.”
Alanis took Andre’s experience to heart. In the women’s group, her team worked hard to show love and ask questions about each student, to really get to know them. Days later when the women toured the same Orthodox church, Alanis and teammate Sarai prayed for an opportunity to show the gospel.
“I wanted to give my best to God,” Alanis said, even when that meant stepping back and listening to the college women talk about their own religious beliefs. This time, after days of building relationships, the women asked Alanis and Sarai about Christianity. One woman took Alanis’s hand and went to a corner of the church to talk privately. “That’s where she allowed me to share the whole gospel with her.”
“That whole experience was really impactful for me,” Alanis added. “I was able to see how God moves through our actions and relationships.”
Andre saw it too when his new Central Asian friend pulled him off to the side near the end of the mission trip. After listening to story after story about his family and life, the college student looked the American in the eye and acknowledged it was time for Andre to verbally share his faith. They spent hours talking and continued the discussion via text.
Learning that intentionality often leads to gospel shares was something Sarai said she and others on the Georgia team needed to experience firsthand.
“I learned to not just speak words but to also live out the gospel,” Sarai said. “If our generation is going to impact the nations, then we must live like we truly love Christ. That means your heart wants what His heart wants, and you live it out in actions and deeds.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Sue Sprenkle writes for the IMB.)
