God opens another door

The proclamation of the gospel is a commission that applies to all of God’s churches. As a new mission start up, opportunities for evangelism are always on our mind. We trust that the Lord will produce occasions for the good news to be shared. We do everything that we can to build bridges for outreach opportunities. We pray for them and we excitedly wait for them day after day. When those opportunities arise, it’s hard to contain the excitement.

God has offered many moments for the gospel to be shared in Joplin. Some of those doors were opened as people literally opened their doors during group canvassing. This happened on one occasion during our November group canvass when one of our members came into contact with a woman who had been out of church for some time but looking to get back into the Word. When the member brought up the opportunity to join a Bible Basics class, the new contact was super excited. We planned to meet late Monday nights for class to accommodate her busy work schedule. Everything was going great! The excitement was overwhelming! But just as quickly as it began, it started to dwindle.

It wasn’t long before it became evident that this contact wasn’t planning to attend class. Calls went straight to voicemail. Texts were never answered. Her communication with myself and our member stopped. Things went completely silent the weekend before we were supposed to get class started on Monday. Instead of canceling class, we decided to invite as many people as we could and see if anyone would show up. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting much.

On Monday night I got in the car and drove over to a member’s house who was hosting the Bible Basics class. When I arrived, I walked downstairs expecting an empty room. To my surprise, the room was completely full. There was excitement and conversation. The room was full of members and non-members that were eager and ready to grow together in God’s Word.

Kannika

One of the first non-members that I met that night was a woman named Kannika Killion. As we introduced ourselves, Kannika asked me two questions: “What’s your name, and what do you do for work?” I said, “My name is Jordan, and I’m actually a pastor. I’m going to attempt to teach this class.” We had a good laugh about it and we knew we were off to a good start.

Kannika approached Bible Basics with a unique perspective. Kannika was not born in Joplin. She is from Thailand. She met her husband, Dana, as he was traveling through. The two moved to the U.S. and now live right outside Joplin. But her uniqueness does not end there. When Kannika entered the class, the Bible and its message were totally foreign to her. She heard about Jesus but had no idea who he was or what he has done. But from the very start, Kannika had such a passion to learn more about the Bible. She never missed a class and was always the first one to show up. She now knows where all the books of the Bible are and can call out page numbers for the rest of class very quickly. She is one class away from completing Bible Basics. Once COVID cases begin to go down in our area, she wants to be baptized! I also sat down with Kannika to talk about Bible Basics in order to see what she liked, didn’t like, or what she would change. She immediately said, “The only thing that I would change is longer lessons and more lessons. I want to know more.” This is after Kannika has been meeting for six months of class. She can’t get enough of the beautiful gospel.

COVID has changed ministry for all churches in a number of ways. It has closed many doors and presented a number of challenges in regard to sharing the gospel. We know that long after COVID is gone, other challenges and obstacles will arise. So, what can we do? Trust. Trust that the Lord will overcome. Trust that God will continue to open doors that we didn’t know existed. Trust that the gospel will continue to spread to the ends of the earth.

Written by Jordan Bence, home missionary at The Vine Lutheran Church in Joplin, Missouri

 

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