When I was growing up, my family had a little garden off the side of our house. We grew tomato plants, a few rows of corn, cucumbers – the works. It was a cool project for me… well, for the first few days, at least. Then it quickly proved to be a lot of hard work: tilling, planting, weeding – and a lot of waiting! It’s one thing to dig up the ground and throw some seeds in it; it’s quite another to see a full harvest grow up in the right timing. But that harvest, and not the hard work, is the whole point of having a garden.
In our work with Campus Target, the story is the same. We’re not looking to just pour hard work into something that isn’t bearing fruit. Over the last five years that CT has been in Asia, we’ve been working hard: trying, experimenting, praying, tweaking, tossing old ideas, introducing new ones, and more. And I’m happy to say that this year, more than any other year, we’re seeing tremendous fruit in our work in Asia!
In the first semester of work this year, over 80 students made a decision to follow the Lord. Even better, most of these students were not one of a dozen to raise their hands at a large party, but nearly all of them made their decision individually and personally. Because we know them one-on-one, our workers have been able to advise them on their next steps right away. And because of that, a number of our friends’ friends have already made a decision – a second generation of believers!
Would you please pray for a few things, both for us and for the team?
1) For continued, long-lasting fruitfulness in the second semester. Please lift up the believers as they come together in groups and grow in the Lord together. Also, the team in Asia wants to reach over 1,000 more students before the school year is over!
2) That the structure of the Stateside office would continue to grow more solid, to allow us to expand the number of people we can take each year. We want to be on the top 100 campuses in Asia by 2020, and to do that we’ll need to be able to recruit about 70 new people four years from now (we currently do 15-20). We want to grow our capacity now so we can handle larger numbers soon!
3) For Buttercup and me as we consider our long-term role in CT. We’re feeling more and more called and equipped for the work here on the Stateside, and we want to walk in wisdom as we decide about where we’ll be over the next few years.
Thank you so much – we’re in this garden together! Thanks for your prayers and support, and please let us know how you’re doing so we can lift you up.
In Him,
Ben