A little after 3 am, I stumbled out of bed after getting only a few hours sleep. After throwing on some clothes, I drove over to the meeting point. Over the next several minutes, the group began to take shape. Luggage was packed away. A number of selfies and group pictures were taken. The team of eleven young men and women piled into a few different vehicles and headed to the airport. That was the scene just a month ago as we launched a new team to Asia.
Being a part of sending out a new team of world changers in August is probably my most favorite part of my job. As I drove three of the men in my car, it began to sink in with all of them what was about to happen. In a few days, they would be walking onto a college campus and sharing the Gospel with students who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ.
One of those young men captured exactly what this next year is all about for the team. He remarked, “I can’t wait to tell students about Jesus.” He nailed it!
This year’s team is already seeing the fruit of their efforts. In the first two weeks, they have already seen a dozen Asian college students put their faith in Christ. That’s about one new soul for the Kingdom per day.
The eleven we sent out a month ago are not the only ones that we have sent to Asia. We have a group of five young adults from Mexico and one from Malaysia that will be doing the same work in the other city we work in.
But now that the team is in Asia, it’s like there is an empty nest. All of us here have had a part in preparing them to go. Now I get to sit back like a proud parent and read all the stories of what God will do through them this next year.
Now that the excitement of sending a new team out has passed, it’s time to find more laborers for next year. Our fall season will be busy as we have numerous young adults we will be sharing with at campus groups and conferences. And starting with next year’s team, our teams will go to Asia for one semester instead of two for many strategic reasons.