The following report was written by Elis P. She is an evangelist working among her people, one of the largest unreached people groups in Southeast Asia. In this report, she describes ministering to people through the ordinary, often difficult, times in their lives. Elis demonstrates how those gifted in evangelism operate — they look for any and every opportunity to point other people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As you can read below, this requires sacrifice and humility to wash others’ feet. However, it is through humbling oneself that the evangelist is given the influence to speak God’s word.
The Lord Jesus continues to strengthen my heart with his true and faithful word. This month he did so from Romans 12:12; through God’s grace, I continue
“to rejoice in hope, to be patient in tribulation, and to be constant in prayer.”
How comforting it is to be loved, reminded, and uplifted by his unchanging, eternal truth. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for giving me wonderful opportunities and sweet fellowship to celebrate Christ’s birth with my brothers and sisters in Christ from the team in another city. It indeed brought such joy and encouragement to my heart. I’ve seen God’s goodness and faithfulness when I left the village where I have been living, and moved to the city.
I’m still serving a family in the village, however. I had heard that the mother in the family was still sick and she could not move her arms and legs. She had fallen in her room when she was going to the bathroom. It caused bruising on the edges of her eyes and forehead when she hit the floor. I decided to take care of her for the next three nights in a row. As usual, I always prayed and read God’s word before going to sleep and after waking up. I did it when I was with her too. It made her uncomfortable, and she asked me not to worry about taking care of her again. Her sister told me that what I did indeed disturbed her because she didn’t want me to read God’s Word among her Muslim family.
One night she shouted to ask help to the bathroom, but no one heard. She finally forced herself to go there and fell again. She also had big ulcers on her feet, and it made her feel terrible pain when she stood up. I offered to continue helping her, but she refused since she didn’t want to bother me. No matter how many times she has ignored my help, I am always willing, and I helped wash her family’s clothes. Finally, she accepted my aid once again. At night, she said honestly to me that she felt scared and sinful when I read the word of God and prayed in front of her. She heard and knew so much from her daughter (who has passed away) and from me about how Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior who has taken away man’s sin. However, she was too afraid and ashamed to show her faith or confess the truth among her Muslim children. I encouraged her by God’s Spirit; I invited her that night to pray together and to ultimately give all her cares and worries to the Lord Jesus because he cares so much for her life.
Meanwhile, another woman with a disabled daughter was staying in my house, and she did not want to go back to her own. One day she came to her daughter’s house, and her daughter was furious because her daughter had grown to like reading God’s word. So, her daughter came to my house very angry, and it extremely frightened me. While being bombarded with so many heavy burdens, I took time to worship and pray to the Sovereign God. I praised God for his word and was fully comforted, acknowledging that the Lord Jesus Himself had chosen me among my extended family to know Him. His hands alone had brought me to settle securely in my new city, he alone had chosen this dear lady to be a believer, he alone had revealed many healings and restorations around me, and he alone is an all-knowing and faithful God who helps me when I am unable to carry the burdens of life alone. I called upon the Lord Jesus to give me steadfastness and wisdom that I may continue to magnify Christ, and I may be salt and the light of the world among the lost.
I received a call from my niece that my sister was hospitalized and was in the ICU room because she had a stroke. I immediately called my niece and asked her to put the speakerphone in her mom’s ear so that I could pray for her sickness in the name of Jesus Christ. My niece refused to do it because she was afraid my prayer would be heard by all of her Muslim aunts and the other families in ICU. I convinced her not to be afraid at all but acknowledge that if it is God’s will, the living power of Jesus Christ may work mightily in this hard situation. I boldly explained to her that we all must believe that the Lord Jesus is the only great physician and doctor, above all doctors, who are able to do miraculous things far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. Praise God. Finally, my niece followed what I asked her and let me pray in the name of the Lord Jesus for my Muslim sister. Not long after I prayed, my sister became conscious and could speak well again.
Lastly, the Lord Jesus answered some of my prayers. My sister was healed and could return home from the hospital without experiencing numbness in part of her body as most people do who have had a stroke experience. The small operation that the mother in the village had went smoothly so that she could walk a little and slowly. I still pray and wait on the Lord’s gracious mercy for my friend’s daughters and granddaughter. Pray for the Lord to come, seek and save their lives and for God’s mercy. Pray that the work of the Lord Jesus to save the lost may graciously be revealed in the villages where I serve, and within my own family.
Timothy began working for HeartCry in 2015 and assists with the work in Asia. He is married, has eight children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
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