You just never know....

It is so easy to think that you didn't make a difference. It is so easy to think that supporting short term missionaries is a waste of time and money. But today I learned that you just never know the difference you are making.

I met a man today in India. We sat for a long time and discussed some work he is doing. I've known of the projects he has in the Delhi area for some time and I've even visited a couple of the projects. We spent some time talking about budgets and needs for the upcoming years. Once the discussion wound down he leaned over and in a quieter tone said I have one more project I'd like to tell you about.

He began by telling me his story. For the blog we'll call him "Mr. M". Mr. M was born into a Muslim family. His father was a Muslim priest and well know within the Muslim faith in India. At a young age Mr. M was sent away to learn the Koran. He spent years away from home studying and deepening his faith in the Muslim religion. He grew to be a man and obtained a job as a police officer. One night he set up a road block and demanded money from every vehicle as they passed through his road block. One car that night was missionaries visiting India. They handed him a bible instead of the money. He brought the bible home and it sat in his house. 2 years later he opened the bible for the first time and read the gospel of John. He tells me that for a year he continued to think and remember what he read. One year later after reading the gospel of John and 3 years after someone had handed him a bible instead of bribe money he fell to his knees and asked Jesus into his heart.

Mr. M now has MANY social ministries (vocation schools, orphanages, primary schools in slum areas, relief centers, etc.) but the most amazing part is he has planted close to 700 home churces. There are almost 6000 Muslims that have been converted to the Christian faith and are attending a home church because of the work that Mr. M does. All because one missionary visiting India handed him a bible instead of a bribe.

We can never know the plans God has for our work. We must be faithful and courageous for God! That missionary will never know the unbelievable change that one bible has made to India.