Everyone has a place and role in the Great Commission. God wants to use you for beautiful things! Here are some things you can do right now to start reaching the nations whoever you are, wherever you are.
What works against you in grasping Christ's love for you? When I think about this question, my answers create a long list, sadly. My sin, fear of rejection, not being good enough, not being faithful enough, being a burden, seeing and experiencing broken relationships, feelings of shame.
During my time with Cafe 1040 in Europe, our group navigated the city through a "buddy system," ensuring no one ventured out alone. When a teammate sought a companion for a rendezvous with a girl she had met at a local Korean Festival, I volunteered without hesitation, completely unaware of what God would do from this encounter.
Have you ever wanted to sit down with a Cafe 1040 grad over coffee and hear about their experiences? Each of them has been impacted in a significant way by our overseas mentorship program and has many stories to tell.
Here’s the thing: the missions world needs you. Teams need you. Families need you. You are a force, a breath of fresh air, a teammate and a friend.You are the glue that holds a team together. You are a gap-filler that makes a healthy, well-rounded, high-capacity team. You are uninhabited by challenge and change. You are free to obey passionately when He calls.
3.1 billion people are in such a dark place they offer up gifts to a god, yet they haven't heard that they can receive the ultimate gift of life. The gift that doesn't require a bell or a giant mountain top temple... He just wants our hearts. He wants all of us for His glory. He already won the victory.
Our transformed lives are the product of an infinitely loving and gracious Father who seeks us out and calls us to himself. The power of our Creator, who made all things and in him all things hold together, the power of our shepherd who restores our souls, and who leads us by his voice, the power of God incarnate, who pardoned our iniquity by dying on the cross, providing a way for us to be made righteous before God, and giving us access to a real relationship with a perfect and holy God—there are so many more things to talk about in terms of increasing enjoyment in God and how his Word is fully true, alive, and does not return void.
But there is rest for the fearful, hope for the hopeless, and sight for the blind in Jesus Christ. I'm encouraged knowing I have a relationship with the One who casts out fear, who is my eternal hope, and who gives me a vision and the assurance of my future. This motivates me to pray without ceasing, fervently asking God to draw these lost sheep to him.
Join me.
We haven’t been able to run an overseas program for a few semesters now, but some of the lessons you can learn overseas you can also use stateside whether you’re waiting to go long-term, working to mobilize your church or school, or learning about unreached people for the first time. We wanted to share something one of our students from a previous semester learned on our program!
GIVE HOPE is Cafe 1040’s annual giving campaign. Your role in telling the story of Jesus where it has never been told can have double the impact in this year’s campaign. Every dollar given up to $140,000 by December 31 will be matched. Click here to learn more!
Written by Cafe 1040 Overseas Staff
God sent a rainbow after the storm as a sign of his covenant and promise with Noah to never wipe out the earth again. Rainbows remind us of God's promises and the hope we have in Him. Recently I was reading the story of Noah with my children and realized while reading the above verse that God placed His rainbow IN the clouds. It wasn't after the clouds or on a bright sunny day, but IN the clouds. That simple word “in” brought tears to my eyes as I reflected on how this season of ministry has been a season of trusting God in the midst of the “clouds” covering His eternal promises. We believe that the Great Commission is not just one verse found at the end of the book of Matthew, but is a command by God found in the whole Bible. His heart is for ALL people of ALL nations! One day we will be gathered around the throne of God with people from every nation, every tribe, and every language worshipping Him (Revelation 7:9).
One thing I’ve learned in nearly six years of living and doing full-time ministry in North Africa is that Jesus was at work LONG before I entered the scene and my job is not to come with an agenda to reach all the people, but to walk in obedience and always be ready to give an answer for the hope I have in Him.
We have seen His promises and we have so much to celebrate with you!
WE HAVE A NEW SISTER IN NORTH AFRICA!
Three years ago, we were in desperate need of a new language teacher for the students. We reached out to a local friend for help and a few days later he arrived at our house with one of his students from the local university that he felt would be a good fit for us. In my human mind, I had no idea how we would find a replacement for the amazing teacher we previously had, but God knew. Immediately when I met S* I was captivated by the joy that exuded from her and the peace that I felt when she opened her mouth. I only knew this young woman long enough to kiss her cheeks (Arabic greeting) but could tell that Jesus was at work in her life.
Semester after semester while doing life alongside the students we learned more and more about S* and her story. She became increasingly more curious about Jesus as each student group revealed more of Christ’s characteristics to her. After years of student group after student group playing the roles of Paul and Apollos (1 Corinthians 3) in S*’s life, the time came when what God had grown in her heart was ripe for harvest.
On October 28th, 2019 our dear friend S* sat in our living room and placed her hope and trust in Jesus!
After we said “amen” she started sharing her testimony with me again. She had first heard of Jesus when she was five and her uncle called her whole family to gather around the TV to laugh and mock at a former Muslim man sharing about the hope he had found in Jesus on national TV. As a five-year-old this message of hope penetrated her heart and she never forgot it, even though she had no one she to ask more questions about it to. She rejected Islam when she was 12 because the god of Islam scared her, but she always knew that there was a God. She believed that God was not scary, but loving and kind. Through her revelations and study of the Word, she came to realize that the God of the Bible is the one she had always believed in and always hoped she’d find.
S* is in a season of persecution; so much has been stripped away from her. As we stood in my kitchen crying together and rejoicing over her decision to follow Jesus, she said to my husband and I, "I don't need anything but Jesus. If He is all I have then I have everything." May her words be true for all followers of Jesus! He is all we need! Please join us in praying for S*. Pray for her endurance in the hardships and joy as she obediently follows Jesus. Like the Parable of the Sower in Matthew, pray for the Word of God to grow deep roots in her heart.
"The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
Matthew 13:23
We can't wait for the day that you will get to meet her face-to-face! It gives us chills to think of her reaching Heaven and meeting the hundreds, if not thousands of people who have cried out to Heaven on her behalf. It takes an army in this battle for souls. Thank you for being a part of this army on S*'s behalf. We can't wait for you to meet her!
Rejoice with us and the angels of God!
“...there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
— Luke 15:10
We looked deeply into John 14:6 together about Jesus’ claim that He is the only way. Finally, knowing since AJ had just heard the Gospel that this moment was crucial, I asked, "You've been learning all this stuff about Jesus, what do you believe about this?"
As I let that question go, I was filled with vulnerability. What is going to happen?
This year during the holiday season, we wanted to give you some fun ideas on how to practice gratitude together as a family! We know that there are many different ways to give thanks to God, so here are a few of our favorite new tradition ideas to help you reflect on all that you have to be grateful for!
