Many times, a student’s journey to Christ is slow. We have no idea what God is doing in their heart. Then in a moment, God shows us the secret work He has been doing. Marvel at the work God is doing through Eric and Melissa McDonald, our Global Partners at the University of Iowa. Eric shares the faith story of a young man he has been working with for many years:
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We were pleased in April, at the end of Bible study, when Dat a student from Vietnam prayed aloud for the first time. He has been in our Bible studies for four years and is always inquisitive but had not shown any signs of faith. We were surprised at the clarity and genuineness of what he prayed. He has had far to come from his family's Buddhist faith, but God has sown and watered the seed - hidden from our eyes in the dark soil. He asked on Easter if we could meet this week and I lay out the evidence for God's existence.
The two of us met together for lunch. Dat asked if I would tell my full story of becoming a Christian. As I told my story, Dat had many questions but one that bothered him the most was "How do we live a good life?" "And what is a good life even?" I explained how Jesus' life and teaching were a complete revelation from God about how we should live. We fall short of these ideals revealed by God through Jesus and that is why we need Jesus' sacrifice in our place to bring forgiveness. This made sense to him. He had heard this many times, but this time it was in a new light.
Melissa and I have learned when ministering to internationals from different worldview backgrounds that having many Christians loving them and speaking into their life is a wonderful thing. It's often the students who have the most Christians in their life who come to faith the earliest.
With this in mind, I invited Dat to join two Chinese men that I disciple each week. There was a risk to this because our group is very close. When I pitched the idea of Dat joining us, one of the men said that we had to invite him because he remembers when he was at the same place and how helpful conversations were over an open Bible. The other agreed. I was thrilled by their willingness to invite another person. Soon after Dat joined our discipleship group.
During our meeting, both men shared their testimonies. I knew that Dat was especially interested right now in hearing people's testimonies of coming to faith. We closed the night with the second man giving Dat gentle exhortation to continue pursuing Jesus, to push on even when he has doubts, and to continue joining our group.
It was a wonderful opportunity to see God work, not only through me but through men who had come to faith several years ago, who were now sharing the good news with another. This gave me great joy to see two of my "sons" in the faith pouring out their hearts that this "grandson" might be born in the Lord.
It often takes years for international students to place trust in the risen Christ when they come from Buddhism or Confucianism or naturalism. Pray that Dat would finish this journey; that Satan would not snatch away what has been sown, and that the cares of school and career would not choke out his budding interest.
Eric McDonald
The Navigators - The University of Iowa