We are gaining serious ground as “the best English Corner in the city” reaches out to hundreds of college students as they flood to the city in search of a better future.
It all started with a dream in 2004. “I want to start a campus ministry that reaches university students across the province,” my wife told me. But because of our many travels to the rural regions untouched by the presence of the gospel, we had to put the dream on hold.
Until 2009, when Jesus Revolution, a team from the Philippines, came and helped us scout out a great location, painted the center with cool murals, and began infiltrating campuses around the area in search of students hungry to learn English.
We have seen over 300 students attend the Within Reach Global English Corner, and many of them have now given their lives to the Lord!
Twice a week we have a great time, playing games and having meaningful conversations in English with the student crowd.
But the end result is reaching them with the love of Christ.
English Corners on Tuesday and Friday nights have now opened the door to Discipleship Dinners on Monday and Thursday nights. Then we channel new believers to our local led church at The Hub on Sunday morning.
Now our biggest problem is a good problem: we need a bigger place! Our rent expires in March 2011, and we need more funds to find a space suitable to the influx of students attending our English Corner. Because of China’s apartment rental boom, the prices have skyrocketed and on top of that, the Dollar has dropped. We now need $1,000 per month to pay the rent, provide Christian materials, support local full time local missionaries, and host English Camps and Discipleship Dinners.
Check out our Facebook pics here:
The Hub Discipleship Dinner Class
The Hub Evangelistic English Camp
The Hub Students Reach Out To Orphans
“We are so moved by what’s happening to Sister C.,” our Filipino missionaries told us. “God is obviously working on her. Every time we meet she always has a testimony that she wants to share with us. She testified that she had a lot of worries in her life, in her family, in her career, and her future. But when she accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, all her burdens seems to lighten. She has a peace that she has never felt before. All of her colleagues, including her boss, felt something was different about her. They know that she is a believer now, and she is not ashamed of her new Christian life. She is learning how to forgive her parents, whom she hated for getting divorced. She feels the presence of the Holy Spirit, and is growing in her new journey.”
Transformed lives. That’s what we’re seeing every week.
“Grace started to preach in The Hub. She needs our prayers as she desires to go study in Bible college in the Philippines. Although her parents are opposed to the idea, she has her heart set on God’s plan for her life.”
And the stories keep coming.
“Mercy is also very hungry for God’s word. She regularly shares the gospel on long bus rides across the city, and wants to travel China to share the gospel!” Our missionaries were amazed. “She had never considered becoming a missionary to her own people, but now she believes that God is leading her in this direction.”
Probably the most radical transformation that we have seen is in Brother T., a former atheist turned evangelist who we recently baptized in a public lake. “I will never become a Christian,” he told us, and now he is leading his friends to the Lord! Watch him getting baptized here:
“It is so encouraging to hear these kinds of testimonies! Seeing God working in their lives gives us strength to continue reaching students at The Hub!”
Feel led to give toward reaching unreached students? Your donation helps. Or if you would rather gather a group of friends at church to support The Hub, we need $1,000 per month to pay the rent, provide Christian materials, support local full time local missionaries, and host English Camps and Discipleship Dinners.
We are now targeting new college campuses, planting churches in dormitories. Please pray with us for many more names to be entered into the Book of Life!
Here’s a couple more video testimonies of Sister C. and Brother T. after getting baptized. Enjoy!