I don’t have answers!

Airplane

Editor’s note: We often meet new people when we travel. Opportunities to share the good news abound when on a flight or on a bus. One of our staff members relates a recent incident on being ready to share at a moment’s notice.

As a frequent flyer in economy class, I’ve noticed how the close seating arrangement gives passengers freedom to converse about deeply personal subjects. It happened again recently.

I found myself jammed beside a man and woman each in their 30s. Karin,* a married mother of a six-year old daughter was on a business trip. Tyler* was a science major who worked in the medical field servicing imaging equipment.

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I asked him if he read the Bible much. He said it was difficult…

Photo credit: Francisco Diez on flickr

Last week, TERM Seminar attendees in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, were trained on how to guide a friend to a clear understanding of the Bible’s message. They were also challenged to prepare a “Be Ready Box” so that they will have gospel tools available to give away at a moment’s notice. When believers are ready, God often begins to nudge people their way with whom they can share the gospel. For Ned and Marion,* a couple who were at the seminar, opportunity came sooner than they expected—like immediately after the seminar!

They emailed us after their six-hour drive home, to tell us what happened on Saturday evening after the last session. Ned wrote:

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What do you do when a Christian doesn’t act like one?

Peter and Seyin

When, on one hand, people claim to believe in Christ, while on the other hand, they don’t act like it, is there anything that can be done? What is clear in scripture is that God doesn’t want us as believers to simply stand on the sidelines and look on.

Recently, GoodSeed celebrated the launch of our newest book, In-ká-hai: How Sweet It Is! with a small gathering. During this time, author Chantal Chen shared highlights from the book, explaining how the missionaries tackled the above scenario among the Manjúi people, giving us biblical insight on what we can do in similar situations. The missionaries tackled the root problem: understanding. There is so much to learn from what the missionaries did to ensure that the Manjúi had a clear understanding of the gospel and these insights have been distilled into the six study sessions included in the book.

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Refugees on Christmas Island

Photo credit: DIBP images on flickr

Australia regularly receives boatloads of refugees seeking asylum. Many of these people from surrounding nations are genuine asylum seekers, while others are not. It’s a challenge for the government to discern the difference as it processes these people arriving on its shores.

The refugees are temporarily housed on Christmas Island while their cases are being investigated. There are ministries on the island that provide aid to these men and women from distant places. James and Shelly Campbell* are one such ministry couple. They interact with the refugees, providing help and handing out Bibles and Christian literature to those who ask for them. At their request, our Australia office shipped them a box of What are Christmas and Easter all About? along with other GoodSeed books. The parcel was apparently lost in the mail but, thank God, it showed up two months later.

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Postcards from Brazil

Photo credit: slgckgc on flickr

We recently received a long email from Brazil. A ministry there wanted to encourage us by letting us know they had received quite a number of testimonies regarding our tools. Here are a series of translated notes from them.

My mother now believes!
A missionary wrote to say that for years she had been trying to share the gospel with her own mother. When she got a copy of Portuguese edition of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, she used it to teach her mother and by God’s grace, her mother understood and now believes.

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In-ká-hai book dedication

Chantal Chen doing a reading.

On Saturday (Oct 5), we had a good time of fellowship as friends and supporters gathered with us to dedicate our latest book, “In-ká-hai: How Sweet It Is!” Chantal Chen, the author, did a reading from the book and we explained how the study guide could be used for personal reflection or small group study. The missionaries’ story of bringing the gospel to the Manjúi people of Paraguay provides valuable lessons for believers on how to actively share the gospel with friends and family. We prayed that God would see fit to use the book to encourage and equip believers everywhere to be ambassadors for Christ.

Thanks to all who took time of a Saturday to join us for in the book dedication!

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How do I share the gospel with my elderly father?

Chinese Stranger Book and Audiobook

Question: I want to share the gospel with my elderly father. He loves to read his Chinese newspapers but I’m not confident he will read through The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus if I give him a copy. What do you suggest?

Answer: We would recommend spending the time to lead him through a study. If you set aside about 11 hours, you can try this: each of you hold a copy of the Chinese edition of The Stranger and you read it out loud to him. Do a section or several sections each day for two weeks. It’s best to complete the book in the shortest possible time so as not to break the flow of the narrative.

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In-ká-hai: Snapshots of life among the Manjúi

Manjúi life

We look forward to the In-ká-hai book dedication this Saturday. We will be sharing some photos of life among the Manjúi. Looking through the many photos from that time, we were particularly tickled to see the missionaries’ children enjoying life with the Manjúi children. Kids are often a bridge in building friendships in a cross-cultural situation and the Humphreys’ children were no exception. We can’t wait to hear more stories this Saturday.

Don’t forget, In-ká-hai is also available in ebook format. If you have a Kindle, iBooks, a Kobo, a Nook or Google eBooks (or any e-reader that supports EPUB), you can visit our web store and download a copy of In-ká-hai today.

Read to me, please

Reading Together

(Editor’s note: In life, we are often faced with difficult circumstances: an illness or some tragedy. Even during these times, if we look beyond ourselves, we can find God bringing someone into our lives with whom we can share the gospel message. This is Phoebe’s* story.)

A day after we shared Brad Powell’s video testimony, we received an email from Phoebe. She wrote, “I have wanted to write to you for some time and thank you for the book, ‘By this Name.'”

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