SEND! magazine First Quarter 2005: When Two Worlds Meet
When Two Worlds Meet
Their worlds met this year when Mark traveled to the isolated village to see a church that emerged from a GFA Bridge of Hope school. This visit proved to be especially meaningful because he later found out Jobi was one of the missionaries he and his wife support through GFA. Mark had thought the native pastor looked "awfully familiar." When he arrived back in the States, he discovered Jobi was his missionary. "I was hugely excited," Mark says. "I had just spent time with my missionary! I never dreamed it would happen."
During his visit in the mountain village, Mark watched Jobi's wife wash dishes in a bucket outside. He hiked the steep path to the river where the family bathes and washes clothes. He saw the countless faces of people still needing to know the Savior.
Now, regular activities remind Mark to pray. When he gets water from the kitchen faucet, he remembers how the women in Jobi's village would walk to a well to draw water and then balance the heavy containers on their heads. When he sees a doctor, he remembers that people in the isolated area can't get medicine.
Mark is thrilled to have seen firsthand how God is using Jobi's ministry for healing in people's lives, both physical and spiritual. Jobi has planted several churches and sent 45 young people to train in GFA Bible colleges. Twenty-five have already graduated and are working in previously unreached areas to evangelize and plant churches. "Everything Jobi does is to plant a church in another village," Mark says. "I think the fact that he's sent so many people to Bible college really speaks for his character and how people are drawn to him."
Thinking of Jobi motivates Mark to faithfully labor where God has called him to reach souls. "Revelation 7:9 talks about the multitudes before the throne of Christ, worshipping the King. That's a real picture of what we're working for," Mark says. "Whether it be sponsoring a missionary, serving in GFA's home office or serving as a native evangelist, we're all working to see as many people at the throne of Christ as possible. That's what it's all about."
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