A Sense of Hopelessness

May lived with a sense of hopelessness. Her home had been flooded by a tsunami, her health was a constant challenge, and she struggled with depression. On top of this, she did not enjoy a loving relationship with her husband.

Enter Dave and Eileen, SEND mission workers who moved to Sendai, Japan, to minister to the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. One summer day May spotted Eileen in her community and quickly got out of her vehicle to speak her. May was excited to see an American lady living in her own neighborhood!

No Spiritual Responsiveness

After that initial meeting, May and her son began visiting Eileen and Dave’s home, enjoying American food and playing table games. Eventually, Eileen invited May to some Bible times to learn about God. She even had opportunities to personally share the gospel with May , but there seemed to be no spiritual responsiveness.

However, God uses many different circumstances in a person’s spiritual journey to draw people to Himself. During a trip to Taiwan last year, May struggled again with her health. Eileen had often prayed with May regarding her medical challenges, so May decided to pray. God wonderfully answered by giving her strength and May realized that God had heard her prayer! This was one experience among many that strengthened May’s desire to know God.

Impacted by a Believer’s Testimony

Late last year, Eileen and Dave started to see a difference in May. There seemed to be spiritual life and a responsiveness which they had not seen before. Then, just a few months ago, May met some Taiwanese Christians who were staying with Eileen and Dave. One of the believers shared his struggle with depression and how God had helped him. May was so touched by his testimony, she later texted Eileen acknowledging that she wanted to confess her sins and believe in Christ.

Eileen and Dave led May in prayer to express her faith in Jesus . Th ey are thankful for May’s clear assurance of her salvation! Although May’s health condition has not greatly improved, she recognizes that God is with her and is helping her!

That is just one of several notable differences in May’s changed life. She now responds kindly to her husband instead of fighting which May acknowledges she was not able to do before. And recently , May shared with Eileen that she feels compelled be to pray for others and tell them about Jesus!

It is inspiring to see how God drew May to Himself and used Eileen and Dave, living out their faith and sharing His Word with her.

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When God First Widened My World: Remembering Urbana 1996 I still remember the winter air. It was December 1996, and I was a junior at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan, serving as a small group leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—the ministry that had profoundly shaped my faith since my freshman year. I was growing spiritually, serving faithfully in my local church, and stepping into leadership on campus. Attending Urbana felt like the natural next step. Urbana only happened every three years, and I knew that once I graduated, I might miss the chance altogether. My church believed in that moment enough to cover the cost. They entrusted me—and my campus minister—with a van full of college students, driving from Detroit to Champaign-Urbana during the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s. I had heard the stories: thousands of students, passionate worship, a clear call to live fully for Jesus. What I encountered exceeded every expectation. A Campus Taken Over by the Kingdom Buses poured in from every direction, unloading students onto a snow- covered campus. Dorm rooms filled. Cafeterias buzzed. The entire university seemed overtaken—not by noise or spectacle, but by a quiet, collective hunger for God. For the first time in my life, I met students from places far beyond Michigan— Harvard, Loyola, Wheaton. My world was expanding in real time. I don’t remember every speaker or session. What I do remember is the unmistakable clarity of the invitation. God was bigger than I had ever imagined. Not just personal. Not just local. He was King of the nations. And there were people—millions of them—who had never heard His name. The question was simple, but it felt weighty: Would I commit my life, in whatever way God asked, to the Great Commission? Explore God’s leading toward the nations with a SEND missions coach.
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