Eight Years Later: Seeing What God Has Grown

Hello.

Last summer, I completed CSBS and then went on outreach to N-nation for one month.

This nation holds a very special meaning for me.

It was the nation where I went for my DTS outreach back in 2017.

By God’s grace, I was able to set foot on that land again after eight years, and I experienced the privilege of seeing with my own eyes what God has been doing there during that time. I would like to share that faithful grace with you.

Eight years ago, we stayed for two weeks in a mountain village and served through an education ministry at a school which was the only school in that village. We even painted a basketball court on the dirt playground. This time, through a missionary we met for the first time, I was able to hear updates about that village and the school.

I also heard news about a rural church where we once carried bricks together to help rebuild after an earthquake had destroyed buildings. In the years since, revival had come, and a new two-story building now stands. I learned that the local friends we had met back then have grown into faithful ministers of the gospel.

What left the deepest impression on me was my encounter with two sisters.

They are biological sisters from a Hindu family. As children, they followed a friend to church and encountered God there. Today, they are attending university and serving faithfully at a study center run by a missionary.

Although they faced several opposition, like their mother forbidding them from going to church and even tearing up their Bible, they did not give up on the gospel. Holding firmly to God, they still visit home at least once a week to pray for the salvation of their family.

After hearing their testimony, I was deeply moved. I promised them that I would continue praying for their family and said my goodbyes. Then the missionary suddenly said,

“Hyewon, you’ve actually met them before.”

It turned out that the church the two sisters had attended as children was the very same church where I had served in children’s ministry one Sunday eight years ago. The two children who simply followed a friend to church had since grown up in faith and were now serving as the missionary’s faithful co-workers.

[1 Corinthians 3:7] herefore neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth

The missionaries had planted seeds in that land. I had only stayed briefly and watered them in a very small way. Yet God allowed me to see the beautiful fruit that He had grown.

It was a time filled with gratitude and grace, witnessing what God had faithfully brought to maturity.

I praise the faithful God who is still bearing fruit of the gospel among the nations. I would like to invite you to join this journey of receiving grace deeply and passing it on to others.

ㅡ Hyewon Lee, Operations Department