It’s officially Month 10! We have been in Kyrgyzstan this last month and man was it a good one. I went back to university and served as a teacher to students who are studying to be English translators! I even was able to teach one class on American media to students looking to pursue a career in journalism. In the afternoons we taught at a local English center, helping students learn and practice our native language.
My team was able to build relationships with our students and hangout with them outside of the classroom, shining our lights and being a friend. While the beautiful Kyrgyzstan landscape was hard to say goodbye to, it was even more difficult saying “see you later” to the incredible people we were honored to spend the month with.
With this next month and a half being the last leg of our race, we were given the freedom to write up proposals to go where we felt the Lord was leading us with a team we felt called to be with. My former Team Shalom teammate, Valerie, reached out to me in March asking that I pray about a possible opportunity that the Lord had been revealing to her for many months. With a lot of prayer and consideration, I’m thrilled to say that I will be embarking on a very exciting route change.
During this last month, I will be a member of a four person team that will be traveling to Japan and partnering with a ministry contact that ministers in the red-light district of Tokyo. The Lord laid Japan on each of our hearts months, some even years, ago and through a time of fasting, praying, interceding, seeking, asking and waiting, He has revealed and aligned a vision for outreach during our time there.
For weeks, our team began to focus our attention on what the Lord is doing in the country of Japan and listening to what He may have for us while there. Last month, the Lord had been giving Valerie images to paint, one of which was a woman who was crying. While Valerie was painting, she felt the Lord say the title of the image is “Daughter of the Night,” and to give it to my other teammate, Kelsey. Valerie knew it was an image of a woman caught in sex-trafficking who longed for freedom. The Holy Spirit gave this title to humanize women caught in sex work, a spin from the term “lady-of-the-night.” The title is not only to humanize, but to declare their identity as daughters of our Heavenly Father. His daughters are caught in the night and are weeping in pain. As she painted, Psalm 139 came to heart, the verse specifically, “the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” The night will shine like the day and there is so much hope that these women will experience just that. We feel the Lord is calling us to be apart of it.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:9-12 NIV
Jesus is the only one who can take darkness and bring light. Aside from the sex industry in Japan, the country is very in need of the gospel. According to the Joshua Project, only 0.58% of the Japanese population is a professing evangelical Christian. Statistics show that over 124,296,000 people remain unreached by the gospel. We may not be able to reach them all, but we are being obedient in order to reach the one.
I am in awe of the different ways the Lord has orchestrated this opportunity. He is making a way and it is continually blowing my mind! If you would like to partner with us, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].
Always and forever I am so thankful for your prayers and support. Thank you thank you thank you! I cannot wait to share with you all of the things that happen this next month.
To God be all of the glory,
Austin
