Encouragement

“Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus” (Romans 15.5)

Every two years or so, I visit all the capital cities of Australia, travel to New Zealand, and teach and preach in Singapore. It’s a wide territory, but worth our visiting for evangelizing the Jewish people and for teaching in churches. On my first trip to Singapore in 2001, I spoke to a large gathering in the Anglican cathedral. After the meeting an older Chinese Christian woman approached me, touching my arm, and almost in tears, said, “I’ve prayed my whole life for the Jewish people. I’d never met one until tonight. And the first Jew I meet is a believer in Jesus. Thanks be to God!” I don’t know who was more surprised. And I don’t know who was more delighted. Here I was, the answer to her prayer, saved some 30 years previously, and in that one moment, God was affirming to her that He listens. I told of other Jews who had found Messiah. He was encouraging her to keep praying. I told of other Jews who were considering Y’shua. He was challenging her to keep praying. At the same time, He was encouraging me to return, again and again, to Singapore and other nations in Asia, to keep letting people know that Jesus is the Messiah and that God answers prayer.