The weight of the gospel!

I’m so excited to share about this week. The Lord has opened my eyes in such powerful ways. When we fully surrender to Him—when we fix our eyes on Him in every moment and ask Him to use us in the season He’s placed us in—He does. He really does use us.

This week, I got to witness and be a part of two people accepting Christ into their lives. I’m so expectant to share these testimonies with you on the blog because I truly believe it’ll stir your faith. God is so good. He’s been showing me that He is after every single person’s heart—even the ones we tend to overlook, the ones we think are too far gone, the ones we don’t even like, and those who have drifted away. He is such a good Father.

Uncle Andy’s Testimony

On Tuesday, we went out for house visits with a local pastor. He mentioned that the man we were going to see had attended a small group once but had never come to church. He was an older Hindu man who walked with a cane due to serious leg pain. But during that small group, they prayed for him—and the Lord healed him. He no longer needs his cane!

That healing stirred his curiosity about Jesus and Christianity, which led us to visit his home. As I walked in, I smiled, taking in the walls covered with pictures of Hindu gods, flowers, and candles. We sat down in the living room, and one of my teammates sang. Then I had the opportunity to share the entire gospel with him.

Not gonna lie—I was so nervous. I felt completely unqualified to introduce this man to who God is and what He did for us. But in that moment, I just stood in awe of the Lord. Who am I? Who am I, that He would choose me for this moment?

As I spoke, the man listened intently, hungry for every word. When I finished, I encouraged him to read the book of John and invited him to church. As we were getting ready to leave, I was playing with a little girl in the house when the pastor stopped me and said, “He just prayed the prayer of salvation—he accepted Christ into his heart!”

He was beaming. You could see the change in his eyes. His face lit up with this huge, radiant smile. We celebrated with him and jammed to worship music the whole ride home.

Salvation is something our team hasn’t seen often on the field—so many people we meet already know Jesus or have a history with Christianity. So to witness salvation in a country where the gospel is illegal? Insane. I was in awe of God.

Just last week, I was complaining about being here, feeling homesick. But once I fixed my eyes back on Jesus, He allowed me to witness His hand at work. It reminded me of that quote:

“God doesn’t call the qualified—He qualifies the called.”

Meera’s Testimony

The next night, our two teams—plus all of S Squad, about 30 of us—were hosted by a family our ministry partner knew. It was amazing. We had so much good food and got to hang out together.

Later, we split into three groups for more house visits. My group ended up staying at the host family’s home. Before we began, the pastor let us know that someone in the family was transgender and had been rejected by churches in the past. Their heart in inviting us was that maybe we could be the church that came to them.

Three people in our group had already felt led to teach on love, so we were pumped. I was in the living room with two teammates when I started chatting with a person who later shared was transgender— named Meera. We talked for a while, and then had an incredible time of worship. A guy named John gave a fire message on love, and we prayed for the whole family and their friends afterward.

Later, Meera came up to us and said, “I’m Hindu.” It caught me off guard because I had assumed he was a Christian. He shared how he had recently taken down a Hindu idol in his home and replaced it with a picture of Jesus, all because of his relationship with the Christian family who lived there. He said he felt drawn to God.

I started sharing more about salvation—how the Bible says it’s not just believing in your heart, but confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. I explained the difference between just talking to Jesus and actually accepting Him as Savior—how the Holy Spirit then comes to dwell within us. I shared who the Holy Spirit is and what that means for our walk with Christ.

At the end, I asked Meera if he wanted that—and he said yes. So I got to hold his hand and lead  through the prayer of salvation.

It was incredible. My heart was pounding. Afterward, he was so excited—tears in his eyes. He kept saying, “I feel so much better. I’m happy!” We shared how heaven was rejoicing, and I even got to invite him to church!

God is so good. I’m so thankful that out of my surrender and desire for him, He allowed me to be used by Him.

If you’re reading this, I just want to encourage you: Live surrendered this week. Ask Him to use you. Step out in boldness when He calls. He is so worth it. Worth the embarrassment. Worth the awkward pauses. Worth the rejection. He’s worth everything.

Not everyone will like you or accept what you have to say. The Bible even says, “They will hate you because of me.” If the world rejected Jesus, why would we expect anything different? But that’s okay. It really is.

I used to be such a people-pleaser. But being on the Race has broken every ounce of fear of man off me. You never know when God will use you. Lean into His whisper. I’d rather be wrong about something I think I heard from God than be disobedient and miss the chance to bring someone the truth of the gospel.

I’m not perfect—none of us are—but God’s been teaching me what it looks like to live in boldness. Imagine what our world would look like if more Christians actually stepped out in faith. God doesn’t need us—He wants us. He wants to use me here in Malaysia, and He wants to use you wherever you are too. So… why wouldn’t we step into that?

Jesus, I thank You for the person reading this.

Would You break off any fear of man in their heart. Would Your love wreck them in the best way—so deeply that it overflows onto everyone around them. Replace fear of man with holy fear of You, God. Give them boldness to walk in obedience, to move when You say move. Open doors this week for them to share Your light, even if it means rejection or awkwardness.

Because You are worth it all.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

See you next week!

With love,

Ashlyn