More for the Harvest
If all that was left of the world’s drinking water began to rain from the sky, and the rule was that you could keep whatever you could catch, wouldn’t it be frustrating to be caught in the downpour without so much as a bucket?
To need something desperately — having it just within reach, but without the tools, or manpower, to get it? Think of the water you could collect if you only had more tools, more hands, and more help!
*Sarah, a leader living and working in Southeast Asia, knows this feeling well. She’s found her niche and seen impact, but she knows many more could be reached with others laboring alongside her.
“The harvest is plentiful, but workers are few,” she said. “My prayer has always been for God to send more workers into the field because people need the Lord. But the sad reality is that many Christians are lost in their comfort zone.”
DISCOMFORT ZONE
By comfort zone, Sarah is referring to the complacency of many “Christian” people in her country who do not know God’s Word — they’re trying to catch rain with bottomless buckets.
They are reflecting the culture around them — seemingly content to remain in poverty, depend on charity, and dismiss the possibility of a better future for their life. It makes for a weak faith. And there aren’t enough workers willing to teach them otherwise.
But this is where Sarah shines. She believes she can help make her country’s faith stronger, starting with young people. Youth and young adult ministry has always been where Sarah’s heart rests. The chance to teach those minds the Word, before they become influenced by the culture of comfort around them, is one she jumped at.
“I believe that education can change a person’s life,” she said, emphasizing that teaching someone instills value and self-worth. And teaching the Word helps them know their worth in God’s Kingdom, which changes much more than that one person’s life. It trickles out, sending more workers into the harvest field.
HOSTEL AS HOME
The desire was there, but her calling was still unclear. That is, until Sarah went on a mission trip to a poverty-stricken part of her country and was inspired to say “yes.”
Her heart broke to see so many young boys and girls deprived of a better future due to the lack of education and teaching, in both academic and spiritual spheres. Upon her return, she opened a 42-student hostel sponsored by a nonprofit organization under the leadership of a local church.
“As with many things like this, the first year as a houseparent wasn’t easy,” she said. “I didn’t have a teaching history to pull from, but I did possess a surrendered heart and will to the Lord that had empowered me to do many unthinkable things in the past.”
Sarah began to strategize and introduce fun discipleship programs into the hostel’s curriculum, and she witnessed a shift. The vision began to take shape: one to empower the next generation to grow in and glorify God’s name. To be the leaders of tomorrow, workers in the ever-thickening field.
“Over the years, I saw some of the girls learn to carry burdens for other souls and reach out to their friends in school,” she said. “These are the young generations that will be leaders tomorrow — it is so important to ground them in the Word.”
Sarah’s hostel also provides holistic care for struggling teenagers, academic facilities, Bible study, and an environment that aims to counteract the negative influences teenagers experience from social media, peer pressure, and difficult home lives. The staff here act as role models and spiritual mentors to the boys and girls.
“As a 24/7 houseparent, I also have the chance to influence them positively, encourage them through their academics, and lead them deeper into the Word. I teach them that despite the poverty they may come from, here they will find worth, peace, and a future. Then, we equip them to teach others what they’ve learned.”
THANKS TO HAGGAI
Sarah continually gives thanks to God for the progress that is happening at the hostel. In fact, through Haggai, she has developed an even stronger conviction to share the Gospel and is holding onto the teachings she received at the Haggai Leader Experience. She left her prior career to answer God’s call of discipling and leading students.
“The Lord reassured me that I am whole in Him, and nobody can put a label on me that I am useless,” she said, nodding to the confidence her equipping gave her. “I believe God is working in my life and equipping me for His works. I am burning with passion to pass that knowledge on.”
Her passion is currently enriching her work in the hostel, carrying it beyond the interior work she’s doing there. She has begun to create a community that will support other Haggai leaders like her — doctors, pharmacists, and teachers who were sent to the area for their work.
“From that first small connect group, we’ve grown into a regional support group, online groups, and groups to equip local leaders in different countries,” Sarah said. “When it comes to educating others, my sphere of influence isn’t just students, but adults all over my region as well.”
Continuing education while working for God’s Kingdom. Prepping workers for the field. It seems right that her motto is: “Every soul is precious in God’s eyes, why would we not reach out to them?”
RAISING LEADERS
Sarah’s promise is “to equip all Christians who are willing to walk close with God, regardless of whether it’s one person or a group, whether my students or the other leaders I meet.”
She will continue to pass on every tidbit of knowledge and Truth she’s learned. By God’s grace, she is committed to raising up the younger generation in the Word, fueling them with the Truth so that contentment in comfort zones — or being stuck without a bucket in the rain — is no longer a good place to be.
*Name changed for security.
Written by Jennifer Colosimo
More for the Harvest
If all that was left of the world’s drinking water began to rain from the sky, and the rule was that you could keep whatever you could catch, wouldn’t it be frustrating to be caught in the downpour without so much as a bucket?
To need something desperately — having it just within reach, but without the tools, or manpower, to get it? Think of the water you could collect if you only had more tools, more hands, and more help!
*Sarah, a leader living and working in Southeast Asia, knows this feeling well. She’s found her niche and seen impact, but she knows many more could be reached with others laboring alongside her.
“The harvest is plentiful, but workers are few,” she said. “My prayer has always been for God to send more workers into the field because people need the Lord. But the sad reality is that many Christians are lost in their comfort zone.”
DISCOMFORT ZONE
By comfort zone, Sarah is referring to the complacency of many “Christian” people in her country who do not know God’s Word — they’re trying to catch rain with bottomless buckets.
They are reflecting the culture around them — seemingly content to remain in poverty, depend on charity, and dismiss the possibility of a better future for their life. It makes for a weak faith. And there aren’t enough workers willing to teach them otherwise.
But this is where Sarah shines. She believes she can help make her country’s faith stronger, starting with young people. Youth and young adult ministry has always been where Sarah’s heart rests. The chance to teach those minds the Word, before they become influenced by the culture of comfort around them, is one she jumped at.
“I believe that education can change a person’s life,” she said, emphasizing that teaching someone instills value and self-worth. And teaching the Word helps them know their worth in God’s Kingdom, which changes much more than that one person’s life. It trickles out, sending more workers into the harvest field.
HOSTEL AS HOME
The desire was there, but her calling was still unclear. That is, until Sarah went on a mission trip to a poverty-stricken part of her country and was inspired to say “yes.”
Her heart broke to see so many young boys and girls deprived of a better future due to the lack of education and teaching, in both academic and spiritual spheres. Upon her return, she opened a 42-student hostel sponsored by a nonprofit organization under the leadership of a local church.
“As with many things like this, the first year as a houseparent wasn’t easy,” she said. “I didn’t have a teaching history to pull from, but I did possess a surrendered heart and will to the Lord that had empowered me to do many unthinkable things in the past.”
Sarah began to strategize and introduce fun discipleship programs into the hostel’s curriculum, and she witnessed a shift. The vision began to take shape: one to empower the next generation to grow in and glorify God’s name. To be the leaders of tomorrow, workers in the ever-thickening field.
“Over the years, I saw some of the girls learn to carry burdens for other souls and reach out to their friends in school,” she said. “These are the young generations that will be leaders tomorrow — it is so important to ground them in the Word.”
Sarah’s hostel also provides holistic care for struggling teenagers, academic facilities, Bible study, and an environment that aims to counteract the negative influences teenagers experience from social media, peer pressure, and difficult home lives. The staff here act as role models and spiritual mentors to the boys and girls.
“As a 24/7 houseparent, I also have the chance to influence them positively, encourage them through their academics, and lead them deeper into the Word. I teach them that despite the poverty they may come from, here they will find worth, peace, and a future. Then, we equip them to teach others what they’ve learned.”
THANKS TO HAGGAI
Sarah continually gives thanks to God for the progress that is happening at the hostel. In fact, through Haggai, she has developed an even stronger conviction to share the Gospel and is holding onto the teachings she received at the Haggai Leader Experience. She left her prior career to answer God’s call of discipling and leading students.
“The Lord reassured me that I am whole in Him, and nobody can put a label on me that I am useless,” she said, nodding to the confidence her equipping gave her. “I believe God is working in my life and equipping me for His works. I am burning with passion to pass that knowledge on.”
Her passion is currently enriching her work in the hostel, carrying it beyond the interior work she’s doing there. She has begun to create a community that will support other Haggai leaders like her — doctors, pharmacists, and teachers who were sent to the area for their work.
“From that first small connect group, we’ve grown into a regional support group, online groups, and groups to equip local leaders in different countries,” Sarah said. “When it comes to educating others, my sphere of influence isn’t just students, but adults all over my region as well.”
Continuing education while working for God’s Kingdom. Prepping workers for the field. It seems right that her motto is: “Every soul is precious in God’s eyes, why would we not reach out to them?”
RAISING LEADERS
Sarah’s promise is “to equip all Christians who are willing to walk close with God, regardless of whether it’s one person or a group, whether my students or the other leaders I meet.”
She will continue to pass on every tidbit of knowledge and Truth she’s learned. By God’s grace, she is committed to raising up the younger generation in the Word, fueling them with the Truth so that contentment in comfort zones — or being stuck without a bucket in the rain — is no longer a good place to be.
*Name changed for security.
Written by Jennifer Colosimo
More for the Harvest
If all that was left of the world’s drinking water began to rain from the sky, and the rule was that you could keep whatever you could catch, wouldn’t it be frustrating to be caught in the downpour without so much as a bucket?
To need something desperately — having it just within reach, but without the tools, or manpower, to get it? Think of the water you could collect if you only had more tools, more hands, and more help!
*Sarah, a leader living and working in Southeast Asia, knows this feeling well. She’s found her niche and seen impact, but she knows many more could be reached with others laboring alongside her.
“The harvest is plentiful, but workers are few,” she said. “My prayer has always been for God to send more workers into the field because people need the Lord. But the sad reality is that many Christians are lost in their comfort zone.”
DISCOMFORT ZONE
By comfort zone, Sarah is referring to the complacency of many “Christian” people in her country who do not know God’s Word — they’re trying to catch rain with bottomless buckets.
They are reflecting the culture around them — seemingly content to remain in poverty, depend on charity, and dismiss the possibility of a better future for their life. It makes for a weak faith. And there aren’t enough workers willing to teach them otherwise.
But this is where Sarah shines. She believes she can help make her country’s faith stronger, starting with young people. Youth and young adult ministry has always been where Sarah’s heart rests. The chance to teach those minds the Word, before they become influenced by the culture of comfort around them, is one she jumped at.
“I believe that education can change a person’s life,” she said, emphasizing that teaching someone instills value and self-worth. And teaching the Word helps them know their worth in God’s Kingdom, which changes much more than that one person’s life. It trickles out, sending more workers into the harvest field.
HOSTEL AS HOME
The desire was there, but her calling was still unclear. That is, until Sarah went on a mission trip to a poverty-stricken part of her country and was inspired to say “yes.”
Her heart broke to see so many young boys and girls deprived of a better future due to the lack of education and teaching, in both academic and spiritual spheres. Upon her return, she opened a 42-student hostel sponsored by a nonprofit organization under the leadership of a local church.
“As with many things like this, the first year as a houseparent wasn’t easy,” she said. “I didn’t have a teaching history to pull from, but I did possess a surrendered heart and will to the Lord that had empowered me to do many unthinkable things in the past.”
Sarah began to strategize and introduce fun discipleship programs into the hostel’s curriculum, and she witnessed a shift. The vision began to take shape: one to empower the next generation to grow in and glorify God’s name. To be the leaders of tomorrow, workers in the ever-thickening field.
“Over the years, I saw some of the girls learn to carry burdens for other souls and reach out to their friends in school,” she said. “These are the young generations that will be leaders tomorrow — it is so important to ground them in the Word.”
Sarah’s hostel also provides holistic care for struggling teenagers, academic facilities, Bible study, and an environment that aims to counteract the negative influences teenagers experience from social media, peer pressure, and difficult home lives. The staff here act as role models and spiritual mentors to the boys and girls.
“As a 24/7 houseparent, I also have the chance to influence them positively, encourage them through their academics, and lead them deeper into the Word. I teach them that despite the poverty they may come from, here they will find worth, peace, and a future. Then, we equip them to teach others what they’ve learned.”
THANKS TO HAGGAI
Sarah continually gives thanks to God for the progress that is happening at the hostel. In fact, through Haggai, she has developed an even stronger conviction to share the Gospel and is holding onto the teachings she received at the Haggai Leader Experience. She left her prior career to answer God’s call of discipling and leading students.
“The Lord reassured me that I am whole in Him, and nobody can put a label on me that I am useless,” she said, nodding to the confidence her equipping gave her. “I believe God is working in my life and equipping me for His works. I am burning with passion to pass that knowledge on.”
Her passion is currently enriching her work in the hostel, carrying it beyond the interior work she’s doing there. She has begun to create a community that will support other Haggai leaders like her — doctors, pharmacists, and teachers who were sent to the area for their work.
“From that first small connect group, we’ve grown into a regional support group, online groups, and groups to equip local leaders in different countries,” Sarah said. “When it comes to educating others, my sphere of influence isn’t just students, but adults all over my region as well.”
Continuing education while working for God’s Kingdom. Prepping workers for the field. It seems right that her motto is: “Every soul is precious in God’s eyes, why would we not reach out to them?”
RAISING LEADERS
Sarah’s promise is “to equip all Christians who are willing to walk close with God, regardless of whether it’s one person or a group, whether my students or the other leaders I meet.”
She will continue to pass on every tidbit of knowledge and Truth she’s learned. By God’s grace, she is committed to raising up the younger generation in the Word, fueling them with the Truth so that contentment in comfort zones — or being stuck without a bucket in the rain — is no longer a good place to be.
*Name changed for security.
Written by Jennifer Colosimo
