MINISTRY / Travels in Southeast Asia

316NOW’s new executive director, Mark Wagner, and its former executive director, Jim Aderman, returned last Wednesday from an 8-day tour of Hong Kong and Thailand. While there they met with Confessional Lutheran leaders who are called to raise up Lutheran congregations across China and beyond.

Wagner’s reflections

“I came home with a much better understanding of life in Southeast Asia. I could not help but be impressed with the desperate need the people who live there have for the gospel,” Wagner said. One example he pointed to was a visit to a Buddhist temple in Hong Kong on a festival day. “People stood shoulder to shoulder with incense sticks in their hands as they slowly made their way to a shrine for one of their gods. There they prayed for good fortune during the Year of the Dragon. None of those thousands of people know the loved relationship with the true God that Jesus has won for them.”

Wagner added, “I was blown away by the commitment and dedication of the Lutheran leaders I met. Because of their sacrifice and hard work, the gospel is coming to more people. 316NOW is honored to work with that team of men and women.”

Prayer items

Please keep the spiritual welfare of the people in Southeast Asia, particularly in China, in your prayers. Pray for the safety and empowerment of the missionaries who are there, as well as their families. Ask that wide doors are opened to the gospel. And, of course, pray that the Spirit uses 316NOW in powerful ways to extend the kingdom of grace