IT TAKES TIME
Chinese Church Planter, Western U.S.
John* came to Christ in China, a communist country known for its atheism. John came to the U.S. for seminary training and planned to return to his home country. But God burdened him for Chinese immigrants chasing the American dream.
John knew they needed the gospel. It was challenging to plant the first Mandarin-speaking, SBC church in a city that was home to thousands of Chinese Americans. John and his wife reached out to their community, and the church slowly grew.
“Some of our members left China for better lives. Some were brought by their parents. They all valued accomplishment and believed their worth was earned. Yet they all felt something was missing,” said John. Gospel hope was the missing piece. *name changed due to security concerns
Pray
•For the nations God is bringing to North America to gain spiritual understanding of His freely given grace.
•For Chinese church planters to reach their neighbors with the gospel and for strength to face cultural challenges.
BEAUTY IN SUFFERING
Muche & Diamone Ukegbu
Muche grew up in the inner city of Houston where his brother was murdered as a young man. That experience gave Muche a unique perspective when he felt called to plant a church in Miami.
“Because of my history, I have more patience as I walk with people,” says Muche. “As Miami became more diverse, most churches left and moved to the suburbs. Nothing was left to take the church’s place-not anything good, at least.”
The Ukegbus planted The Brook Church, which now has four city groups and is preparing to launch more.
“When Diamone and I moved here, Miami broke our hearts. But we found something beautiful. Many look at this city and want to begin fixing the sin and depravity. But what we see here are people made in God’s image, and we desire to tell them that.
Pray
•For God to expand the ministry of The Brook to build strong faith communities in Miami and teach people to passionately follow Jesus.
•For Muche and Diamone to wisely mentor and raise up leaders who have a heart for the city.