In Central Asia, the norm of one-on-one method of evangelism may be challenging. In societies where communities are closely knit and religious decisions corporately made, accusation of betrayal can happen when a family member changes his/her belief.
Consider the following:
There was this young man who dreamt of some images found in the book of Daniel and of a man wearing a white fine linen robe. The dream recurred for the next few years, and no one could explain its meaning to him. Finally, a Pastor showed him the part of Scripture that described his dream. The young man was astonished because what the Pastor had read described the exact images in his dream. As expected, the Pastor shared the gospel and led him to Christ.
This wonderful news was short-lived as his family was outraged upon learning that he had become a Christian. The family took the Pastor to court, accusing him of proselytism. Thank God that the young man persevered in his faith, despite restrictions imposed by his family, which included preventing him from meeting other Christians.
Let us reflect briefly. What if the Pastor had a familial instead of an individual mindset? Such familial decisions abound in Scripture. Examples include the households of Lydia (Acts 16:15) and Cornelius (Acts 16:31).
With this mindset, the Pastor could have arranged to meet with his family, using the dream to point them to Christ, so that it becomes a family decision whether to accept or reject the gospel.
Instead of being ostracized, how wonderful it will be for this young man to be able to exclaim, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Caleb Ang
