The Oasis

I (Ken) was really thankful last Wednesday night, even though it was a small group of refugees here. At first, there was the disappointment that less than 20 people were here, but as I looked around the room, I found myself quite encouraged. There was the married couple who were very interested and ready to pray to know the Lord (they have since done so!). And there were others present who already have become Christians and are now being discipled. Then there was another young man who has been here many, many times now who is still seeking and pondering things, and there were a couple of guys who were here for the first time. It was a great panorama of people in the group, and it was really special to see the diversity of their heart situations, all there together listening to our Farsi translator teach a message from John 3:16. 
And then, in walked my Urdu-speaking friend who has been attending church in Vienna with me for months now, and that was special too, for as we talked about the Lord, he shared with me that he "100 percent believes" and that he had a "100 percent change of heart,"as he put it. It was simply wonderful to see the Lord at work in the hearts of the people there, and it was a good reminder to me that ministry is simply not all about the question of how many people attend, but rather serving and loving each individual who is in fact there.