Hope of Jesus

     My friend *Nimpha is a mid-30s professional here in South East Asia. She’s a local and grew up surrounded by the ancestral traditions that most families practice here. Last fall, she began working for a foreign-run NGO that also employs several like-minded people. Their disposition towards life and work impressed her, so she decided to join the Alpha Course that started in February.
     She’s a perfect fit for how the course is designed - curious and seeking, but still slightly guarded and skeptical. She was assigned to the group I led the first week and came to every session during the 12-week course. Initially, she was quiet, but she began asking more and more questions as the weeks went on.
     By the end of Alpha, she consistently asked the best (and hardest) questions, and seemed equally interested in, and confused by what we talked about. She was among the first to sign up for Beta as Alpha was drawing to a close.
     Just as our study was about to start, a huge thunderstorm rolled over the city and prevented almost everyone from coming. A couple people were late, but there ended up being 5 of us who met together, one of whom was Nimpha. We decided to do a small, informal study, and I began by reading Paul’s letter to Colossians 1:15-20, which opened the conversation wide up!
     Over the next hour and a half, the seekers asked question after question, each more earnest than the last. They asked about how we can genuinely be hopeful, what do we do when life is difficult, how does the Father actually comfort us in those times, why do we care so much about sharing our hope with other people how Jesus has tangibly affected our lives, and many, many more questions.   
     My co-leader and I got to witness to the person and nature of our hope for almost 2 hours! Towards the end, I could see Nimpha smiling and holding back tears. I asked her, “Do you want to follow Jesus tonight?” She said, “Not quite yet, but I do want the hope you have. Maybe soon.”
     The other participant sitting next to her echoed her sentiment. At the end of the evening, we talked to our Father for a moment, and Nimpha clasped her hands and smiled as I and the other leader spoke. When we finished, she told us, “I thanked Him that both of you decided to come in the rain tonight and that we had a really good conversation.
     Please pray for Nimpha that she would come to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Pray also for the other participants that heard the gospel in the course, that the Lord would continue to work in their hearts. 

*pseudonym used