By Lita Sample, CBF field personnel
When prayers seem unanswered, long-term presence matters.
When Rick and I first started serving internationals in the San Francisco Bay Area, we met a widow and her seven children from Afghanistan (I will call her Flor). The father had been murdered, and they fled to the U.S. where we met them. We kept growing our relationship with this mother and her young children for years. At one point, the Lord impressed on me that I should pray for Flor and her children daily for one year. I felt the excitement of what this could bring and I never missed a day praying that this family would come t
o know Christ and His peace.
We continued spending time with the family, drinking tea and eating and sharing our lives. At the end of the year, no one in the family had come to Christ. I was a bit confused and disappointed. What had happened? Why didn’t God answer my fervent prayers for their salvation? Why had he called me to pray for this family continuously?
Over the next many years, as the children grew up and we became entrenched with the hundreds of Afghans with whom we were connecting, we lost touch. However, Flor and her family remained in the back of my mind and thoughts. One day, I got a call from one of her children who was in college. She wanted to tell me that she had come to know Christ through her college Bible study and several of her siblings as well. They had not told their mother because they feared what she would say, but she wanted me to know.
I was so encouraged that day. It had been over a decade since I first met this young woman as a little girl, who had to leave her homeland and come to a foreign land. Now, she calls the Bay Area home, and her family of believers encourage her and others who come from different countries.
God then reminded me of the year I spent praying. I thought I knew His timing. I was anxious for results. But His timing was perfect. God, in His grace, allowed me to see the fruit of the seeds I had planted long ago. I am grateful for this immense blessing God gave me that day.
I acknowledge that in the relationships that I build, I will not always see the outcome. I have to trust and obey as I continue sharing the gospel and loving people from other countries for whom he has called me. It takes the burden off my shoulders that I have to see them come to faith, and it places the responsibility back on the shoulders of the Holy Spirit to draw them to Christ… in His time.
As many families, this family started with nothing–not even a pillow to rest their head. Through our years of providing for their needs, the initial days of bringing food and giving our friendship, God has been doing a work in those He’s brought into our lives. He shows his love and care for them through us and through those who have given so graciously so we can be on the field building these relationships.
There are hundreds of families that we’ve connected with, most from areas where the gospel is illegal and not easily heard. Had it not been for them having the opportunity to come to the San Francisco Bay Area as refugees, we would not have had a chance to meet them, build relationships and most important to share the hope of Christ. We are grateful for the opportunity we get to serve, especially for the people we’ve encountered whom we now call our friends.
We are grateful for CBF who recognizes that long term presence not only matters but is often necessary. And, that God works–just not always immediately, but He continues to work nonetheless. In recent times, we’ve seen the fruit of the 24 years of serving Christ as the Afghan Church grows and people come to know Christ and be baptized. However, we probably won’t know the extent of God’s work until we meet in heaven.
That’s why we must continue the work among refugees and internationals. Please pray for the church and new believers. Please also continue to pray for Flor and the Afghan people that they will open their hearts to Christ.
Learn more about Lita and her husband Rick’s ministry here.