Conquering the Storm

In East Asia there lies two coffee shops, the only foreign-owned businesses in a city of 500,000 people.

They are operated by Shawn and Megan*, a family burdened by the lostness of the country. In their city alone, there are 190 unreached people groups. They are taking on the charge of making the Gospel known throughout their vast community by drawing people to the only coffee establishments in town.

“You believe in God?” 17-year-old Xiong once asked them. He walked into the shop hoping to learn more about the outsiders who had moved to his city. He asked Shawn and Megan why they came. They made small talk, and deeper pieces of their faith seeped into the conversation.

Xiong was captivated by what he heard. “I’ve never met anyone who believes in God before, not my parents or my friends, but in my heart, I always knew there was a God.”

Three years later, Xiong is now a bold and faithful follower of the Lord. He attends one of the most prestigious universities in the nation and can find more direct ways of reaching a generation of the lost.

Owning this cafe also allows Shawn and Megan to bring three other missionary families into the country under their business visa, as well as provide jobs for locals. In their city, a church needs to be planted and the team desperately wants to see it built. Their goals and ambitions were on the horizon of possibility one year ago, but it almost came crashing down.

Their student loan servicer would no longer allow them to make the lowest-monthly payment toward their debt. Their earnings from the coffee shops displayed a larger income than what they truly make. Shawn and Megan live on the financial support of a team of people in the United States while every penny from their business goes back into the sustainability of their shops. To close the gap in their suddenly costly, monthly payments, they returned to the U.S. to raise extra support.

Nearly one year after returning to the States, without an answer for how they were going to cover their debts, the East Asian government gave another threat— to revoke their business visa.

In the year they were trying to raise extra funds, the foreign officials grew suspicious of their time in America. It was assumed they took the profits from their business to spend their income in another country- a tactic that has become a common problem.

Losing their business visa would mean the loss of their shops. It would mean the return of the other families on their team who depend on the visa to stay. Then, they saw the Lord intervene in a miraculous way. Through casual conversation with friends, they were introduced to The GO Fund.

Shawn excitedly applied to The GO Fund's student debt repayment program and they were called for an interview shortly after.

They had been so faithful to trust the Lord and his provision. They knew he had a plan. They had prayed so often for answers. Just when they allowed themselves to imagine a break in their circumstance’s storm, they were notified by the foreign government that they had one week to return or they would lose their eligibility as business owners. Would the storm overtake them?

Matt Sonke, program director at The GO Fund, was astounded by their ministry’s vision and the results they see from what is already established. Aware of their looming deadline, he rallied together a committee of the organization’s board members to either approve or deny Shawn and Megan as partners.

Two days before Shawn, Megan and their two children boarded their flight back to East Asia, their future in the country still undetermined, they were called and told, “You have been approved! Your debt has been taken.”

The storm was broken! They could breathe again and lift their eyes to the warm and radiant sun. Shawn and Megan are now back in the city where their businesses have opened a multitude of opportunities for relationships to form – in their shop and beyond.

They source their coffee beans from surrounding, remote villages. These areas are completely unengaged with the Gospel and nearly impossible to access because of the government’s tight travel restrictions. However, their business provides a legitimate purpose for visiting these villages many times per year. This is one of many examples in which the Lord has divinely appointed a channel for the team to share the Gospel with the unreached.

Thanks to The GO Fund Champions, Shawn and Megan’s family and team are unhindered and ready to continue their ministry for many years to come. They excitedly anticipate meeting many more like Xiong; ready to love them, share truth with them, and all over the course of several, delicious cups of coffee.

*names have been changed for security

If You Hold the Rope

A man stood at the edge of a dark, unexplored cavern. He looked down and wondered what it may cost him to descend into it and away from the life he knew. As he returned to his friends he said, “Well, I will go down, if you will hold the rope.”

A small group of English pastors in the late 18th century looked at what seemed to be an insurmountable task before them. The spiritual darkness they saw clouding India could no longer be ignored and these friends desired to bring the Gospel to the distant nation. William Carey said that he would go if his colleagues who stayed behind would commit to “holding the rope.”

Andrew Fuller was one who stayed in England. He championed for his friend and the ministry to unreached peoples as fund-raiser, promoter and pastor. He continuously battled the western world’s ill-formed doctrines and he visited churches to represent those who followed Carey’s path overseas. He even took the lead role of selecting new missionaries. 

Andrew Fuller, a pastor, theologian, husband and father.

Fuller never made the journey across oceans to preach the Gospel where it had not been taken. However, because of his efforts to never let go of that rope, he helped shape much of what modern missions looks like today.

The GO Fund wants to emulate this very idea with the, “Ropeholder Event.”

Ropeholder Events can be held anywhere. They can be scheduled at any time and with anyone who is interested to know about how they can be actively engaged in missions to unreached peoples from the United States.

It starts with a box. Those who are interested in facilitating an event will be given one from The GO Fund office. Inside are the leader’s instructions and a DVD guide which leads a group through video discussion. Once everyone is invited, present and ready to listen, the Ropeholder Event kicks off.

At the end of the 90-minute program, event-goers are then invited to pray and create a video of themselves to encourage a missionary partner of The GO Fund. *

This is not another class. Ropeholder Event is an easy way to be around others who want to see unreached lives transformed by the Gospel. It is a convenient platform to learn and pray for God’s work through several missionaries and to bring friends and family into that discussion. While in the U.S., we may not be reaching the farthest ends of the globe, but we can and must be ready to hold the rope for those who are.

“Philippians 4:14-19

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:3-8

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

*All material, discussion and recording instructions are equipped for missionary partners’ safety and security.

At the End of Your Journey

The Celestial City is beautiful. Encrusted with jewels and gold-paved roads, it’s where real treasures are stored and never fade. It’s where the Lord resides and where the main character in The Pilgrim’s Progress journeys to find. He knows he won’t get there right away, but it will be his last destination and the place he can finally see Jesus, the one who took away his heavy burden.

This 340-year-old, allegorical novel follows the story of a man who is appropriately named, Christian. It opens with the author, John Bunyan, who says he fell asleep and dreamed. In his dream, he sees Christian standing with a large weight on his back and a Bible in his hand. Bunyan watches as the man becomes distraught over the reality of his sin and how he might be saved from it.

As Christian commits to his quest toward the City, he experiences a myriad of trials and meets several aptly-named characters – all of which appear as relatable metaphors for any believer’s faith.

Similarly, those who are followers of Christ are woven into an intricate story in which we daily walk a path laid out for us. Unlike Christian, the decisions we make along our individual journeys are not confined to the pages of a novel. We have been invited into a more complex, more stunning narrative, and it’s one in which we know the ending.  

“I prefer to be where I shall die no more, and in company of others who shall continually cry, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’”

The GO Fund’s annual Vision Dinners are themed after these beliefs. As we move toward the Celestial City, we want to celebrate the ending we know comes for those who put their faith in Christ, the one who takes our burdens. We also want to link arms with brothers and sisters whose paths have lead them to the farther reaches of the world.

Matthew 6:19-21 tells us to store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven where they can not be destroyed. Followers of Christ can rejoice that there will be a reward for the work that often shows little return here on Earth. The beautiful currency we will be given at the end of our journeys are small tokens that further reveal God’s goodness and character – the ultimate provider and Father who delights to give his children good gifts. This truth is paired with the stronger, underlying reason we so desperately desire to reach the Celestial City. It is the same as Christian’s in The Pilgrim's Progress:

“There at the Celestial City, they say there is no death and there I shall dwell with such companions I like best. For, to tell you the truth, I love Him because He released me from my burden, and I am very weary of my inward sickness. In view of this, I prefer to be where I shall die no more, and in company of others who shall continually cry, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’”