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Sunlight Shining Through the Rain
September 25, 2007

We have become good friends with two young medical students (let's call them John and Thomas) who attend the school where I am studying language. I met them at a class party on the playground while playing basketball one Sunday afternoon. Since that time we've had meals together and they've been guests in our home on several occasions. Summer school students are always anxious for home cooking - even if it is American food!

During the first meeting I had with them I had the opportunity to share my personal testimony. They had asked about American culture and some of my personal convictions about life. They also asked about the comparison of American culture and their culture. Of course these kinds of topics always open the door for a discussion about what it means to know Christ personally.

Last week both of these young men spent several hours in our apartment sharing several meals and talking until the wee hours of the morning about life issues. While we were in the midst of our initial discussion we shared with them several stories from scripture. After completing several Bible stories, John asked about the source of the stories and we were obliged to give them their very own copies of the New Testament (a parallel in both English and in their native tongue). They both seemed grateful and anxious to read more interesting stories on their own.

John and Thomas asked us about our favorite music and we played some of our favorite Christian artists for about 30 minutes. They liked the music and so we loaned them copies of some of our CDs to listen to at their leisure.

The next day Dee and I met them for lunch as we prepared to do some shopping. It had been raining heavily all morning. This is the rainy season here and, in fact, it has rained nearly non-stop for the past 3 weeks. When John and Thomas walked into the little restaurant we greeted each other and sat down. I asked them if they had a chance to read their New Testaments and listen to the Christian music.

John's face brightened and he said, "Oh yes! I have read the first book (Gospel of Matthew) and listened to all of the CDs."

I asked him what he thought and he smiled, and said, "You know! When I read that book it is like the sun is shining brightly in my heart, even though it is so dark and raining outside. Those stories really touch me! I can't explain it!"

Needless to say, we know the explanation! So we continued to dialogue with both young men about more of what is in "that book." As I began to tell another story from the Gospel of Mark, John stopped me and said, "Oh, I know that one too! I actually read into the second book!" And he finished the story for me!

As always, the Lord uses His own words to impact the lives of those who are lost. We continue to rejoice over how He is working in the hearts of both young men. We believe that it will be only a short period of time before one or both commit themselves to become followers of Jesus.

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