When James & Brooke moved into a new town, they were excited to begin the new work God had called them to, but slightly daunted at the thought of starting over again and having to make all new friends.

The first few days, they were busy fixing up the house they had bought and settling in. While Brooke was working inside setting up their daughter’s bedroom, James noticed a few of the neighbors were out front pulling up the long weeds that covered their yard. He figured he should go out and help then, since it was his yard. He learned that the people who lived there before them never did anything to take care of the yard, and it had become a real eyesore that bothered everyone in the neighborhood, so they were glad for the chance to finally do something about it.

While they were working, James was able to meet several of the families living on their street. One couple had a daughter the same age as them, and another was going to have their first baby soon. The family who lives at the end of the street runs a small convenience store and laundry service out of their home, and the husband told James he hopes to also start selling cars soon.

Now, thanks to this introduction, they have started developing friendships with several of their neighbors. Brooke meets regularly with the other moms to cook together or just talk, which has given her a lot of opportunities to practice the local language. James hopes to develop closer relationships with the men as he learns more about their local spiritual beliefs.

Ultimately, the goal for all of our overseas workers is to share the Gospel and see a local church established. They do this by immersing themselves in the culture of unreached people groups and learning the local language and customs so they can build genuine, deep relationships with people and be able to share the Truth with them in their heart language.

You can pray for families like James & Brooke, that God would grant them favor in these unreached communities and that people’s hearts would be open to the Gospel.

* Names and places changed for security purposes.