October 2, 2024 • 37 mins
We are back with more amazing stories from our friend Jason Kuhlman (STUMO). We'll introduce you to "1040 Emma," whose unyielding dedication to college students in Tokyo exemplifies how passion and perseverance can overcome cultural barriers. Hear about the establishment of a long-term ministry at Texas State University, creating a legacy of faith and persistence that continues to inspire.
In a tale that truly showcases divine timing, we'll recount an incredible story involving a rural farmer and a book his grandfather received 40 years ago. This narrative not only underscores the importance of being faithful in the moment but also the profound impact of God's plan, often revealed only through time and steadfast belief. You'll be moved by tales of perseverance in ministry, where even the smallest acts of faithfulness can bear fruit long after they were sown, illustrating the vast and often unseen workings of God.
How do we find joy amidst suffering and persecution? Reflect with us on the theology of enduring life's toughest trials with unwavering faith. Through personal stories and biblical reflections, we contrast American Christianity's discomfort with unpopularity against the biblical call to embrace suffering. Finally, we'll explore the powerful concept of understanding God's glory through suffering, urging you to reflect on your role in His mission and the transformative impact of seeing His glory in all aspects of life. Tune in for a deeply inspiring episode that will encourage you to remain steadfast in faith, trusting in God's grand design.
Stick around to hear an inspiring worship song from Clint Hudson and Austin Ridge Worship about God's use of suffering in our lives.
Follow @unreachedpodcast on Instagram for more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
In Revelation 7, john shares his vision of heaven
with members from every tribe,tongue, people and language
standing in the throne roombefore the Lamb.
Yet today there are still over7,000 unreached people groups
around the world.
For the last six years, myfamily and friends have been on
a journey to find, vet and fundthe task remaining.
(00:28):
Come journey with us to theends of the earth as we share
the supernatural stories of Godat work for the men and women he
has called to reach theunreached.
Hello friends, welcome back tothe Unreached podcast.
Dustin Elliott here again, aspromised, with Jason Kuhlman.
If you're like me, you probablywere just floored listening to
(00:50):
him tell the story of going fromcollege campuses in Texas to
the mission field and collegecampuses in China.
The hunger, the thirst.
How welcome they were toreceive the word, how interested
they were.
The incredible story of theyoung man and talking about the
five-course meal and somebodyprepared that meal.
Well, somebody prepared thistoo, and it just unlocked him
(01:13):
right and then rerouted back tothe States.
The emotional turmoil, spiritualwarfare, the whole components,
all the things that you and yourteam went through.
But that was a few years agoand since then God has blessed
you and your wife with two morechildren.
(01:34):
We've got to walk throughissues in growing families
together, as we both experiencedsome loss in that regard.
We've got to walk through yourre-immersion into the college
campuses here, your team fromChina getting immersed in a new
college campus that y'alllaunched into with that team.
How interesting that has to befor them.
(01:55):
And so let's just trace thepath of several of these folks
since they've been back.
I think some have actually goneback to the mission field since
and then a couple couple peoplethat you've been able to
actually stay in touch with inchina yeah as well.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, there's been a lot of life that's happened
since you know, that day, youknow, probably you know two of
the people are back in the 1040window doing missions full-time
from the team, from the teamokay and uh, and they went back
about a year after and they'vebeen in tokyo, japan, you know,
obviously in the heart of the1040, one of the most unreached
(02:32):
countries in the world.
A lot of cultural dynamicsthere as a result, you know, has
hindered the gospel there, butthey're now married with two
kids and the wife, and she's ahero of the faith for me.
She graduated from tcu.
She went to another closedcountry in east asia.
(02:53):
When you talk about the 1040window, the countries that are
left are hard.
There's a reason that they'reunreached, right and so.
But she went and lived in thisother closed country right when
she graduated from college andone of the guys that I was
recruiting to go with me tochina.
(03:14):
He started dating her andmarried her.
She worked in this really hardcountry.
Then she moved to japan andthen she started dating the guy
that was on my team.
She came to China with me andthen, after we came back to the
(03:36):
States, she said, man, I, myheartbeat is just for the 1040.
And so her and her husbandmoved back to Japan and continue
to serve college students inTokyo to this day.
She's a hero of the faith for me.
I call her 1040 Emma, becauseshe's decided that she's just
going to be there, no matterwhat.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
God bless her.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
She's learned three languages, loves people like you
wouldn't believe, and herhusband is equally as passionate
and gifted for the kingdom, andso they're still serving the
Lord over there.
Two of the couples that werewith us are at Texas State.
One of them is the campusdirector and he was really the
(04:18):
initiator of that team becominga long-term team at Texas State.
When we got to Texas state andthe Lord started doing what the
Lord was doing, he said man, I'mseeing these, these guys and
girls, come to know the Lord and, in good conscience, I can't
just step away from that.
And so I said well, man, youknow, what do you think we
(04:44):
should do about it?
And he said well, I'm going to,I'm going to move to San Marcos
.
He said I'm either going towork for Stumo and work for
Stumo, or I'm just going to doit.
And so he did, and I hired himas the director of Texas state.
Uh, two of the other couples, orone of the other couples that
was on that team, is still thereas well, is still there as well
(05:10):
.
And it's hard because I want totrace down each one and the
amazing stories for each of them, but there's so many stories
about how the Lord has used them, crazy connections, crazy
relationships that they built onthe college campus there's so
many, I literally don't evenknow them all just like when
jesus says, hey, unless acolonel falls to the wheat, to
the ground and dies, it'llremain a single seed.
These, these people, died, youknow, not physically.
(05:35):
They died to their ambitions,they died to their reputation,
they died to, uh, the financialsecurity that they thought that
they probably were going to havecoming out of schools like
University of Texas.
And they just continue to bearfruit in their life.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So I love that you got the ministry going at Texas
State.
Probably a wise call by you tohire the guy and not send him
out to start his own thing.
Right, yeah, you got goodpeople.
It's good to hold on to them.
It's a lot harder to bring onnew people and train them up a
lot more expensive too.
That's something we deal with incorporate america all the time
you know the cost to retainversus the cost to attract, and
(06:19):
so I'm really anxious to hearthe story of um.
I know you stayed connected toa few of the folks that you met
and got to work with in Chinathat were nationals that are
still there, and we'll just sayC to not reveal a full name, but
tell us about C.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, so it's probably, you know, he probably
became my closest friend while Iwas in China.
Probably, you know, he probablybecame my closest friend while
I was in China.
You know, before our team moved, my wife and I got there a
couple of weeks ahead of themand so I said, yeah, I'm just
going to go to the collegecampus and I'm just going to
explore and, just, you know, beable to have some working model
(07:00):
of like what, what it is thatwe're doing, so I can help coach
them.
And I walk onto this collegecampus and there's this guy and
he's standing by himself and Ithought to myself, you know, I
think it was the Holy spirit.
He was like, hey, dude, youshould go talk to this guy.
So I just go up and I say, hey,man, you, you know, you're a
college student here.
And he's like, yes, you know,I'm a college student.
(07:22):
And uh, he's like, well, youknow, like, what are you doing
here?
And uh, I was like, oh, youknow, you know, I'm here
checking out the college campus.
Uh, we, we took some businessChinese on the college campuses,
which is, you know, allowed usto to have student visas and be
able to communicate.
You know, be on the campus andhe said well, let me take you
(07:43):
around, you know, let me showyou everything.
And again to the hospitablenature of that culture, he did.
He took me around, he showed methe gym, he showed me, you know
, the cafeteria, he showed mewhere the classes were going to
be, et cetera.
Over our eight months in China,he became an amazing friend and
probably four months in, I'vebeen sharing the gospel with him
(08:05):
several times.
And he said, yeah, I want tofollow Jesus.
And he said, well, I don't knowwhat that's going to mean for
me.
You know, I'm dating a girlthat's not religious.
And he said, but I do want tofollow him.
And so he did.
And then he went and told hisgirlfriend.
(08:25):
He said, hey, you know, followhim.
And so he did.
And then he went and told hisgirlfriend.
He said, hey, you know, I knowthat you're not religious, but
I've decided to follow Jesus.
And she said, well, if he'sworth following for you, he's
worth me exploring.
And then she started followingJesus.
And about that time is when wehad to leave the country.
(08:49):
But C was so faithful, loyal,but we've kept up through the
years and he now is married tothat woman and they love Jesus
together and they're raising afamily in China with the hope of
the gospel and I think for methat's what it's all about and I
(09:13):
get into this a lot with.
We obviously fundraise for ourministry.
Obviously, a lot of theprobably people listening if
you're in missions do the same.
People listening if you're inmissions do the same.
I always want the stories to bevery compelling, that the gospel
is going forward.
But at the end of the day, thestories that I tell are always
(09:34):
the same.
It's literally the same story.
A guy didn't know Jesuseltloved, cared for, investigated
Jesus, decided to follow Jesus,found hope, peace, joy,
contentment and is stillfollowing Jesus.
And that's it.
(09:56):
And that's all I do, and that'sall we do, and we just try and
do it on the college campus withyoung people.
And it's like donors are like,yeah, you know, but like what
else?
Like how many people come toyour weekly meeting?
And it's like, dude, all I gotis the same story over and over
and over again for 17 years.
But when you do that for 17years, those stories you know,
(10:21):
those kids become parents andthose, their kids now follow
Jesus and it's generational, youknow those, those kids become
parents, and those, their kidsnow follow jesus.
And it's generational, you know, and, and so I guess maybe
that's some encouragement to anymissionary that's out there
that feels like it's slow or itshould be moving faster, you
know, is it's like hey, no, youkeep sailing that ship in the
same direction, year after yearfor a lifetime.
(10:41):
You keep building relationships, telling people about Jesus,
and one day you'll look up andyou'll say, man, I cannot
believe what the Lord did.
But if you look up in sixmonths you're probably thinking
to yourself not much happened.
And that's just the reality ofthe gospel.
We're plotters.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
How do you put some context or perspective around
the concept of you're not goingto be the only step on their
journey?
Right, so you got to plantseeds, you got to see some fruit
and then you had to leave.
Right, and even in the contextof our neighbor in our
neighborhood in Texas or someonewe meet at work, and just an
(11:24):
interaction where somethingdifficult happens and you get to
just talk with them, pray withthem, invite them to church,
invite them to a Bible study ora life group or let them see
something different, but, likeyou may not be there for all the
steps you weren't there for theprevious steps, You're not
going to be there for possiblyyears and all of their lives,
and then, like, maybe at somepoint in the future, there's a
reconnecting point and it's likelisten to what's gone on in my
(11:45):
life since then.
Yeah, right, how do you processthat for us?
Yeah, you know, being faithfulto your step in that journey,
yeah, totally.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
And the Apostle Paul, you know, talks about that.
You know there was a lot ofdissension early on through hey,
who are you really a discipleof?
And Paul planted the seed,apollos watered it, but only God
can make it grow.
And you don't know where you'reat in that journey and what
you're coming into and bringingthis back to China.
I remember one of thecomponents of one of our partner
(12:16):
missionary groups is that theygather information for groups
that put together data of what'sleft to be done in the Great
Commission, and so they aregiven names of people, groups,
and they're like, hey, we don'tknow where these people are, we
don't know if there's anybelievers, we don't know, you
know anything.
And so I was designated, uh,the luohu people of china, and
(12:41):
they're, you, you know, in theKunming province and in the
mountains and kind of hard toget to.
And uh, and they didn't know ifthere was any believers there
or not.
And they just said, hey, youknow, go find them.
And so we go and we're up inthe mountains, off grid.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So you've been part of one of these search teams.
Yeah, yeah, that is awesome.
By the way the crab treestalked about it, the rimstads
have talked about it on thepodcast and these groups that go
out before and they kind ofsurvey and they ask questions
and they get to know and theyladle in and map it out.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
You've done that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it'samazing, you know.
But you know it's a faithjourney because you don't know
if you're going to find them ornot.
You, you are given a generalarea and it's like, hey, just go
find them.
And so you're praying a lot,you're asking the Lord to guide
(13:33):
you and anyway, we, we, we wentin, uh, and we came across this
older man and and uh, and wesaid, yeah, you know, we're
looking for Luohu people.
And he said, well, you know,there's a, there's a man that
lives about five kilometers,that way that he's Luohu and, uh
, I can point you and walk withyou.
I mean, this guy's likeprobably 85 and he's like I'll
just walk with you.
Again, hospitable culture oh andso he walks us there and I meet
(13:54):
this guy, he's, he's farming,uh, in the middle of the
mountains.
And you know, here thesewesterners are walking up.
Probably never, you know, had aWesterner just roll up on your
house in the middle of nowhere.
And he comes out and, uh, andwe say, hey, you know, I've I've
.
I said I've been looking foryou.
And I said you're a little, areyou low?
(14:16):
And he's like, yeah, I'm low.
And uh, he said you've beenlooking for me.
He said why have you beenlooking for me?
And uh, I said, uh, man, I havea story.
I have a story that I thinkthat you will really want to
hear.
And he said you'll be my guesttonight, you'll stay with me.
And again, you know, this is arural farmer, not wealthy.
(14:40):
Um, he says, hey, you're going,gonna stay with me.
And that night they made a feastand over that feast he's like
tell me the story.
And so I start talking aboutjesus and who he is, and how he
came for the luo, who people andhow he came for this man, and
he said hey, let me stop you fora second.
(15:01):
And he goes upstairs and hebrings down like a book that's
wrapped in like a handkerchief.
And he said, hey, is thiswhat's in this book?
Okay?
And I said, yeah, that's what'sin that book.
And he said 40 years ago a manstopped by our house and gave us
(15:27):
this book to my grandfather andI've always wondered what was
in this book.
Come on.
So to that point of what you'reasking is it's like you don't
know what God is doing.
You don't know all thedifferent roads that are going
to converge into one moment.
You don't know if you're goingto plant the seed, you don't
(15:48):
know if you're going to water it, you don't know if you're going
to get to see it grow.
But I think to your point isit's being faithful with the
moment and then saying, man,what is God doing here, and do I
press?
in or do I say, hey, that's justa seed I'm going to plant and
then I'm going to hope that theLord brings fruition to that?
I mean, that's a 40-yearexperience between those gaps
(16:13):
and, honestly, I forgot thestory until we just started
talking about it.
But I think that is how itworks every day with your
neighbor, with your coworkers,with your kids, with your
parents whose kids play on yourkids' athletic team.
It's like, hey, I don't have tobe everything for everyone.
I'm going to set out to sharethe gospel and I am available to
(16:36):
be that.
I'm available to see someonecome to know the Lord.
I'm going to be available tohelp them mature in their faith.
But I'm also not expecting thatthat is always going to happen,
right, because if you are, youalso just get really discouraged
in ministry.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
The scoreboard can't be the outcome.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
No doubt.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
No, just your faithfulness.
That's right.
And goodness gracious man,tears are in my eyes and I've
got goosebumps.
It reminds me of another storythat was told on the pod, where
you know the missionary group.
They go to the people group.
They realize that none of themare gifted in translation.
They're so worried about who'sgoing to translate into this
language.
And they get involved and theymeet a guy like this guy and
(17:19):
he's like well, you don't needto translate, because 30 years
ago this couple from Finlandcame here and they spent 10
years and they translated theBible.
So then they looked them up,called them and they're like hey
, we're here with this peoplegroup.
And they just broke down crying.
And they're like we just thatwas a season in our life.
(17:40):
We weren't the right people tostay there.
We had to go for reasons outand we've been praying for three
decades that somebody wouldshow back up to finish that work
.
And there you are.
Totally Like those stories,jason.
That is just so good.
I'm glad that one came out thatgoes in your book.
(18:01):
Don't forget that one when youwrite your book.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, there's a story about a man who went to be a
missionary and he gave years ofhis life to it and he said man,
you know, the Lord's just notworking here.
You know spiritual oppression,spiritual warfare in his own
life, felt isolated and he'slike man, god's just not doing
anything here, comes back to theStates, deconstructs his faith,
(18:27):
basically says man, you know, Iwas a byproduct of evangelical
America, should have never beena missionary.
Someone came to him and said,hey, do you know what happened
after you left?
He's like no, he's like hey,one of the young kids came to
(18:47):
know the Lord.
He grew up, he led the wholetribe to Christ.
And I think about that all thetime.
Of just how many missionariesand how many we don't even have
to say missionaries how manybelievers are just discouraged
hey, what I'm doing doesn'tmatter.
I wish I could do more, I wishGod would do more.
(19:08):
Is God even working?
And it's like man we areViewing With such limited
perspective that you can have noidea what a lifetime of
faithfulness can produce, and Ithink that's just how God works.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
We're reading AW Tozer Knowledge of the Holy in D
Group right now.
So we just got out of ScrewtapeLetters and we're in the seven
holies and we're in.
And if you've never read thatbook, that's another one I would
put on your list.
It was written 70, 75 years ago.
It's an incredibly applicablesort of day.
But basically he walks throughthe attributes of God but he
(19:46):
starts out the book by justmaking a point and shining light
on how we've minimized God inour culture and just how great
and grand and huge and awesomeand powerful God is.
And to live in the fear of theLord is something that gets a
little lost, I think, in justthe weekly sermon routines of a
(20:08):
lot of churches and the weeklykind of daily routine of
American Western life.
We need to regain that.
I mean we've got a worshippastor sitting next to us that
puts his hands up and puts hisheart into songs and brings up
the body to worship the king andget their hearts ready to
receive the word, and I'mgrateful for Clint and Amber and
(20:30):
everyone on our team here.
We do a beautiful, beautifuljob.
Regain that awe, yeah Right.
Recapture that just majesty ofthe author and creator of the
universe, the man who preparedthe meal Yep, and is preparing a
feast in heaven for all ofthese folks who are downstream
(20:51):
of all of the faithfulness ofthe various missionaries and
folks in the marketplace andeveryday Christ followers that
are just out there doing lifeand participating in their role
and reaching the unreached.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I think that that's it.
You know the awe of the Lordand you know maybe this is my
own journey with the Lord, so itmight not be for everyone.
But I think another piece isthe theology of suffering and
persecution and, like as abeliever, you know the word says
(21:30):
everyone who wishes to live agodly life will be persecuted.
And I think in AmericanChristianity it can become hey,
if you're not liked, you're tooextreme.
Hey, what does the word sayabout suffering when you go
through hard times, when you gothrough disappointment?
What does the word say aboutpersecution in your own life?
(21:52):
And what role does that have onthe mission field?
And what role does that have inthe marketplace?
And what role does that have inour view as we engage this
world?
And, and largely speaking Iwould say, the greatest sermons
are going to be the sermons thatour lives preach when we're
going through the worst times.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
When you think biblically about the theology of
suffering.
Okay, so the first place I gois James one, you know, consider
it pure joy when troubles ofany kind come your way, for when
your faith is tested, yourendurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow right.
When it's fully developed right, you're fully mature and
complete, needing nothing Tohave a concept to live by, a
(22:34):
concept of such heavenly focusthat I can be joyful in the
hardest times because God isrefining me and preparing me and
maturing me and building myendurance to get me ready for
the seasons ahead, to know thatthat's part of what my story
needs to go through and that Ilove him for taking me through.
(22:55):
That is so counter-cultural, itis so counter-intuitive.
It is not the American dreamTotally.
It's not even the version ofChina of you know, believing in
self.
There was a guy in my officelast week, engineered Apple,
from India, hindu, and he thinkswe're going to talk about stock
(23:16):
options and I first thing I goto is man, are you, are you
Hindu?
Are you practicing your faith?
Tell me about you, know whatGod you're working with and how
does it work for you, and tellme about you know family and it
was an arranged marriage and hewalked me through that
conversation and and then hegets into the gods and he's like
you know, our gods are kind ofwho you want them to be.
Right, you know, if you'regoing through something, you
(23:36):
kind of pick a god that suitsthat narrative for that time in
your life and if you're lookingto do something else, you find
the God that's kind of dealingwith that and you just form your
gods to your need and I justthink, man, that is so little g,
that is so little g gods, man,that is so.
There's no awe and power andcreator in a God that you can
(23:56):
form, in a God that's a vendingmachine that you can just go put
a dollar in and hit a buttonand get out what you kind of
need in that moment.
And even taking the little Ggods out of it and just looking
at, looking to self, I mean youput all your faith and trust and
hope in yourself or in yourspouse or in the development and
(24:17):
success of your kids or anyother.
Counterfeit God, false idolShout out, tim Keller, right.
Counterfeit gods you put it inany of those.
We're going to let ourselvesdown.
I let myself down all the timeand I am steadfastly trying to
get up and die to self and getin my Bible and do this rhythm
the right way and constantly,daily, let myself down.
(24:39):
Right, if I was relying onmyself, this would be a lot
different story over the last 10years of my life.
Right, and so I justcontextually, with the listeners
processing this he's just abetter captain of your ship than
you are, no doubt, and ifyou're allowing him to be, then
(25:00):
you're therefore a better guidefor those coming into your life
as well than if they're relyingon you.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Even as you were talking, you know, I'm just, I
was thinking about this storyfrom China Again, the story that
I forgot.
But uh, you know, when we movedinto our apartment, we moved
into a building with probably10,000 people and they're old
and they're not, they're notgreatly constructed, the
apartments, not the people.
Yeah, the apartments, uh, thepeople are greatly constructed.
(25:31):
And uh, but you know, we hadour, our newborn, in his room
and you, you know, it wasprobably a 850 square foot
apartment and I noticed thatthere was, there was like black
Coming off of the airconditioner, like on the
wallpaper, oh, and the bedcovered the floor when that
(25:57):
black led down.
And so I pulled the bed backand there was just mold All
through this floor, I mean justeverywhere.
And I, I pulled the bed backand there was just mold all
through this floor, I mean justeverywhere.
And I mean we'd been lettingour newborns sleep in this room.
And I called my landlord and ofcourse, you know, in America,
you, your landlord's job is tohelp keep you happy, uh, but in
China, you know, it's kind ofyour job as the tenant to make
(26:22):
your landlord's life easier.
I didn't know that and so Isaid, hey, there's mold growing
all in the wall and on the floorof this room and our and our
baby's in there.
And she said, no, you know it's, it's fine.
And uh, and I'm like you know,my, my Western mind is like no,
(26:44):
it's, you know, it's not fine.
You need, like you need, tomake this right, but that's just
not the worldview.
And so I went and I got bleachand I went to a local AC place
and I remember I ripped off thewallpaper and there was just
mold all over the place and I'mjust scrubbing this concrete
(27:07):
wall and I'm literally saying tomyself out loud my wife thinks
I'm crazy, but I'm saying,consider it pure joy when you
face trials of many kinds.
And I remember telling thatstory to my team and I'm like,
man, you know, I got this baby,I'm protecting, I'm trying to be
(27:28):
protected, I'm trying to be agood dad here.
You know, create a safe spotfor him.
I'm nervous about this mold andand the you know the Lord kind
of does this.
And and so many of our teammembers have come back to me and
said, hey, that was one of thethings from our time in China
that I remember the most waswhen you said hey, I'm going to
consider it pure joy to facetrials of many kinds.
And so I think to your point.
(27:50):
You know, these moments are themoments that will define, and
people are watching and they'rewanting to know how are you
engaging the world and do youreally believe what, the, what
the word says?
And inside I was fuming, but atleast externally, you know, I
was trying to hold onto the wordyeah.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Well, emotions are not always straightforward.
Yeah, they can be very complex,they can be multifaceted, but
what we choose to, in fact, oneof the things we love to say at
the Ridge is respond.
Respond to God, don't react tothe person, but we choose to
respond with and show externally.
People are watching, we allhave influence.
We're not influencers in termsof a social media account, but
(28:32):
we all have influence and peopleare watching how we handle
situations, especially if you'representing yourself as a
follower of Christ man.
I so appreciate you staying onand doing two episodes with us.
I so appreciate the time.
I would like to bring this backto Stumo, the organization.
How does it operate?
You brought up a question youget a lot which is I mean, what
(28:54):
do you do?
You just go hang out at thecollege campus and run into a
kid and, hey, you know anythingabout Jesus.
I mean, we don't know theframework of how this goes down.
So give us the framework andthe strategy.
How do you engage with yourteam?
How do you disciple your team?
Give us a little glimpse intothat.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
I would say that Stumo is just heavily engaged in
the Great Commission throughthe building of leaders.
In the beginning of Genesis,the first command that God gave
to mankind was go and befruitful and multiply.
I would make the argument thatthat has always been the command
that is consistent with thegreat commission, and so the
(29:33):
first command that God gavemankind being go, be fruitful
and multiply.
What was he saying?
Did he just want more people?
It's like no Adam and Eve.
They looked and walked likeJesus and he wanted more of them
.
And then sin entered the worldand it distorted it.
And so then you have Jesuscoming back to restate that
(29:54):
message hey, go and makedisciples of all nations.
What he's saying is I want morefollowers of me, and heaven in
the book of revelation is goingto be the culmination of people
that live and came to know theLord through that.
And so to me, that's the mostpurposeful thing of your entire
life, is getting that baselineof like hey, whether you are a
(30:18):
marketplace leader, a ministryworker, a missionary, is seeing
people come to know Jesus andhelp them mature is the most
important thing.
Now, with Stumo, that's what wedo full-time as profession.
You know, largely speaking, Iwould say majority of our
ministry is spent with, in theearly stages of people who don't
follow Jesus, and or maybe theyhave some church background but
(30:38):
they are navigating if theywant that to be true of their
life, and so we enter in, wethrow our arm around him and we
just say, hey, you know, ifJesus says that I came to give
life, and life to the full, areyou experiencing that, and what
would it look like to follow himand experience that?
Speaker 1 (30:58):
So, understanding that framework, how, how do the
listeners get involved?
How do they engage with StumoIf they feel like they want to
support, they want to partner,they want to learn more from the
ministry, what do they do?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, so, uh, you know we have a website, stumoorg
S-T-U-M-O, s-t-u-m-oorg.
We have 300 people that workfull-time on the college
campuses, uh, on about 38different college campuses
across the United States.
We probably have another couplehundred in on the mission field
the mission field in the 1040window, and so, if it's stirred
(31:28):
your heart and you'd like tolearn more about one of those
campuses or about some of thosestaff, all those staff
individually fundraise and sotheir salary is paid by
individual donors thatcontribute to their monthly
salary and to their ministryexpenses that allows them to go
out and work with those collegestudents.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Perfect For the listeners, who usually end in a
prayer.
We were just talking about someof the worship songs here at
the Ridge, and you Won't WasteSuffering just is on top of mind
right now, and so, rather thanend in prayer for the second
episode, we're just going to teethat up and share that song
with you, and my prayer would bethat it does stir something in
your heart and you find a newway to engage in your role in
(32:08):
the Great Commission.
Thanks, jason, thank you guys.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Sometimes faith is just an ember.
Sometimes hope is just aglimmer In the darkest night.
Lord, shine your light.
When your plans call forsurrender and then my doubt.
(32:50):
It spreads like cancer.
When I'm afraid, lord, give mesongs of praise.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
You're not shaken by darkness or the pain that it
causes.
There is no measure to what youcan do.
So let my story bring glory toyou.
(33:25):
You work through everything.
You won't waste suffering, andI'm at my weakest when pain
(33:48):
takes hold and won't relinquishThrough tear-stained eyes.
Lord, give me sight to see.
You're not shaken by darknessor the pain that it causes.
(34:10):
There is no measure to what youcan do.
So let my story bring glory toyou.
You work through everything.
You work through everything.
(34:30):
You won't waste suffering.
Every moment of every season, Ican know that your glory is for
(35:03):
my good when there's nothingand when there's plenty.
I can trust that your glory isfor my good In the valley or on
the mountain.
(35:23):
I can see that your glory isfor my good From beginning to
the ending.
I will sing that your glory isfor my good my God.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
So when questions arise, I'll be dependent.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Though sorrows rage my joy, I'm lifted.
When the hurt is deep, still, Iwill stay.
You're not shaken by darkness,no, all the pain that it causes.
(36:18):
There is no measure to what youcan do.
So let my story bring glory toyou.
You work through everything.
You work through everything.
(36:41):
You won't waste suffering.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Thank you for listening to Unreached.
Our sincere desire is that whatyou've heard today will cause
you to see the mission of Goddifferently and your role in it
more clearly.
If this adds value for you andwe hope it does would you please
rate and review the podcastwherever you listen.
Also, share with your family,your friends, your church, your
life group, small group, dgroup,wherever you do life, and if
(37:12):
you want to connect with us,find us on Instagram at
unreachedpodcast, or email us atunreachedpodcast at gmailcom.
In Revelation 7, john shares his vision of heaven
with members from every tribe,tongue, people and language
standing in the throne roombefore the Lamb.
Yet today there are still over7,000 unreached people groups
around the world.
For the last six years, myfamily and friends have been on
a journey to find, vet and fundthe task remaining.
(00:28):
Come journey with us to theends of the earth as we share
the supernatural stories of Godat work for the men and women he
has called to reach theunreached.
Hello friends, welcome back tothe Unreached podcast.
Dustin Elliott here again, aspromised, with Jason Kuhlman.
If you're like me, you probablywere just floored listening to
(00:50):
him tell the story of going fromcollege campuses in Texas to
the mission field and collegecampuses in China.
The hunger, the thirst.
How welcome they were toreceive the word, how interested
they were.
The incredible story of theyoung man and talking about the
five-course meal and somebodyprepared that meal.
Well, somebody prepared thistoo, and it just unlocked him
(01:13):
right and then rerouted back tothe States.
The emotional turmoil, spiritualwarfare, the whole components,
all the things that you and yourteam went through.
But that was a few years agoand since then God has blessed
you and your wife with two morechildren.
(01:34):
We've got to walk throughissues in growing families
together, as we both experiencedsome loss in that regard.
We've got to walk through yourre-immersion into the college
campuses here, your team fromChina getting immersed in a new
college campus that y'alllaunched into with that team.
How interesting that has to befor them.
(01:55):
And so let's just trace thepath of several of these folks
since they've been back.
I think some have actually goneback to the mission field since
and then a couple couple peoplethat you've been able to
actually stay in touch with inchina yeah as well.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, there's been a lot of life that's happened
since you know, that day, youknow, probably you know two of
the people are back in the 1040window doing missions full-time
from the team, from the teamokay and uh, and they went back
about a year after and they'vebeen in tokyo, japan, you know,
obviously in the heart of the1040, one of the most unreached
(02:32):
countries in the world.
A lot of cultural dynamicsthere as a result, you know, has
hindered the gospel there, butthey're now married with two
kids and the wife, and she's ahero of the faith for me.
She graduated from tcu.
She went to another closedcountry in east asia.
(02:53):
When you talk about the 1040window, the countries that are
left are hard.
There's a reason that they'reunreached, right and so.
But she went and lived in thisother closed country right when
she graduated from college andone of the guys that I was
recruiting to go with me tochina.
(03:14):
He started dating her andmarried her.
She worked in this really hardcountry.
Then she moved to japan andthen she started dating the guy
that was on my team.
She came to China with me andthen, after we came back to the
(03:36):
States, she said, man, I, myheartbeat is just for the 1040.
And so her and her husbandmoved back to Japan and continue
to serve college students inTokyo to this day.
She's a hero of the faith for me.
I call her 1040 Emma, becauseshe's decided that she's just
going to be there, no matterwhat.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
God bless her.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
She's learned three languages, loves people like you
wouldn't believe, and herhusband is equally as passionate
and gifted for the kingdom, andso they're still serving the
Lord over there.
Two of the couples that werewith us are at Texas State.
One of them is the campusdirector and he was really the
(04:18):
initiator of that team becominga long-term team at Texas State.
When we got to Texas state andthe Lord started doing what the
Lord was doing, he said man, I'mseeing these, these guys and
girls, come to know the Lord and, in good conscience, I can't
just step away from that.
And so I said well, man, youknow, what do you think we
(04:44):
should do about it?
And he said well, I'm going to,I'm going to move to San Marcos
.
He said I'm either going towork for Stumo and work for
Stumo, or I'm just going to doit.
And so he did, and I hired himas the director of Texas state.
Uh, two of the other couples, orone of the other couples that
was on that team, is still thereas well, is still there as well
(05:10):
.
And it's hard because I want totrace down each one and the
amazing stories for each of them, but there's so many stories
about how the Lord has used them, crazy connections, crazy
relationships that they built onthe college campus there's so
many, I literally don't evenknow them all just like when
jesus says, hey, unless acolonel falls to the wheat, to
the ground and dies, it'llremain a single seed.
These, these people, died, youknow, not physically.
(05:35):
They died to their ambitions,they died to their reputation,
they died to, uh, the financialsecurity that they thought that
they probably were going to havecoming out of schools like
University of Texas.
And they just continue to bearfruit in their life.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So I love that you got the ministry going at Texas
State.
Probably a wise call by you tohire the guy and not send him
out to start his own thing.
Right, yeah, you got goodpeople.
It's good to hold on to them.
It's a lot harder to bring onnew people and train them up a
lot more expensive too.
That's something we deal with incorporate america all the time
you know the cost to retainversus the cost to attract, and
(06:19):
so I'm really anxious to hearthe story of um.
I know you stayed connected toa few of the folks that you met
and got to work with in Chinathat were nationals that are
still there, and we'll just sayC to not reveal a full name, but
tell us about C.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, so it's probably, you know, he probably
became my closest friend while Iwas in China.
Probably, you know, he probablybecame my closest friend while
I was in China.
You know, before our team moved, my wife and I got there a
couple of weeks ahead of themand so I said, yeah, I'm just
going to go to the collegecampus and I'm just going to
explore and, just, you know, beable to have some working model
(07:00):
of like what, what it is thatwe're doing, so I can help coach
them.
And I walk onto this collegecampus and there's this guy and
he's standing by himself and Ithought to myself, you know, I
think it was the Holy spirit.
He was like, hey, dude, youshould go talk to this guy.
So I just go up and I say, hey,man, you, you know, you're a
college student here.
And he's like, yes, you know,I'm a college student.
(07:22):
And uh, he's like, well, youknow, like, what are you doing
here?
And uh, I was like, oh, youknow, you know, I'm here
checking out the college campus.
Uh, we, we took some businessChinese on the college campuses,
which is, you know, allowed usto to have student visas and be
able to communicate.
You know, be on the campus andhe said well, let me take you
(07:43):
around, you know, let me showyou everything.
And again to the hospitablenature of that culture, he did.
He took me around, he showed methe gym, he showed me, you know
, the cafeteria, he showed mewhere the classes were going to
be, et cetera.
Over our eight months in China,he became an amazing friend and
probably four months in, I'vebeen sharing the gospel with him
(08:05):
several times.
And he said, yeah, I want tofollow Jesus.
And he said, well, I don't knowwhat that's going to mean for
me.
You know, I'm dating a girlthat's not religious.
And he said, but I do want tofollow him.
And so he did.
And then he went and told hisgirlfriend.
(08:25):
He said, hey, you know, followhim.
And so he did.
And then he went and told hisgirlfriend.
He said, hey, you know, I knowthat you're not religious, but
I've decided to follow Jesus.
And she said, well, if he'sworth following for you, he's
worth me exploring.
And then she started followingJesus.
And about that time is when wehad to leave the country.
(08:49):
But C was so faithful, loyal,but we've kept up through the
years and he now is married tothat woman and they love Jesus
together and they're raising afamily in China with the hope of
the gospel and I think for methat's what it's all about and I
(09:13):
get into this a lot with.
We obviously fundraise for ourministry.
Obviously, a lot of theprobably people listening if
you're in missions do the same.
People listening if you're inmissions do the same.
I always want the stories to bevery compelling, that the gospel
is going forward.
But at the end of the day, thestories that I tell are always
(09:34):
the same.
It's literally the same story.
A guy didn't know Jesuseltloved, cared for, investigated
Jesus, decided to follow Jesus,found hope, peace, joy,
contentment and is stillfollowing Jesus.
And that's it.
(09:56):
And that's all I do, and that'sall we do, and we just try and
do it on the college campus withyoung people.
And it's like donors are like,yeah, you know, but like what
else?
Like how many people come toyour weekly meeting?
And it's like, dude, all I gotis the same story over and over
and over again for 17 years.
But when you do that for 17years, those stories you know,
(10:21):
those kids become parents andthose, their kids now follow
Jesus and it's generational, youknow those, those kids become
parents, and those, their kidsnow follow jesus.
And it's generational, you know, and, and so I guess maybe
that's some encouragement to anymissionary that's out there
that feels like it's slow or itshould be moving faster, you
know, is it's like hey, no, youkeep sailing that ship in the
same direction, year after yearfor a lifetime.
(10:41):
You keep building relationships, telling people about Jesus,
and one day you'll look up andyou'll say, man, I cannot
believe what the Lord did.
But if you look up in sixmonths you're probably thinking
to yourself not much happened.
And that's just the reality ofthe gospel.
We're plotters.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
How do you put some context or perspective around
the concept of you're not goingto be the only step on their
journey?
Right, so you got to plantseeds, you got to see some fruit
and then you had to leave.
Right, and even in the contextof our neighbor in our
neighborhood in Texas or someonewe meet at work, and just an
(11:24):
interaction where somethingdifficult happens and you get to
just talk with them, pray withthem, invite them to church,
invite them to a Bible study ora life group or let them see
something different, but, likeyou may not be there for all the
steps you weren't there for theprevious steps, You're not
going to be there for possiblyyears and all of their lives,
and then, like, maybe at somepoint in the future, there's a
reconnecting point and it's likelisten to what's gone on in my
(11:45):
life since then.
Yeah, right, how do you processthat for us?
Yeah, you know, being faithfulto your step in that journey,
yeah, totally.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
And the Apostle Paul, you know, talks about that.
You know there was a lot ofdissension early on through hey,
who are you really a discipleof?
And Paul planted the seed,apollos watered it, but only God
can make it grow.
And you don't know where you'reat in that journey and what
you're coming into and bringingthis back to China.
I remember one of thecomponents of one of our partner
(12:16):
missionary groups is that theygather information for groups
that put together data of what'sleft to be done in the Great
Commission, and so they aregiven names of people, groups,
and they're like, hey, we don'tknow where these people are, we
don't know if there's anybelievers, we don't know, you
know anything.
And so I was designated, uh,the luohu people of china, and
(12:41):
they're, you, you know, in theKunming province and in the
mountains and kind of hard toget to.
And uh, and they didn't know ifthere was any believers there
or not.
And they just said, hey, youknow, go find them.
And so we go and we're up inthe mountains, off grid.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So you've been part of one of these search teams.
Yeah, yeah, that is awesome.
By the way the crab treestalked about it, the rimstads
have talked about it on thepodcast and these groups that go
out before and they kind ofsurvey and they ask questions
and they get to know and theyladle in and map it out.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
You've done that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it'samazing, you know.
But you know it's a faithjourney because you don't know
if you're going to find them ornot.
You, you are given a generalarea and it's like, hey, just go
find them.
And so you're praying a lot,you're asking the Lord to guide
(13:33):
you and anyway, we, we, we wentin, uh, and we came across this
older man and and uh, and wesaid, yeah, you know, we're
looking for Luohu people.
And he said, well, you know,there's a, there's a man that
lives about five kilometers,that way that he's Luohu and, uh
, I can point you and walk withyou.
I mean, this guy's likeprobably 85 and he's like I'll
just walk with you.
Again, hospitable culture oh andso he walks us there and I meet
(13:54):
this guy, he's, he's farming,uh, in the middle of the
mountains.
And you know, here thesewesterners are walking up.
Probably never, you know, had aWesterner just roll up on your
house in the middle of nowhere.
And he comes out and, uh, andwe say, hey, you know, I've I've
.
I said I've been looking foryou.
And I said you're a little, areyou low?
(14:16):
And he's like, yeah, I'm low.
And uh, he said you've beenlooking for me.
He said why have you beenlooking for me?
And uh, I said, uh, man, I havea story.
I have a story that I thinkthat you will really want to
hear.
And he said you'll be my guesttonight, you'll stay with me.
And again, you know, this is arural farmer, not wealthy.
(14:40):
Um, he says, hey, you're going,gonna stay with me.
And that night they made a feastand over that feast he's like
tell me the story.
And so I start talking aboutjesus and who he is, and how he
came for the luo, who people andhow he came for this man, and
he said hey, let me stop you fora second.
(15:01):
And he goes upstairs and hebrings down like a book that's
wrapped in like a handkerchief.
And he said, hey, is thiswhat's in this book?
Okay?
And I said, yeah, that's what'sin that book.
And he said 40 years ago a manstopped by our house and gave us
(15:27):
this book to my grandfather andI've always wondered what was
in this book.
Come on.
So to that point of what you'reasking is it's like you don't
know what God is doing.
You don't know all thedifferent roads that are going
to converge into one moment.
You don't know if you're goingto plant the seed, you don't
(15:48):
know if you're going to water it, you don't know if you're going
to get to see it grow.
But I think to your point isit's being faithful with the
moment and then saying, man,what is God doing here, and do I
press?
in or do I say, hey, that's justa seed I'm going to plant and
then I'm going to hope that theLord brings fruition to that?
I mean, that's a 40-yearexperience between those gaps
(16:13):
and, honestly, I forgot thestory until we just started
talking about it.
But I think that is how itworks every day with your
neighbor, with your coworkers,with your kids, with your
parents whose kids play on yourkids' athletic team.
It's like, hey, I don't have tobe everything for everyone.
I'm going to set out to sharethe gospel and I am available to
(16:36):
be that.
I'm available to see someonecome to know the Lord.
I'm going to be available tohelp them mature in their faith.
But I'm also not expecting thatthat is always going to happen,
right, because if you are, youalso just get really discouraged
in ministry.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
The scoreboard can't be the outcome.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
No doubt.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
No, just your faithfulness.
That's right.
And goodness gracious man,tears are in my eyes and I've
got goosebumps.
It reminds me of another storythat was told on the pod, where
you know the missionary group.
They go to the people group.
They realize that none of themare gifted in translation.
They're so worried about who'sgoing to translate into this
language.
And they get involved and theymeet a guy like this guy and
(17:19):
he's like well, you don't needto translate, because 30 years
ago this couple from Finlandcame here and they spent 10
years and they translated theBible.
So then they looked them up,called them and they're like hey
, we're here with this peoplegroup.
And they just broke down crying.
And they're like we just thatwas a season in our life.
(17:40):
We weren't the right people tostay there.
We had to go for reasons outand we've been praying for three
decades that somebody wouldshow back up to finish that work
.
And there you are.
Totally Like those stories,jason.
That is just so good.
I'm glad that one came out thatgoes in your book.
(18:01):
Don't forget that one when youwrite your book.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, there's a story about a man who went to be a
missionary and he gave years ofhis life to it and he said man,
you know, the Lord's just notworking here.
You know spiritual oppression,spiritual warfare in his own
life, felt isolated and he'slike man, god's just not doing
anything here, comes back to theStates, deconstructs his faith,
(18:27):
basically says man, you know, Iwas a byproduct of evangelical
America, should have never beena missionary.
Someone came to him and said,hey, do you know what happened
after you left?
He's like no, he's like hey,one of the young kids came to
(18:47):
know the Lord.
He grew up, he led the wholetribe to Christ.
And I think about that all thetime.
Of just how many missionariesand how many we don't even have
to say missionaries how manybelievers are just discouraged
hey, what I'm doing doesn'tmatter.
I wish I could do more, I wishGod would do more.
(19:08):
Is God even working?
And it's like man we areViewing With such limited
perspective that you can have noidea what a lifetime of
faithfulness can produce, and Ithink that's just how God works.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
We're reading AW Tozer Knowledge of the Holy in D
Group right now.
So we just got out of ScrewtapeLetters and we're in the seven
holies and we're in.
And if you've never read thatbook, that's another one I would
put on your list.
It was written 70, 75 years ago.
It's an incredibly applicablesort of day.
But basically he walks throughthe attributes of God but he
(19:46):
starts out the book by justmaking a point and shining light
on how we've minimized God inour culture and just how great
and grand and huge and awesomeand powerful God is.
And to live in the fear of theLord is something that gets a
little lost, I think, in justthe weekly sermon routines of a
(20:08):
lot of churches and the weeklykind of daily routine of
American Western life.
We need to regain that.
I mean we've got a worshippastor sitting next to us that
puts his hands up and puts hisheart into songs and brings up
the body to worship the king andget their hearts ready to
receive the word, and I'mgrateful for Clint and Amber and
(20:30):
everyone on our team here.
We do a beautiful, beautifuljob.
Regain that awe, yeah Right.
Recapture that just majesty ofthe author and creator of the
universe, the man who preparedthe meal Yep, and is preparing a
feast in heaven for all ofthese folks who are downstream
(20:51):
of all of the faithfulness ofthe various missionaries and
folks in the marketplace andeveryday Christ followers that
are just out there doing lifeand participating in their role
and reaching the unreached.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I think that that's it.
You know the awe of the Lordand you know maybe this is my
own journey with the Lord, so itmight not be for everyone.
But I think another piece isthe theology of suffering and
persecution and, like as abeliever, you know the word says
(21:30):
everyone who wishes to live agodly life will be persecuted.
And I think in AmericanChristianity it can become hey,
if you're not liked, you're tooextreme.
Hey, what does the word sayabout suffering when you go
through hard times, when you gothrough disappointment?
What does the word say aboutpersecution in your own life?
(21:52):
And what role does that have onthe mission field?
And what role does that have inthe marketplace?
And what role does that have inour view as we engage this
world?
And, and largely speaking Iwould say, the greatest sermons
are going to be the sermons thatour lives preach when we're
going through the worst times.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
When you think biblically about the theology of
suffering.
Okay, so the first place I gois James one, you know, consider
it pure joy when troubles ofany kind come your way, for when
your faith is tested, yourendurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow right.
When it's fully developed right, you're fully mature and
complete, needing nothing Tohave a concept to live by, a
(22:34):
concept of such heavenly focusthat I can be joyful in the
hardest times because God isrefining me and preparing me and
maturing me and building myendurance to get me ready for
the seasons ahead, to know thatthat's part of what my story
needs to go through and that Ilove him for taking me through.
(22:55):
That is so counter-cultural, itis so counter-intuitive.
It is not the American dreamTotally.
It's not even the version ofChina of you know, believing in
self.
There was a guy in my officelast week, engineered Apple,
from India, hindu, and he thinkswe're going to talk about stock
(23:16):
options and I first thing I goto is man, are you, are you
Hindu?
Are you practicing your faith?
Tell me about you, know whatGod you're working with and how
does it work for you, and tellme about you know family and it
was an arranged marriage and hewalked me through that
conversation and and then hegets into the gods and he's like
you know, our gods are kind ofwho you want them to be.
Right, you know, if you'regoing through something, you
(23:36):
kind of pick a god that suitsthat narrative for that time in
your life and if you're lookingto do something else, you find
the God that's kind of dealingwith that and you just form your
gods to your need and I justthink, man, that is so little g,
that is so little g gods, man,that is so.
There's no awe and power andcreator in a God that you can
(23:56):
form, in a God that's a vendingmachine that you can just go put
a dollar in and hit a buttonand get out what you kind of
need in that moment.
And even taking the little Ggods out of it and just looking
at, looking to self, I mean youput all your faith and trust and
hope in yourself or in yourspouse or in the development and
(24:17):
success of your kids or anyother.
Counterfeit God, false idolShout out, tim Keller, right.
Counterfeit gods you put it inany of those.
We're going to let ourselvesdown.
I let myself down all the timeand I am steadfastly trying to
get up and die to self and getin my Bible and do this rhythm
the right way and constantly,daily, let myself down.
(24:39):
Right, if I was relying onmyself, this would be a lot
different story over the last 10years of my life.
Right, and so I justcontextually, with the listeners
processing this he's just abetter captain of your ship than
you are, no doubt, and ifyou're allowing him to be, then
(25:00):
you're therefore a better guidefor those coming into your life
as well than if they're relyingon you.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Even as you were talking, you know, I'm just, I
was thinking about this storyfrom China Again, the story that
I forgot.
But uh, you know, when we movedinto our apartment, we moved
into a building with probably10,000 people and they're old
and they're not, they're notgreatly constructed, the
apartments, not the people.
Yeah, the apartments, uh, thepeople are greatly constructed.
(25:31):
And uh, but you know, we hadour, our newborn, in his room
and you, you know, it wasprobably a 850 square foot
apartment and I noticed thatthere was, there was like black
Coming off of the airconditioner, like on the
wallpaper, oh, and the bedcovered the floor when that
(25:57):
black led down.
And so I pulled the bed backand there was just mold All
through this floor, I mean justeverywhere.
And I, I pulled the bed backand there was just mold all
through this floor, I mean justeverywhere.
And I mean we'd been lettingour newborns sleep in this room.
And I called my landlord and ofcourse, you know, in America,
you, your landlord's job is tohelp keep you happy, uh, but in
China, you know, it's kind ofyour job as the tenant to make
(26:22):
your landlord's life easier.
I didn't know that and so Isaid, hey, there's mold growing
all in the wall and on the floorof this room and our and our
baby's in there.
And she said, no, you know it's, it's fine.
And uh, and I'm like you know,my, my Western mind is like no,
(26:44):
it's, you know, it's not fine.
You need, like you need, tomake this right, but that's just
not the worldview.
And so I went and I got bleachand I went to a local AC place
and I remember I ripped off thewallpaper and there was just
mold all over the place and I'mjust scrubbing this concrete
(27:07):
wall and I'm literally saying tomyself out loud my wife thinks
I'm crazy, but I'm saying,consider it pure joy when you
face trials of many kinds.
And I remember telling thatstory to my team and I'm like,
man, you know, I got this baby,I'm protecting, I'm trying to be
(27:28):
protected, I'm trying to be agood dad here.
You know, create a safe spotfor him.
I'm nervous about this mold andand the you know the Lord kind
of does this.
And and so many of our teammembers have come back to me and
said, hey, that was one of thethings from our time in China
that I remember the most waswhen you said hey, I'm going to
consider it pure joy to facetrials of many kinds.
And so I think to your point.
(27:50):
You know, these moments are themoments that will define, and
people are watching and they'rewanting to know how are you
engaging the world and do youreally believe what, the, what
the word says?
And inside I was fuming, but atleast externally, you know, I
was trying to hold onto the wordyeah.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Well, emotions are not always straightforward.
Yeah, they can be very complex,they can be multifaceted, but
what we choose to, in fact, oneof the things we love to say at
the Ridge is respond.
Respond to God, don't react tothe person, but we choose to
respond with and show externally.
People are watching, we allhave influence.
We're not influencers in termsof a social media account, but
(28:32):
we all have influence and peopleare watching how we handle
situations, especially if you'representing yourself as a
follower of Christ man.
I so appreciate you staying onand doing two episodes with us.
I so appreciate the time.
I would like to bring this backto Stumo, the organization.
How does it operate?
You brought up a question youget a lot which is I mean, what
(28:54):
do you do?
You just go hang out at thecollege campus and run into a
kid and, hey, you know anythingabout Jesus.
I mean, we don't know theframework of how this goes down.
So give us the framework andthe strategy.
How do you engage with yourteam?
How do you disciple your team?
Give us a little glimpse intothat.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
I would say that Stumo is just heavily engaged in
the Great Commission throughthe building of leaders.
In the beginning of Genesis,the first command that God gave
to mankind was go and befruitful and multiply.
I would make the argument thatthat has always been the command
that is consistent with thegreat commission, and so the
(29:33):
first command that God gavemankind being go, be fruitful
and multiply.
What was he saying?
Did he just want more people?
It's like no Adam and Eve.
They looked and walked likeJesus and he wanted more of them
.
And then sin entered the worldand it distorted it.
And so then you have Jesuscoming back to restate that
(29:54):
message hey, go and makedisciples of all nations.
What he's saying is I want morefollowers of me, and heaven in
the book of revelation is goingto be the culmination of people
that live and came to know theLord through that.
And so to me, that's the mostpurposeful thing of your entire
life, is getting that baselineof like hey, whether you are a
(30:18):
marketplace leader, a ministryworker, a missionary, is seeing
people come to know Jesus andhelp them mature is the most
important thing.
Now, with Stumo, that's what wedo full-time as profession.
You know, largely speaking, Iwould say majority of our
ministry is spent with, in theearly stages of people who don't
follow Jesus, and or maybe theyhave some church background but
(30:38):
they are navigating if theywant that to be true of their
life, and so we enter in, wethrow our arm around him and we
just say, hey, you know, ifJesus says that I came to give
life, and life to the full, areyou experiencing that, and what
would it look like to follow himand experience that?
Speaker 1 (30:58):
So, understanding that framework, how, how do the
listeners get involved?
How do they engage with StumoIf they feel like they want to
support, they want to partner,they want to learn more from the
ministry, what do they do?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, so, uh, you know we have a website, stumoorg
S-T-U-M-O, s-t-u-m-oorg.
We have 300 people that workfull-time on the college
campuses, uh, on about 38different college campuses
across the United States.
We probably have another couplehundred in on the mission field
the mission field in the 1040window, and so, if it's stirred
(31:28):
your heart and you'd like tolearn more about one of those
campuses or about some of thosestaff, all those staff
individually fundraise and sotheir salary is paid by
individual donors thatcontribute to their monthly
salary and to their ministryexpenses that allows them to go
out and work with those collegestudents.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Perfect For the listeners, who usually end in a
prayer.
We were just talking about someof the worship songs here at
the Ridge, and you Won't WasteSuffering just is on top of mind
right now, and so, rather thanend in prayer for the second
episode, we're just going to teethat up and share that song
with you, and my prayer would bethat it does stir something in
your heart and you find a newway to engage in your role in
(32:08):
the Great Commission.
Thanks, jason, thank you guys.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Sometimes faith is just an ember.
Sometimes hope is just aglimmer In the darkest night.
Lord, shine your light.
When your plans call forsurrender and then my doubt.
(32:50):
It spreads like cancer.
When I'm afraid, lord, give mesongs of praise.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
You're not shaken by darkness or the pain that it
causes.
There is no measure to what youcan do.
So let my story bring glory toyou.
(33:25):
You work through everything.
You won't waste suffering, andI'm at my weakest when pain
(33:48):
takes hold and won't relinquishThrough tear-stained eyes.
Lord, give me sight to see.
You're not shaken by darknessor the pain that it causes.
(34:10):
There is no measure to what youcan do.
So let my story bring glory toyou.
You work through everything.
You work through everything.
(34:30):
You won't waste suffering.
Every moment of every season, Ican know that your glory is for
(35:03):
my good when there's nothingand when there's plenty.
I can trust that your glory isfor my good In the valley or on
the mountain.
(35:23):
I can see that your glory isfor my good From beginning to
the ending.
I will sing that your glory isfor my good my God.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
So when questions arise, I'll be dependent.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Though sorrows rage my joy, I'm lifted.
When the hurt is deep, still, Iwill stay.
You're not shaken by darkness,no, all the pain that it causes.
(36:18):
There is no measure to what youcan do.
So let my story bring glory toyou.
You work through everything.
You work through everything.
(36:41):
You won't waste suffering.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Thank you for listening to Unreached.
Our sincere desire is that whatyou've heard today will cause
you to see the mission of Goddifferently and your role in it
more clearly.
If this adds value for you andwe hope it does would you please
rate and review the podcastwherever you listen.
Also, share with your family,your friends, your church, your
life group, small group, dgroup,wherever you do life, and if
(37:12):
you want to connect with us,find us on Instagram at
unreachedpodcast, or email us atunreachedpodcast at gmailcom.
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