What Can One Man Do?

A Dream
Mr. K Mru had a dream. It was a dream to bring education to the children of his village. The place where he lived, “R” village, is set deep in the mountain jungles of South Asia where his people, the Mru, live. The children of the village, like those of most Mru villages, had little or no education. His heart ached as he thought about the future of these children. And that was the beginning of his dream.

K Mru had heard about the work of the Presbyterian Church in South Asia and Mission to the World, and knew that as the Presbyterian church planters worked in a village, they also taught the children. So that was where he started.

An Appeal
Upon finding the national leaders of this mission work, he made his appeal that someone be sent to R village to teach the children. The mission leaders agreed to send someone, with one condition. Along with education, the mission workers would expect to share the good news about Christ. Mr. K Mru and the other village elders agreed to that.

There were no believers in R village when a missionary couple and a single man were first sent by the Presbyterian Church and MTW to begin the work. As the three South Asian missionaries made their way up the mountain and down into the jungle, they prayed that the Lord would use them to bring many to Christ and that He would transform this village.

A Transformation
They arrived and quickly realized that God had already paved their way. They found an openness created by the elders of the village in exchange for bringing schooling to the children. A few months later the national leaders and I visited to see how the work was progressing. To our delight, Mr. K Mru had come to Christ, along with a few others.

Today more than half of the population of R village has come to Christ. Through the influence of these new Christians the entire culture, educational level, atmosphere and life of R village has been changed. A school has been constructed. A church has been planted. The village is a cleaner place to live. Happiness is now seen on the faces of the villagers, and R village has become a place of rejoicing in the newfound relationship with the Almighty Creator God.

This past January, Mr. K Mru went to be with His heavenly Father. He lived to see his dream become reality far beyond his initial expectations. And a village has been transformed through church planting—again.