There are times when the vast lostness in East Asia feels abstract, and others when the statistics fade, replaced by real stories of people I love, like my close friend Karen.* She heard the gospel for the first time after she moved to my city for college.

Living in a small town with a Buddhist mother and an atheist father, Karen had never even met a Christian until she moved to the city where I serve. Still today, no one in her family shares her faith, and she doesn’t know any other believers in her hometown.

It overwhelms me with sadness to think how she spent almost 20 years of her life without ever even meeting someone who could share the gospel with her.

But Karen expresses only joy for how the Lord has changed her story.

“God used those 20 years to make me hungry for Him,” she says. “It’s like I came from a desert into an ocean. So, what can I do but praise Him? I believe He was with me even when I didn’t know Him.”

Praise God for never leaving or forsaking us, and for pursuing us in every small corner of the globe.

“God used those 20 years to make me hungry for Him.”

Pray for believers like Karen who stand alone among their family for their decision to follow Jesus. Pray they will have strength, endurance, and abundant love for their lost family members. Pray they will have steadfast hope in the gospel’s power to change the lives of their loved ones.

Statistics put the number of university students in East Asia in the tens of millions. Your gifts through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® make it possible for Southern Baptists to live and work in East Asia, where they share the gospel with university students who’ve never had another opportunity to hear the good news of God’s love for them. Thank you for giving.

Learn more about East Asia.

*name changed

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is a registered trademark of Woman’s Missionary Union.