Ali is a pastor in South Asia who attended a Four Fields training hosted by East-West a few years ago. After being trained and praying for two years to take the gospel to a specific area in his country, Ali finally traveled to that region with two translators. This is the second post in a three-part series about the ways God worked during that trip.

The journey for Ali and the translators was coming to a close. Before making their way to their final destination, the men made a quick stop to drop off one of the translators. There, the station manager for the town, a man named Baba*, asked if he could get a ride to the town where the men were traveling.

Be Patient for God

But more roadblocks were ahead. Looking out the car window, Ali saw miles and miles of sand and what seemed to be oddly shaped stones lining the road. The more he looked, the more the stones began to take form.

Ali sensed that the team needed to get off of this road and told the driver to take a route through a mountain. Not long after getting on their new route, clanking and grinding noises echoed from the engine.

The engine seemed to have given out, and the men decided they needed another car to make it to their last destination. But with all the shops in the town closed for the Muslim holiday, chances of finding a rental were next to impossible.

But Baba had a connection. He called the station manager in this town to see if he had any cars available. Within minutes, a man pulled up in a bigger, newer, air-conditioned car for the men to use for the rest of their journey.

Sharing the Word of God With All

As Ali and the translators sped for the next 150 kilometers to their final stop, they discussed all the miracles they had seen from God over the past couple of days while Baba listened quietly from the backseat. At a rest stop to get water, everyone got out of the car except Ali and Baba.

Ali took the opportunity to share the gospel with Baba, who had never heard about Jesus’ sacrificial love. By the time the rest of the men returned to the car, Baba had accepted Jesus as his Savior.

It was late in the evening when Ali and the translators arrived at the house for their last meeting. To their surprise, the porch was full of people who were waiting for them.

Everyone crammed inside the house as Ali and the translators shared the gospel with the crowd. That night, more than 20 people came to faith in Jesus.

Over the course of two days, Ali and his companions traveled more than 2,200 kilometers, shared the gospel with 250 people, and saw nearly 60 people accept Jesus as their Savior. Along the way, Ali and the translators displayed persistence and boldness on a long and difficult journey. But in the end, they recognized that it was God who had paved the road for them to reach the lost in South Asia.

*Names changed for security purposes.