During a short-term mission trip, a group of women visited a remote Indian village to minister to children. As they sang songs, danced the “chicken dance,” and told stories from the Bible, many children gathered to participate

For most of the children, this would be the first time they visited a church or even heard about Jesus. And some of the children’s lives would be changed forever by the love of God.

A child from the village later told our national partner how her life was changed by their visit …

I have a Hindu family. My father and mother are strong idol worshippers. They don’t like Jesus.

When some sisters from America visited a church in my village, I went to see them. The used the colored beads to tell me about how God loves me. They told me about Jesus. That day I accepted Jesus.

The words told by the American sisters are still ringing in my mind. I am attending the church for Sunday school regularly. My parents don’t like it. Please pray for me.

What started as a fun day at kids club resulted in lives forever being changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Joe, an East-West missionary, took time to pray that the Lord would connect him with a “person of peace” before challenging eager, new church planters to do the same.

As he sent the church planters out into the community to find their own person of peace, the Americans stayed behind to minimize problems for the nationals. Reluctantly, Joe stayed at the training center and wondered how God would answer his prayer that day.

Not long after, a man at the training center brought his old friend, Michael, and asked Joe to share the gospel with him. Michael was fearful of his neighbor’s magic. He was struggling with the decision to trust Christ as His Lord, but after an hour of discussion Michael knelt down and prayed to receive Christ.

Michael stood up and immediately asked to be baptized. Because of the frigid conditions, Joe had to find an indoor setting for this act of obedience. After searching, they found a bathtub, and there Michael was baptized.

Joe praised the Lord for answering his prayer and for an obedient, new brother in the faith.

Maly sat in a church planting training, soaking in every moment. She listened intently to every word. Not able to read or write, she had to take in everything as she heard it.

The second day of training, the East-West trainer told the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. Maly was moved because she realized that God could use anyone … even someone like her.

Knowing that God wanted to use her, Maly enthusiastically participated in that afternoon’s exercise—sharing the gospel in the nearby villages. The groundwork had been laid through prayer time in the villages the previous day. She prayed that God would work through her that day.

With her husband by her side, Maly went out to the village to share. She was invited into a house where many family members and relatives were present. She began telling them about Jesus and how he changed her life.

After telling her story, she began to tell His story … the story of how Jesus sacrificed for us all. When she finished, nine people trusted Christ.

Every time Maly follows up with those she met that day, she is reminded how God can use her—or anyone–to multiply His Kingdom!

A respected monk in East Asia invited an East-West national partner to share the gospel in his monastery. Although hesitant at first, this national partner agreed … because any chance to share the gospel is worthwhile.

As he walked in, he realized that the night would be different than he originally thought. In the room before him sat fifty government officials—military insurgents, army officers, and the chairman of the International Buddhist Association among others.

The national partner’s wife approached him and said, “Take care every word you are going to speak.”

They knew that the officials were planning to take him to jail after he preached, but he did not fear the hostile conditions because God was with them. In that moment, he committed that night to the Lord. His wife also prayed for him, “Lord, we are like Daniel who was in the Lion’s Den. Save us.”

This national partner stood up and began to preach the gospel clearly for over an hour. When he finished, the officials began to argue with him and attack him verbally—attempting to find fault with him. He asked for another chance to speak, and he spoke again about heaven and Christ clearly. Their conversation lasted for five hours.

Despite their dissatisfaction, the officials could not find fault with him. They let our national partner and his wife leave freely.

As he left, he praised God for being able to share the gospel with his nation’s leaders and to return home safely having planted seeds in their hearts.

At a film festival in a Middle Eastern city, a 40-minute documentary sympathetically portrayed the “working” life of a young man named Patrick … addicted to heroin, living under a bridge.

He was filmed gathering bottles from the city’s streets, alleyways and garbage cans in order to support his habit. At one point, he looked into the camera—drug-dazed and shame-faced—and said that he believes only God can save him.

The audience is unconvinced, and the haunting film ends on a hopeless note. What the audience did not get to see, however, was the rest of the story:

Patrick, 43, came to the Middle East with his non-religious Jewish family from Holland when he was ten years old. He was kicked out of the house at age fourteen and soon began experimenting with drugs.

Remarkably, he graduated from a top culinary arts school and worked as a cook in prestigious restaurants. But he became increasingly addicted to drugs. His career and relationships eventually unraveled. He’d been living on the streets for seven years when an East-West missionary met him.

Patrick’s “home” was an old mattress in an abandoned storage building and his “backyard” was a litter-filled parking lot. His “neighbors” were fellow addicts, pushers, pimps and prostitutes.

One day Patrick reached a point of desperation and asked our missionary to help him. The missionary communicated with the director of a Messianic rehab center who agreed to take Patrick … conditionally. That was seven months ago.

In the early days, East-West’s missionary visited him daily, praying for him as he detoxed and reading to him from the Scriptures. In time, Patrick found the True source of strength: Jesus the Messiah. And our missionary found his first co-laborer in the gospel for his ministry.

Patrick’s film was recently shown at an international film contest event, and Patrick and our missionary attended the event together. At the end of the film, Patrick was invited up on stage to “share a few words.”

The audience was captivated by Patrick’s apparent physical transformation since the making of the film. And for the next few minutes Patrick stood before a rapt audience.

He began, “Let me tell you about the person that changed my life. He’s a Jewish man from Galilee …”

An East-West missionary and his group arrived at a small village for a medical clinic and a kids club.

During their clinic, a man named Daniel came. His hard heart was softened by the gospel, and he came to believe, as the missionary said, that God loved him. Now knowing Jesus as his Savior, he was hoping for a miracle for his son, Alex, who was deaf.

Alex’s face showed only despair. The East-West missionary and some members of his team prayed over Alex before the doctor came to see him. Once the doctor began testing him and asking him questions, a smile spread across the boy’s face … he was able to hear!

Alex and Daniel spent the rest of the day laughing and rejoicing in this life-changing miracle. Now, this village has a living reminder of the joy and hope found in God’s grace!

After earning his degree from Al-Ándalus Seminary in Sevilla, Pedro prayed for direction in his ministry. He was answered by a yearning in his heart for the prisoners of his hometown in the Cadiz province of Spain.

Pedro responded to the Lord’s call by visiting the prison weekly to share the gospel.

He began by bringing several of his Bible training students with him to these meetings to help evangelize through entertainment. Using guitars, a sound box and the clapping of their hands, the students made Christian flamenco music.

The music was only the beginning. After a year, these weekly visits have sparked a movement in the prisons. There are now over 500 new believers and almost 50 new cellblock churches in the prison. As the gospel has spread, the prisoners desire to learn more about Jesus and to take His Word to their fellow prisoners and their families.

What started as a burning in Pedro’s heart has ignited a movement—setting prisoners free with the gospel!

A small group of believers gathered in a Central Asian home for a teaching session on hearing God’s voice. During the teaching, Lila heard the call of the Holy Spirit to go to one of her sisters.

Determined to follow His voice, Lila got up. Not sure what to do or who to see, she ventured to one sister’s home when the Holy Spirit said to her, “No, not this one. Go further.”

Still determined to follow the call of the Spirit, she made her way to another sister’s house.

Upon arrival, Lila went into the house and her sister, Nazreen, immediately began to share her troubles. While Lila listened and offered advice from God’s Word, a neighbor, Mina, came into the house. She heard some of the conversation and was intrigued.

Mina immediately opened up and began to ask questions. Soon Lila and Mina were engaged in a lively conversation about the gospel. As the conversation continued, the truth of the gospel message became evident to Mina and she repented and accepted Christ as her Savior.

Lila praised the Lord for His leading and rejoiced because she now has a new “sister” in her eternal family.

“Have you ever heard a story about God?” asked an East-West missionary as he sat down to talk with an elderly Massai woman. To the missionary’s amazement, she replied, “No. Never.”

He then asked her permission to tell a story. She gave it to him not knowing that this story would change her life.

The missionary began his story—telling her of God’s creation, humanity’s rebellion, and Christ’s atoning sacrifice. As he finished the story, the Massai woman eagerly accepted Christ’s sacrifice on her behalf and turned her life over to her new Savior.

As the missionary rejoiced with her, he discovered that a young, pregnant woman had been sitting close by listening to this story of redemption. He turned to her and asked her if she, too, wanted Christ to be her Savior from sin. With enthusiasm, she accepted!

The next day, the elderly woman was baptized to outwardly show her new commitment to Christ.

Today we say, “I hope the Cowboys win”, or “I hope we get some rain”—meaning, maybe they will or maybe they won’t win or it may or may or may not rain. In the Bible this word always is seen in the context of certainty. It does not mean “maybe yes or maybe no.”

This certainty is true, but it cannot be seen. Scripture tells us that something is not “hope” if it is seen. Once something becomes “seen,” I don’t hope for it—I have it.

Look at Paul’s reasoning:

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? —Romans 8:24

In Romans 4:18, when talking about God’s promise to Abraham to have a son we find a “play on words” about hope when God gave Abraham this promise:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations …

Despite a hopeless situation, Abraham embraced God’s certainty. He knew that he could believe and trust that God’s promise would be fulfilled.

We are told in Hebrews 11:1 what faith is:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

I believe when we live with Christ-like confidence, it’s because we have a deep conviction that what is said in Scripture is certain. When we come to that point, we will step into whatever situation God has placed us in knowing that, because of God’s word, I can be certain it will happen. I will step into it being confident that His Presence is real and certain—even though I cannot see Him or feel Him.

When you and I step into a circumstance that may be difficult, God is there. Even though I may be trembling with fear, I can always count on the “Jesus Factor.”

The Holy Spirit wants to work through us. We have to step into the place of certainty with God—even when the situation looks hopeless. Let’s take a look at what that means.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:12 …

Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech.

Our hope gives us boldness. Remember, we walk by faith not by sight. All of Scripture is applied by faith. When the Scripture says, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” I can live with certainty. Wherever I am, my “hope” is that God is with me … even though I cannot see Him.

An overriding principle of this life of faith is found in the following statement: “Only what I do, really tells me what I believe.”

I can say I believe something about the sufficiency of God’s power and presence in my life, but if I don’t step into the ring to fight for my faith in light of this truth, I don’t really believe it. I have to combine my hope in God with the boldness Paul speaks of.

The “Jesus Factor” can only happen if we go public with Jesus. It is only then that we can only experience the blessing that God desires for us. If you don’t, your “hope” is not biblical hope … and your “faith” is not biblical faith.