Not long ago, Martha and I had the privilege of visiting one of our fields in South Asia—a region where Christians make up a very small minority and are often viewed with suspicion or even hostility.
We sat across from national believers who quietly, yet courageously, gather to study Scripture in places where doing so could cost them dearly. We shared meals with our ABWE missionaries who have chosen to live and raise families in areas where gospel work is slow and the soil hard, but the harvest is worth the labor.
We came away humbled. These workers do not serve for recognition. Many of them remain unseen by the world, their names unknown outside their local communities. But in heaven, their names—and their sacrifices—are known. And to us, they are heroes of the faith.
These missionaries reminded me of the Apostle Paul’s words: “for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9). Paul didn’t shy away from opposition. He didn’t equate difficulty with a closed door. In fact, he recognized that adversity often accompanies opportunity—and sometimes signals that we are right where God wants us to be.
Our ABWE missionaries are embracing that same calling. In countries where church planting assumes risk, where converts face alienation from families, and where discipleship happens one slow relationship at a time, they remain. Not because it’s easy—but because a door is open.
Sometimes I take for granted the privilege we have in the West to worship freely, speak openly, and gather without fear. But let us never assume that the gospel is only “effective” in comfortable places. The gospel shines brightest where the darkness is thickest. And some of the most fruitful work—though often unseen—is happening in the hardest, most resistant places.
Martha and I are deeply thankful for our brothers and sisters serving in these contexts. As you read their stories in this issue of Message, may their courage challenge our comfort, their faith strengthen ours, and their obedience remind us that God’s mission never retreats. It moves forward—boldly, humbly, and with the full assurance that he is at work, even when the ground seems toughest.
Let’s keep praying for open doors. But let’s also be willing to walk through them—even when there is difficulty on the other side.
