Miss Mya was the first person in her village who ever talked to God.
She was just 12 years old when International Mission Board missionaries Edward and Terri Janklow walked into her village nearly 20 years ago. She had never heard the name of Jesus and didn’t know anybody else who had heard His name either.
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When they first arrived in Southeast Asia, the Janklows recalled the local pastor who didn’t believe there were people in his country who had never heard of Jesus. When they took him to visit the area near Miss Mya’s village, he encountered a sobering reality.
“We were sitting there talking to a woman and we asked her, ‘Have you ever heard of Jesus?’ and she said, ‘I’ve never been to that village,’” Edward said, describing their conversation.
“She thought Jesus was the name of a village.”
The Janklows have spent the last two decades working among two unreached people groups with a reputation for deep resistance to the gospel. During those first years, people heard their stories from the Bible with profound disinterest.
Miss Mya was different. She followed them around and listened closely when they shared the gospel. Sometimes she helped translate the stories but only became more determined to be a better Buddhist.
Then one day Miss Mya prayed to God. She asked Him for a pair of blue jeans.
“It’s not at all the doctrine or gospel we presented,” Edward said, “but I feel like God looked and said, ‘You’re the first person here to ever talk to me. If you need a new pair of blue jeans to know that I’m the Living God, that is easy for me to do.’”
Though her father took her to buy a pair of jeans that same day, still Miss Mya did not put her trust in Him.
Easy to give up
When the Janklows flew back to the States for their first furlough, not one person had come to faith in Christ in four years. Before returning to Southeast Asia, they asked their churches to pray as they labored for that first believer.
The following year, Miss Mya finished high school and agreed to attend Bible college in a nearby city so she could learn English. There, she became deeply convicted of her sin and need for a Savior.
“It took five years for the first person to become a believer in our time on the field,” Terri said. “It would have been so easy to give up after four years, but by God’s grace we didn’t.”
‘Painstaking and slow’ work
But as the years wore on, the temptation to give up mounted.
The work was painstaking and slow. Getting to the villages was physically challenging. Though a handful of people put their faith in Christ, they often faced persecution and were forced to leave their villages. No churches were formed. The Janklows struggled to see how God was working.
But with their church partners faithfully supporting them, the Janklows pressed on. Volunteer teams came and worked alongside them, and Miss Mya returned to her village as a home missionary after Bible college.
On a subsequent furlough in the U.S., they handed out special prayer cards.
“We made a prayer card for Miss Mya,” Edward said. They told their friends, “This card is better than a Mickey Mantle rookie card. This is a home missionary from an unreached people group bringing the gospel to her own people.”
Church partners continued praying for a church to be planted among Miss Mya’s people group. They also lifted up a personal request for Miss Mya — her father’s salvation.
Miss Mya’s father, Mr. Lin, always traveled with them to the different villages when they shared the gospel. He introduced them to people everywhere they went.
“He knows everybody, and as long as he was there, we would be welcomed,” Terri said. “He was that person of peace that has relationships and is respected and well-loved by everyone.”
Changes
Though Mr. Lin was exposed to the gospel over and over, his response was always the same. “Maybe one day.”
But there were noticeable changes in his life as the years went by. He stopped making offerings to Buddha. He stopped smoking and started listening to Christian worship music. And then, three years ago, he almost died.
The Janklows felt certain his miraculous recovery would finally be the spark that ignited his faith in Christ. But it wasn’t.
“If I ever believe,” Mr. Lin told them, “it’s not going to be because anybody pressured me. It’s not going to be for my daughter. It’s not going to be for you. It’s going to be because I really believe.”
A year ago, Mr. Lin approached his daughter. After 18 years, he had put his faith in Christ. She couldn’t believe her ears.
“Right before we moved to Southeast Asia, we found out we were expecting our first son,” Edward said. “Raising a son to manhood and seeing Mr. Lin believe took the same amount of time.”
Mr. Lin was baptized during a discipleship conference while a team from the Janklows home church was visiting. Edward recalled the special moment as volunteers, who’d spent years praying for Mr. Lin’s salvation, witnessed his baptism.
“They made a video,” Terri said. “And when they went back and showed it on Sunday morning in this giant church in Texas, the whole church erupted with cheering because they had prayed so long with us for Mr. Lin.”
Bold witness
Today, Mr. Lin is a bold witness for Christ in his community. Along with his daughter, Miss Mya, he fearlessly proclaims the gospel among his own people.
“Why is it worth it to persevere for 18 years and not give up?” the Janklows asked, as they reflected on God’s timing and the miracle of salvation. Their answer?
“What would have happened if we’d given up after 15 years, or after four?”
Some names have been changed for security.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kristen Sosebee and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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