For several years, our team in North Africa has had the opportunity to reach out to a local Muslim couple – Khalid and Amira. Khalid is an influential community figure and has been instrumental to the work we are accomplishing here.

At a time when we were feeling the weight of discouragement, God led us to a man named Harry, and for that, we’re grateful.

Across the world, storying has been especially successful among people groups who are oral – they remember and pass on information by telling stories. As a practice of communicating the truths of Jesus in any culture, we teach our students how to story, that is to tell the story of Jesus in an engaging, story-telling format.

There is a portion of the world that has little to no access to the best news that the world will ever hear. That fact and the statistics that support such a statement helped bring us to this part of the world.

We asked them why they chose to live here, and what they were seeking. They replied that they wanted to know truth and follow Buddha. The conversation progressed into sharing that we loved Jesus. They told us they had never heard that name. 

“I often catch a whiff of incense as I walk the streets of Southeast Asia. It’s burning all around at temples and pagodas, and in the shrines housed in nearly every home and business. The smell reminds me that I too should be praying, just as the call to prayer in the Muslim world reminds me to pray not just 5 times a day, but without ceasing.”

On one of my free days, I had the chance to bike up a mountain with my friend John; I was really excited for this opportunity because I could feel God was going to allow me to share the story of Jesus with John that day.

If you're asking "What will I learn with Cafe 1040?" You aren't alone. It is one of our most frequently asked questions. 

Asia keeps many beautiful secrets. And to one whose feet touched this new soil just over two weeks ago, Asia is indeed an enigma.

The village is located on the edge of an island. It is so small that a person can walk from one end to the other in 5 minutes. The people’s main occupation is fishing. They fish for squid, fish, and many other things. As I walked along one of the two main roads or “paths”, I saw many people mending their nets.

Everyone brings different strengths and weaknesses to the table, leaving plenty of room for disagreements and conflict. Being a missionary in another country, where your team is the only ‘family’ you have, and where the majority of people living there have never been told the story of Jesus, can be even more difficult.

I traveled to three different countries in three days with probably less then 12 hours of solid sleep. I went on excursions pretty much every other week of the whole three months, each with a different purpose and environment. Each excursion exposed me to a wide variety of concepts, like-minded organizations, and a variety of issues.

After an hour plane ride, a two-hour bus ride, a five- hour bus ride, and five-minute boat ride across the river, we arrived in the village. The goal of the trip was to establish contacts and develop relationships. Within the interactions with the locals, our aim was to acquire information about the history and culture of the village.

So it's possible I quote this famous Kid President line while trekking through the mountains a few weeks ago. 

THIRST. IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE EXPERIENCE IF WE DON’T GET ENOUGH WATER.

Our bodies crave it and nothing else will quite satisfy it. It is one thing to experience thirst when you know water is only minutes or seconds away. It is a whole other thing to experience thirst when you don’t know when your next sip of water will be.

Everyone loves a good story, and we know the most incredible, life-changing story ever told. Our mission at Cafe 1040 is to mobilize the next generation to finish the Great Commission, to help them go into all the world to tell the story of Jesus where it has never been told.

We’re not that different. These people who have never heard the story of Jesus and us who have, are really not that different. This is something that we sometimes forget and overlook in our discussion of how to communicate with these people that have not yet heard.

THERE ARE LESS THAN 5 KNOWN FOLLOWERS OF JESUS IN OUR NORTH AFRICAN CITY OF 200,000 PEOPLE.

In this environment and reality, our students are truly learning what it looks like to take the story of Jesus where it has never been told.

Our team just returned from our first home stay a few days ago, and I must say, God really made some cool moves and really re-ignited my fire during my home stay. We stayed together in a house with 10 girls and 3 guys. Thankfully, 4 of the girls were under the age of 12 and were in primary school, which was perfect as they are just above our level of understanding, so they were phenomenal teachers.