Our teams in South-East Asia have been focusing on seeing movement in an unreached people group. A second generation disciple-maker called Amisha is being trained in DMM by one of our teams. Recently, she was praying for ways to connect in a local marketplace amongst these unreached peoples. However Amisha had no experience in market trading and was very much an outsider to the community.
So she observed the market and finally got connected with Fany, a street trader. Fany was quite open to partner with her. They did what they thought would sell. So they cooked up and sold deep fried chicken heads!
Becoming a trader gave Amisha an authentic reason to be in the community and engage with those she was praying for and trying to reach. Their new small business took off and you could say it started ‘turning heads’ amongst the locals!
However she soon noticed that many traders had become too poor to afford even the most basic needs to kick start their own trading. So Amisha organised some micro loans for these people.
She also noticed the desperate need for literacy learning amongst the teenagers and soon saw a program started. Through all these connections and access ministries, Amisha is now teaming up with Fany as they identify key people of peace. Using her DMM training, so far she has seen three discovery groups start.
Amisha’s story emphasizes to us the need for authenticity as we seek to engage spiritually in new communities. There is often a need to belong and be trusted by locals before we can effectively engage.
*Not her real name