17 Mar Student Ministry in Macau

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Throughout the world youth show signs of apathy, but perhaps not more so than they do in Macau. Surrounded by Mainland China, with a rather confused national identity and a future of simply serving as Asia’s gambling capital, jobs and money come easily to the youth of Macau, but the future seems rather bleak.

Our team of Jenaya Bonner, Bridger Fetters, and David and Melissa Kline work in local schools as English language teachers and conversationalists. This lends legitimacy to their presence in Macau, but also provides opportunity for them to get close to students, hear their pain, and share the gospel with them in meaningful ways.

Working alongside the Living Water and Living Stone United Brethren churches, they network with church members so other Macanese believers can be brought into the circle of friends they form. This ensures that the gospel message is not simply dismissed as a Western cultural phenomenon, but is relevant for Asian culture as well.

Just after I left Macau on March 7, I received a disturbing message from David Kline. The body of one of his students was found floating near the ferry piers. While nothing was said to indicate it had been suicide, and would not in this culture, neither was there indication that a criminal investigation had been launched.

Both David and Bridger teach at the same school and ask for prayer as numerous significant conversations are taking place with students trying to deal with the tragic loss of a classmate. Pray that out of this tremendous loss, many will find hope in Christ.