Sometimes in the missionary life, after facing adversity (like this past couple of years) and seeing not many people respond to the gospel, missionaries can resort to slightly unconventional methods. Angel decided to try something new for a change in the New Year and she began reading the Bible with...

 a watermelon! 

I’m not sure how many of you have ever tried it before, but Angel was amazed at how responsive this watermelon was. And before the end of January, this watermelon wanted to follow Jesus and be baptized. It was a little awkward trying to baptize a watermelon, and had to make sure she didn’t get carried away by the current in the river. After this watermelon came to faith, she just couldn’t keep her faith to herself. She told her fruity friends and relatives as well as some non-fruity ones as well. A couple months later, she brought her cucumber sister to adventure camp where she came in contact with the Gospel and Christian community but wasn’t yet ready to follow Jesus.  Just the same, we were glad they both stayed intact during rock-climbing.

2 months later in mid-June, Watermelon told us that Cucumber was ready to follow Jesus and be baptized as well before she took off for university near Bangkok. At the end of June, Watermelon told us that her mother, Mangosteen, wanted to follow Jesus as well. She was just baptized in July and has been reading the Bible daily with Angel along with Cucumber, via messenger, and joining in Sunday worship.

We couldn’t have seen it coming, but Angel’s ministry to fruit is fruitful and growing. And it’s a good thing that Angel doesn’t like to eat watermelon or mangosteen (the cucumber is safely far away in Bangkok). If God sent a durian or mango for Angel to disciple, this story probably would have ended very differently!

(for those wondering, these are the actual names of people in a family that have come to Christ this year. Remaining is the father, who doesn't have a fruity name, but is named Brick).